Fun or Fight? Quiz 2 Redeaux

In the photo for Quiz 2, most people thought it looked like the dogs were having a less-than-friendly encounter, more like fight than fun.

The nature of the interaction becomes very clear when you can see the rest of the encounter.  Below are about 50 photos shot over about 4 minutes, in sequence with the shot I posted in Quiz 2.

The shot I pulled out for the quiz is very dramatic, but these dogs are clearly having a wonderful time.  The Jack seems quite welcome to join in, despite his preference for sneak attacks on the achilles.  So, were there enough clues in the quiz photo to indicate that the dogs were playing, and what were they?  How can we learn to see them?

On the suggestion of dog trainer friend, I’ve spent some time with Brenda Aloff’s excellent book, “Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide“, which goes into great detail about the nuances of posture and facial expression in dogs.  Certainly you are aware that your own sometimes subtle facial expressions and posture are revealing – raised eyebrows, squinting, a twitch in the corner of the mouth, dilated pupils, blinking, looking away, lowering the head, etc are all part of our non-verbal language.  Similarly, tiny changes in ear position, a slightly lifted paw, staring, squinting, or wide open eyes, the tension in the lips, carriage of the tail, and so many other things are used by dogs to communicate with each other and reveal their emotional state.

It takes practice to see these (often fleeting) signals in dogs, and these photos certainly have convinced me that I’ve been missing most of what dogs were saying to each other.  I highly recommend Brenda Aloff’s book, and after some study I think you’ll start to see many things in these photos that you missed before.

Please let me know what you think about this “Fun or Fight” series, and I welcome any suggestions.

If you haven’t already, have a look at Quiz 3.