Have you ever wondered why when petting your dog he moves his ears back? They also do it when we scold them for something or just when they interact with other dogs.
The movement of their ears is one of the many ways that dogs have to communicate, they do not use words, but they use body language. Let’s see what it means and why they do it 🙂
Index of contents
- 1 Why do dogs put their ears back when petting them?
- 2 What else can indicate the position of your ears?
- 3 My dog’s ears don’t move like that
- 4 Interesting things about your dog’s ears
Why do dogs put their ears back when petting them?
It is a sign of submission and placidity, it is his way of indicating to us that everything is fine and that he likes to be caressed. Ducking the ears by moving them back should give us peace of mind.
The body language of dogs is much broader and that is why in addition to the ears, we must look at other aspects such as the position or movement of their tails.
The ears back but the tail hidden between its hind legs is a sign of fear in the dog. But if the tail is relaxed or moving, it is a sign of submission, joy and placidity.
What else can indicate the position of your ears?
Actually, there are many things that our dog’s ears can tell us. Depending on its position and always evaluating other factors such as its tail, we can interpret the following:
- Raised ears: It simply indicates that the dog is attentive to something, it does not have to be good or bad, it is simply entertaining something and paying attention to it.
- Ears raised and tilted forward: This position is an alert signal, it indicates that the dog is very attentive to something, in an alarm position. If it is also accompanied by a stiff and raised tail, grunts or a sample of teeth, it may be a sign of an impending attack.
- Ears back and tail tucked: It is a sign of nervousness or fear, even sometimes both. Our dog is restless about something and we must calm him down.
- Ears back and tail normal: A sign of happiness and also of submission, very common when petting a familiar dog.
My dog’s ears don’t move like that
Well, the truth is that there are many races and with it many types of ears. Dogs that have large drooping ears generally never lift them or move them around. They are too heavy for that.
Ears that have been mutilated (something prohibited and penalized by law), do not tend to perform this type of movements either, or if they do, they can go unnoticed.
Most dogs move their ears, some more than others. So we simply must know how to read the meaning, looking for other factors such as its tail.
Interesting things about your dog’s ears
Maybe you did not know it but the dogs ears hide many secrets besides being part of their body language. Are you ready to be amazed? Let’s see what its characteristics are:
- Can hear four times better than a human, that’s why sometimes they lift their ears to pay attention while we have not heard anything.
- They use them how a radar and even tilt their head to improve their hearing (when it seems that they are saying “ein?”).
- Dogs begin to listen from the first weeks of life, when they are born they are deaf.
- They use their ears to communicate with each other, so that all dogs know the universal canine language by instinct.
- His ears are made up of more than fifteen muscles, which they use to guide them when they need to express themselves.