Dog social behavior and communication

Communication in Dogs

“…Control by voluntary muscles allows dogs to display a wide range of postures and body part positions that convey different information about the signaler’s inner state and intentions [ 8 ]. However, humans, through artificial selection over many years, have produced changes in dogs’ anatomy and morphology that have reduced the social signaling capacity of several breeds [ 10 ]. For instance, brachycephalic dog lost the flexibility in displaying different facial expressions and dogs with permanently erected ears or with a very short tails lost part of their behavioural repertoire expressed by these anatomical structures [ 10 ].…”

Tail Docking of Canine Puppies: Reassessment of the Tail’s Role in Communication, the Acute Pain Caused by Docking and Interpretation of Behavioural Responses

“…In any event, it seemed that the dogs in this study with short tails were twice as likely to have aggressive encounters than were dogs with longer (intact) tails [ 36 ]. The following observations are also consistent with this: particular tail positions send placatory signals to other dogs [ 33 , 36 ] ( Table 1 ); some forms of tail wagging may be self-calming [ 34 ]; and in a robotic dog study, a long tail was more effective at conveying intraspecific cues than was a short tail [ 48 ]. Moreover, it is noteworthy that tail activity and position are strongly integrated with other behaviours, and thereby significantly contribute to signalling wide ranges of both negative and positive emotions, moods and intentions which are of daily welfare significance to dogs.…”

“…Wild canidae usually live in packs and engage in a wide range of behaviours many of which depend upon communication. These behaviours variously include, but are not limited to the following [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]: exploring and/or monitoring key features of their environment such as the location of water, prey, other food sources, resting areas, den sites and surveillance points; hunting and scavenging for food as a pack or individuals; establishing territorial boundaries; responding defensively to threats from non-pack animals; operating within the pack hierarchy; bonding with pack members; nurturing and protecting young; playing; and engaging in sexual activity. Although living in quite different circumstances, elements of some of these “wild” behaviours appear to be reflected in the interactions of domestic dogs with each other and with people [ 30 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], and those interactions clearly demonstrate communication capacities that utilise different sensory modalities [ 31 , 33 , 35 , 36 , 37 ].…”

“…Dogs as social animals are well known to possess rich communication systems that support their complexly interactive lives [ 21 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 36 ]. All major sensory modalities are involved, but especially smell, taste, hearing and sight, and combinations of cues supplied by two or more of these senses potentially increase the range and quality of the information communicated [ 21 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 38 ].…”

“…Dogs as social animals are well known to possess rich communication systems that support their complexly interactive lives [ 21 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 36 ]. All major sensory modalities are involved, but especially smell, taste, hearing and sight, and combinations of cues supplied by two or more of these senses potentially increase the range and quality of the information communicated [ 21 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 38 ]. The following descriptions of canine sensory involvement in behavioural expression, derived from numerous sources [ 21 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ], are provided to give wider insights into the holistic integration of body form, function, sensory capacities and affective-behavioural dynamics.…”