There were coyotes out in the forest tonight. Maia was acting extremely anxious – walking in heel, bonking my hand with her nose, jumping up on me – and I couldn’t figure out the source until we stopped and I heard them barking and howling.
I learned that playing stick fetch calms Maia’s anxiety though! After a couple of throws she was back to her calm body language and able to sniff and explore, and not be velcroed to my leg.
Every night I have been reading a few pages of Brenda Aloff’s book, “Canine Body Language”, and I am amazed at how much more I am able to understand when I watch my dogs. I highly recommend this book if you want to learn more about dog language.
Originally published at idle musings. You can comment here or there.