Lip Twitching

I don't know if there is another term for this behavior, but this is what I call it. Lip twitching is when a dog will  silently bare their teeth at another animal or person. Like this dog:

Click here to go to the original image

This dog is not happy and is clearly telling the person with the camera to get away. If this signal fails, it could very easily result in the dog lashing out and biting.

I decided to do my post on this topic because while at the dog park this last week I noticed a dog repeatedly doing this behavior. I suspect that this behavior is what caused her to get "alpha-rolled" by my larger male dog.

They had greeted each other and every thing was going fine but then my larger dog snarled and "alpha-rolled" her. I yelled . . . because, well, I panicked, and they broke apart. After that the owner would call her dog back any time she went near my male with comments like "Oh, he doesn't like you, stay away from him."

Kitna is not a bad dog, and he is not bad with other dogs, but he does sometimes have difficulties at the dog park because other dogs will try to put him in his place and he doesn't stand for that.

Anyway, after the initial incident, I decided to watch the other dog (but mostly I kept an eye on Kitna) to see what she did when another dog approached her. That's when I noticed it: A silent, split-second, showing of teeth. She would do this any time another dog approached her to sniff her behind. She would scuttle in a circle so the other dog would always be in front of her and she would bare her teeth — repeatedly.

I watched her do this at least 5 times to the same dog, but he never quite got the message. I don't think he was really paying attention to her.

"Where was the owner during all of this", you ask?

She was right there talking to another owner who had a young puppy with her. I wanted to approach her and tell her what her dog was doing, but I am not a very diplomatic person and I don't like confrontations. How would one go about telling someone, politely, that their dog is about to get themselves tussled again because she is baring her teeth at other dogs?

Comments and suggestions are welcome. : ) My goal is not to get myself kicked out of the dog park for fighting with other dog owners.

Before we end, I did want to blow your mind a bit with this image:

Donovan and Flapjack*

You may ask,"Whoa! Shouldn't somebody stop that??"

Actually....no. These two are playing. A lot of the time when dogs play they will bare their teeth and snarl, but it is nothing to be concerned about.

So how do you tell the difference?

By watching their posture. If the dog has a relaxed posture (gently wagging tail, mouth open, panting) then you are probably good and they are just playing. If your dog is stiff (tail held straight, mouth closed, hardly breathing, ears either flat against the skull or pricked forward at attention) then you need to worry.

If you notice your dog exhibiting this behavior, gently correct them by voice and if they continue to do it, it may just not be a good day to go to the park. If there is another unused area, you can try moving to that area for a bit and then try again where the other dogs are or perhaps it is best to just leash up and try again another day.

Ultimately, it is up to you, but if you aren't watching your dog(s), you won't spot the warning signs until it is too late to prevent a fight.

* Photo by Molly Wald, Best Friends Animal Society Photographer. Click the caption to see the full shoot on facebook.