What are my dog's ears telling me?
Ears are one of the quickest clues to where a dog's attention is. Forward usually means interest and back often means worry or politeness, but ears always need the rest of the body for context.
What it usually means
Pawfect's tables read four ear positions: forward, neutral, back and flattened. Ears forward appear in alert, interested dogs, together with a forward lean and a closed, neutral mouth.
Ears back turn up in the anxious and the appeasing patterns, alongside a tucked tail, a low posture or a turned head. Flattened ears, pressed against the head, go further in the same direction.
Easy to mix up
- Forward ears are not always friendly. With a high, stiff tail, a stiff body and a hard stare, the same ears belong to a tense, high-intensity picture.
- Breed and grooming. Floppy, heavy or cropped ears move less visibly, so with those dogs the tables lean more on the eyes, mouth and posture.
Look at the whole body
No single signal tells the whole story. Before settling on a reading, look at the tail, ears, eyes, mouth and posture together, and at what is happening around your pet.
Signals the tables often see alongside this one
- Forward lean
- Neutral closed mouth
- Neutral posture
- Tucked tail
- Low posture
- Lip lick
- Yawn
- Belly up
When to ask a vet
Frequent head shaking, scratching at an ear, a smell from the ear or a head held tilted for a long time are not body language. Ask your vet.
See it on your own pet
Point Pawfect at your dog or cat and it picks out the tails, ears, eyes and postures from these guides, then plays them back as a playful caption you can keep.
Related guides
Why does my dog tuck its tail between its legs?
A tucked tail usually goes with worry or appeasement. What the tables pair it with, how breed changes the picture, and how to help.What does it mean when my dog shows the whites of its eyes?
Whale eye, a crescent of white at the corner of a dog's eye, is a sign of discomfort. What it usually means and how to respond.Why does my cat flatten its ears?
Ears turned sideways or pinned flat are a sign of a worried or upset cat. How to read cat ear positions and when to back off.
Where this comes from
Built on the body-language tables behind Pawfect's analysis (dogs v2.1.0, cats v1.0.1), which draw on published work including:
- Turid Rugaas, On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals (1997)
- Patricia B. McConnell, The Other End of the Leash (2002)
- Sophia Yin, Low Stress Handling, Restraint and Behavior Modification of Dogs and Cats (2009)
- Alexandra Horowitz, Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know (2009)
- Marc Bekoff, Play signals as punctuation: the structure of social play in canids (2001)
- American Kennel Club, Dog Body Language and Communication (online resources) (2023)