Can You Read Your Doodle’s Body Language? Test Your Skills!

🎁 FREE QUIZ: Think you know dog body language? Test your skills now → thedoodlepro.com/body

Your Doodle is always communicating — the question is, can you understand what they’re saying? 🐾 From subtle stress signals to happy “green light” cues, learning to read your dog’s body language is one of the most powerful ways to build trust and prevent problems.

In this second part of our body language series, we unpack the most common signals Doodles use, why they sometimes get missed, and how you can start “speaking fluent Doodle” today.

✨ What You’ll Learn

✔️ How to spot the early signs of stress before they escalate
 ✔️ What anxiety really looks like in dogs (it’s not always what you think)
✔️ Why Doodles communicate differently than many other breeds
✔️ How to keep dog-to-dog greetings calmer and safer
✔️ Practical training techniques to respond with confidence

🔥 Quotable Moments

📢 “Dogs are constantly communicating, but we have to learn to listen.”
📢 “Reading body language can prevent so many issues—anxiety, fear, reactivity—it all starts with awareness.”

👉 Don’t miss Ep 39, where we introduced the foundations of Doodle body language.
🎁 Take the FREE Dog Body Language Quiz now → thedoodlepro.com/body

🎧 Hit play—because understanding your Doodle’s body language is the key to a calmer, more connected life together.

Corinne Gearhart is the founder of The Doodle Pro®, a science-based training platform helping Doodle parents raise calmer, well-mannered dogs using positive reinforcement. She is the host of The Doodle Pro® Podcast and author of Your Doodle’s Daily Schedule Blueprint™.

📘 Get the Doodle Schedule Blueprint:
https://thedoodlepro.com/doodle-schedule-bonus/

🎧 More episodes:
https://thedoodlepro.com/podcast

Transcript

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What is Your Doodle Trying to Tell You_ How to Better Read Your Dog_s Body Language

[00:00:00] On this episode, enjoy part two of my conversation with trainer Emily Martin. About decoding your doodles body language. Amongst the many body language topics we cover today, you're going to learn more about consent tests, what you look for between dogs to make sure that they're both having a good time and how to read doodle tail wags better. 

[00:00:23] Are you ready to test your knowledge on decoding dog, body language? Head over to our quiz@thedoodlepro.com slash body. And see how well you can read dog body language. 

[00:00:38] Make sure to catch episode 39 from last week where Emily and I dive into how doodles body language are so different from other dogs and more on decoding their body language. 

[00:01:46] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: So if you're trying to tell does my dog like this consent testing is my go-to? Yes. Can you share a little how you use that and 

[00:01:56] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: what that is? Yeah. And I'll have to throw maybe we can add the link. I do have a reel on my Instagram that goes over consent penning with one of my dogs.

[00:02:05] And I actually just took some more photos or video of a foster dog that I am helping out with. And he's been a really good consent tenant test dog. So when I talk about consent petting, and I also do this when people meet two of my dogs that are a little bit more shy so I say yeah.

[00:02:24] You can put your hand out and if they would like to come to you that's great. And you can pet them for three to five seconds. Yes. And then please stop. If your dog is comfortable or if they're comfortable, they will come back into you. So again, you're putting a little bit of that power and that voice in your dog to say, you know what?

[00:02:44] Yeah. And mosh, who is I call him my behavior dog. So he's come a long ways. He had a lot of behavioral issues when I adopted him and things like that. Or he was rehome to me. And he, I love it when he meets new people and he does consent because he will come and get cozy in your lap. Oh. But you have to let him make the choice.

[00:03:07] You have to give him that power and do a consent test with him. Hey, would you like to interact? And he'll say, yeah. And then he'll stop. And then he'll come and he'll do a turn and he'll sit right in your lap. And I'm like, okay, you're good now. You totally pet him. , he's yes, enthusiastically. It's so cute.

[00:03:26] Or he says, no, and he walks away and that's okay. He is. He's cut and dry with that. It's either I'm all in. I'm done, peace out. But that's important for him to have that voice and feel comfortable. And he, says, no, no big deal. And I tell the person, I said don't, feel bad. Don't have your feelings hurt.

[00:03:44] But when he does say yes, I'm always like, oh my gosh you, should be so special right now. He gave you a yes. That is, that's gold right there. Oh. So yeah, really putting it in the power of his, their hands and letting them feel comfortable. And again, that also bounces back to advocating for your dog, where I think it's hard for owners to tell people No, and Yes. Or you can't, oh, there, there's such pressure. 

[00:04:09] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Yeah. Like this. And that was really insightful of your client to say, I thought being a good dog owner was letting everybody pet them. That was the friendly neighborly thing to do when I'm out and about.

[00:04:21] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: For socialization purposes, you get it too Well for socialization. Everybody should get to say hi to him. And that's not proper socialization either, but 

[00:04:28] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: yeah. We're not looking for quantity. We're looking for positive. Yeah. Yes. And your dogs, by being their advocate, so consistently they know this pet is going to last maximum two to three seconds.

[00:04:42] Yeah. If I'm done, mom will make sure it's over. And I, don't, this isn't going to be, I have to roll my belly and . Yeah. And they're gonna loom over 

[00:04:51] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: me. I think consent work gets tough too, is like there's giving your dog the option to say no. They moosh can say no every single time if he wants, and that's fine.

[00:05:05] Now he doesn't because he's been learning to feel more comfortable and trusted and things like but that's because I've given him the option for No. And you hear that a lot. If I let them say no every time, they're always gonna say no. I'm like not if you're actually working on training and looking at the bigger picture and helping meet their needs in every way, then they're gonna start to say, oh, you know what, actually, like I can handle this today.

[00:05:28] I can do 

[00:05:28] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: this. And if we're listening to that polite, no thank you. We don't need to go to the growl snarl bite and correct. Those can happen, but we're not pushing them that direction because we've listened to that. Polite. No thank. 

[00:05:42] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: Yes. Yep. I work with a lot of nervous and fearful dogs, actually work with a, I would say a lot of nervous and fearful doodles.

[00:05:52] they're prone that direction. Yes. Yes. And I, love walking owners course. They have to learn body language. I l and a lot of them use their voice, the doodles, they use their voice, they need space, things like that. But I love walking through. I have a little like three step approach on once they are ready to meet somebody, how to meet somebody.

[00:06:13] And it, I had a session, a first session, first in person with somebody the other day, and we actually start on headphones and I'm like half a block away and I say if your dog's ready to meet me today, then we'll meet, but I'm not gonna push it. And the owner was like, that was so cool.

[00:06:28] I never thought about that. And thanks for taking that approach versus being like, no, just bring him up here and let's figure it out like that. Wasn't gonna put him in the right setting. But there are a lot of trainers unfortunately that will push it. And I'm like, no, no need. When he's, I'll watch his body language and when he's, comfortable, then we go to the next 

[00:06:47] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: step.

[00:06:48] And I do the same with my human kids. When they were little, it wasn't Go hug Grandpa . I listened and I gave them choices. Do you wanna wave or give a high five? And that's great. If they worked silent and didn't wanna do any, that's fine. We'll see you later. Love you. Grandpa and grandpa felt more safe the next visit as opposed to the anxiety that we all felt when our aunt would squeeze our cheeks and we had no say in the matter which one makes, 

[00:07:16] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: I just wanna kiss with lipstick.

[00:07:18] Left eye kiss. Yes. . 

[00:07:20] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Which makes you wanna go to the family event next time. Yeah. When you're forced into or not with the consent petting. I like family pauses, motto of pet. Pet. Pause. Pet, pet pause. That's great. Yep. And if they move into you more after your pause, then they're asking, they're saying, I like this.

[00:07:39] And if they walk away, that's fine. Yeah. And what are the odds that PET will feel more safe with you? Yep. After you've given 'em that option. 

[00:07:48] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: Yep, I agree. And there's a teacher, I've seen it on I think social media too. There's, a wave of like teachers that also have kind of options. So when kids come into the class, they can get a high five or a hug or a fist bump.

[00:08:05] There's a couple different options on what are you comfortable with? And again, that should be implemented also with our 

[00:08:12] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: dogs. Yes, I totally agree. If we are going back to their different kind of body shapes and way of reading their language, I would love to talk about tails. So you mentioned that you'll hear clients say, but their tail was wagging.

[00:08:28] They were happy. Can you break that down a little bit more for our 

[00:08:31] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: listeners? Oh tails, tales. tales are deceiving guys. Yes. Yeah, we've always there's a term happy, tail, happy dog. And that's not always the case. And again, a lot of people, new dog owners have never owned a dog.

[00:08:50] They think happy tail la or tail wagging is happy. And this is where I want you guys to dig in a little bit deeper and learn. Tails can mean a lot of different things and also tail shape, right? So all tails work slightly differently depending on their shape as well. Yes. So the book refer, I was actually looking at this before we've logged on here.

[00:09:12] So the book, doggy Language, there are six pages about tails in this book. Six pages, it says a lot. Yes, it says a lot. So it does, it talks about different shape, it talks about relaxed, neutral tail. It talks about anxious, low tail alert, high tail. That's the one I think is the most confusing to people.

[00:09:34] Yeah. Yeah. And then different types of tails. So the alert, high tail basically, and the speed of the tail. Wa this is where it gets complicated. So your dog's tail, let's say they have a tail and they have a norm, like a lab we're talking about. I guess we could talk about a doodle as well, but a lab, it's really easy to see.

[00:09:55] Tail can be straight out and it can be wagging fast. But I also wanna look at a, it's hard to explain almost like a fast, loose swag. Like it's got a little bit of the butt wiggle to it as the 

[00:10:09] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: body flows 

[00:10:10] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: with it, as opposed to stick. Yes. So it's, relaxed moving together versus a tail that's sticking straight out.

[00:10:19] And it has this almost like a harsh TikTok movement. Like a little jerky, yeah. And sometimes they'll even go a little bit more alert and it's, it can be fast or slow, depending on the dog, but it's just, it's not fluid. It's like a hard to one side to the other side. One side to the other side.

[00:10:37] And the body's also more stiff. That is an alert, anxious tale. It's a sign of I might have a reaction here. I might lunge if things aren't, I'm not helped. Things like that. There's also, I don't love when we talk about dog greetings. If a dog comes up and you see that stiff tail and it's just real stiff and it's just moving a little bit, you usually, it's usually followed with stiff body language.

[00:11:05] And if that's happening, say at the dog park, I'm gonna fuck you guys. Yeah, let's break this up quick. I'm gonna be real silly and real goofy and see if I can get some relaxed in there because yeah, that can often go depending on, again, the other dog, the how the other dog is gonna read it. It can go to chaser play or it can go to an argument.

[00:11:25] It's just like the heckles where that's all that stiffness and that tension. It can go either way, but I'm gonna try to help sway that to, let's go run and play or shake it off. Let's loosen this up bottom language, which I love to talk about is the shake up, but let's loosen it up. Yeah. So yeah, a wagging tail.

[00:11:43] You need to know the contents, you need to know your dog. You need to know the situation. It's not always a happy tale. And then of course the opposite is a low tuck tail. Nervous, fearful, scared, lack of confidence, things like that. There is a relaxed down tail. So my CLE eyes. And many Huskies, it always, one of them has a very curly tail.

[00:12:07] I call it her cinnamon roll. So it is typed curly. Yeah. But if she's scared or nervous, it'll be down and then it'll loosen. She's, yeah, it'll loosen. Which I rarely see that she's, pretty confident. But when she's relaxed, sometimes I, always laugh when I see it down. When she's really relaxed with, it just looks so unnatural.

[00:12:28] But they, just because it's down doesn't always mean she's scared. And with her tails, she also, again, it's tight. She has different waxs as well. She has like a half wa she has a full wa there's a lot of different swags, but I have to learn her. It's very different than her brother's tail right now.

[00:12:46] They're the same breed 

[00:12:48] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: we see. Ones that are higher content poodle or full poodles, they have this tail that kind of just kinks up. And it's often groomed with a bush at the bottom. And I find it impossible to tell the angle like that it's physically interesting, impossible for that tail to tuck under and it can never hang loose.

[00:13:08] It's always erect and hangs over their 

[00:13:11] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: back . 

[00:13:12] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And so for those I'm watching for the speed and the style of the full body. So when you're talking about that tick, tick, tick, I can watch for that. I don't have the advantage of seeing where it's laying, but I could see where the rest of their body is.

[00:13:28] And that's what I find myself doing a lot with the doodles is watching for the looseness or the tension in the full body as a lot of the other micro signals can be harder to 

[00:13:38] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: catch. Yeah. And again, that's dialect, right dial. I love using that word as dialect of that breed that it, they're all speaking the same, but there's.

[00:13:47] Little differences that we need to tune into and pay attention to, I'd be aware of. 

[00:13:52] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And with docked tails, when it's just the little nub or barely anything at all, how do you 

[00:13:56] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: read those? I would also refer back to speed. Obviously depending on docked. It just depends on how long it is, but 

[00:14:05] it's not my, go-to in reading dog language when the tale is very short. So say like on a Frenchie or something like that. Yeah. It's not, my first go-to. . 

[00:14:16] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: But yeah. When those little nubs really get going, it's a delay. 

[00:14:19] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: I know, right? ? I agree. They're so stinking cute. He's actually, he's coming to stay with me starting tonight, but he's got a little extra long nub and I love it.

[00:14:28] Cause when he's happy, it's just the cutest little thing. It's like an extra digit. It's so cute. Yeah. and it I, joke that it's his confidence way. It's his confidence meter. He's kinda, yeah. He's been learning a lot and building confidence. Especially with enrichment. So you can see him like thinking.

[00:14:45] And then when he starts to get it like that nov it's oh, this is how you do it. I got it. Like he, it's his little proud meter . 

[00:14:54] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Oh, you can tell when Emily and I get together how we talk about dogs. . So if we're talking more about reading, interplay between dogs when they get together, what do you look for to see, is everybody having a good time or not?

[00:15:10] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: So yeah, I look for role reversal and listening to each other. I do a lot of dog interactions here at my place too, with helping people learn that and read that. And again, I wanna see dogs communicating and if not, I'm gonna help them maybe create more space or go for a walk and change that up too.

[00:15:32] Again, not all dogs are gonna get along, but if they're struggling, there's also things we can do to help communicate. So if I have a overbearing dog who's a little too much for say, yeah, moosh, My dog, right? My dog, moosh. I'm gonna work on maybe if, I have another person, we're gonna go for a walk together and we're gonna go for a walk and just coexist in that.

[00:15:56] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Just a parallel interaction, just 

[00:15:58] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: a parallel walk. Let them get some yahoos out, see that he is fine. And then in the yard, if they're coming over and hey, we need to hang out, I might actually put up just a, or in my house, even a baby gate first and let them do some interaction that way. Let them work through some of that.

[00:16:15] If there was tension in the beginning before, I expect them to totally coexist. Yes. Now I also watch, again, space being respected if this dog is still too much and Moha said, okay, I've said, no, I'm struggling. I'm gonna maybe give some breaks or I'm gonna look for the point where that they can coexist and Moosh can just decide to say no, and I'm gonna go to this bed and I'm gonna also give him his safe.

[00:16:42] Place. So if that dog tries to come up to him, I'm gonna reroute. Things like that. That's like the, I guess I went on the far end of like when they don't get along. 

[00:16:51] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: But what you're describing there is a really important tactic when somebody brings home a new puppy and they have an adult dog of, it is not your adult dog's job to teach the puppy and discipline them and stuff.

[00:17:04] Your adult dog didn't really ask for this. And they have a right to have their own space and not be, it's like a teenager and a toddler being made to have play dates. 

[00:17:13] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: And that's right now my dogs are going through a transition with us. watching some dogs and moose's body language. Again, both, they're very clear in their body language.

[00:17:24] Yeah. And very clear. Sometimes it's appropriate, sometimes it's inappropriate. And if it's inappropriate it's, okay, Emily, you need to help out and interject because he's not able to, he's given his warning signs and he's know this dog's not listening. And now I know Moosh is gonna get a little too snappy.

[00:17:40] Like I know my dog's limits. Yes. But I l , I joke that I love when I see grouchy moosh because I know he's able to handle it versus he has sometimes where he's enough and it he gets too much and he just walks around. His ears are a little choppy and he's just kinda. Fine. I'll just go, Marvin was so quiet before, I know.

[00:18:04] But he, can remove himself from the situation a lot of the times. And those are big coping skills and body language skills that he's had to develop and feel comfortable that it works too. Versus snapping and biting and things like that too. So again there's, just a such a range of that body language.

[00:18:21] I, know he's not super happy, but I know he's able to deal with it because he's cruising over. He puts himself on his bed and he is okay, I'm just, if I just sit over here and do nothing, I know I can handle life right now. . 

[00:18:36] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And when you talk about reciprocal play, I see that as not just one dog chasing the other one isn't always getting rolled.

[00:18:43] Correct. That if one is chasing, then the other one chases back and if one rolls on their back, the other one rolls on their back and they mirror each other's 

[00:18:51] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: play. Yeah. And I think Some dogs can figure out how to play with lots of different breeds. And some dogs can't. Yes. So role reversal is super important.

[00:19:06] And that's I, have a puppy that we've been working with and teaching the puppy role reversal versus always just being the pushy one, right? So that's important as well. I think taking breaks again, if they're not getting it, things like that, and then starting back up. But you have to also keep in mind, not every breed plays alike.

[00:19:26] So you might have a little bit of different. , random, sporadic of this chases and then they wrestle. Or I often see that last night was a great example. A dog came over for interaction and ta Connie was very appropriate with this dog. He's a lot bigger than her. And she played about, oh, she bounced around him and said, let's play.

[00:19:47] And he was like, Ooh, I don't really know. And so she backed off. Then she would come play Bow again, and then she'd play bow and ran away. So she was trying to get him to chase. So she was trying a couple different methods to be like, what do you like buddy? What works for you? Yeah, what works for you? But not all breeds, not all dogs have those skills and Right.

[00:20:08] And that can be when we talk about where our dogs came from, we talk about our breeds, our histories. And that's something to keep in mind too. So she did great, but that dog never reciprocated Last night he said I, actually don't wanna play. And she eventually gave him a space and just ignored him.

[00:20:24] Great. And looking at that too. And yeah, we wanted them to play. That was the goal, but he wasn't into it. And then we look at, let's talk about like other breeds. So I have some boxers I'm working on socialization with, and they've been hard because Yeah. I don't know if you've know anything about boxers and how boxers play, they box.

[00:20:44] Yeah. The name comes for a reason. . And they're kinda like doodles, but they're, a little bit more hot on it. Like they just, they'll just slap you in the face, . So that could be, why wouldn't every dog love that ? Or I have another dog, Remy, who has come so far. I love this dog to pieces a good client dog and he's very mouthy.

[00:21:09] Now I think this is another good hot topic to talk about when we talk about dogs' play styles, because mouthy scares a lot of people. 

[00:21:18] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Teeth and it feels like, is that aggression? Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:21:22] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: And it. Again, there's a line of, it can be, it cannot, it can escalate. He's a rough player and he's a Mandy player, so with him, if he gets to play, it is very specific play dates with very specific dogs.

[00:21:38] Yes. We've been trying to integrate him into Connie and they are lovely together on walks when we've talked about this, how do you do it when you know they have different play styles? They're lovely together on walks. They can play for about three to five seconds and then that's it, , and then we take a break and then we hang out in the yard and then we let them play for about three to five seconds.

[00:22:00] Yes, because after that he's also 80 pounds into Connie's 25 pounds and he likes to throw his weight around. Yeah. So again, there's play cells just aren't compatible. What we're trying to teach Remy is can you lighten up, can you learn? To listen when one to Connie says, no, that is too rough and that is too hard for me.

[00:22:21] And can he learn to be a little bit more gentle? 

[00:22:25] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And I interrupt the mouthy ones when they're closing and pulling. Or closing or 

[00:22:30] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: pulling. Oh yeah. That's not okay. Yeah. Mouthing 

[00:22:32] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: should to me look like open. Ah, And there's often a lot of vocalization with it. Yes. And you might even 

[00:22:41] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: hear a little Yes.

[00:22:42] Which could, if they're like, ah, yeah. If their body 

[00:22:45] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: is loose and it's reciprocal, we're good. Yeah. Yes. But it sounds scary. I often tell clients, if you really wanna understand your dog's body language, watch a video of them. Unmute if you have a vocal dog, because , we could get really distracted by some of the noises they're making.

[00:23:04] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: and I agree. The mouthy, there's Yeah. They shouldn't be biting and pulling. That's a novo for me. Yeah. And sometimes you get that with hurting breeds and things like that, so I'm very, sensitive to that. Watching for that. But it's all, yeah, it's open mouth and sometimes you get some like clink tea thing, but it's just like this, like weird I don't know, it's not my favorite type of play.

[00:23:27] My dogs don't play that way, but yeah, it's just, and it's loud and it's intimidating. But if a dog, again, if the other dog is enjoying it, you're gonna see body language back that I can handle this and I'm okay with this. Versus to, Connie will tell, say, okay, I can hang on this long, but that's enough.

[00:23:46] And she'll, tell 'em off appropriately. Yeah. But, yeah, not every dog's gonna be okay with that. And you need to be able to read that and feel comfortable and things like that too, which is hard. It takes. Time and patience and comfortableness. And the first time we did that, I think his mom almost had a heart attack.

[00:24:06] She was like, you're gonna let this happen? I'm like, yeah, I trust him. Like I've been working with you guys for a two years. I trust him. I would never let a dog interact that I didn't feel confident in my skills. But yeah I, definitely, and I get it all the time too, and I'm sure you do too.

[00:24:26] Oh, we went to the dog park and there's every kind of dog owner or dog parent as well. So there are, there's the very loosey goosey parents where maybe their dog's behavior is a little more bratty. So maybe a little bit more nipping happening or not listening to signals of saying, no, thank you. We're kidding.

[00:24:44] Or pinning, things like that. And then you have the over, over the top what do you call helicopter parent. There we go. Yes, . Like any little, like vocal coming from any dog is like freaking out. And that's again, why the dog part can be very challenging, that you have this big spectrum. And a lot of times when I'm there too, are interacting with my clients.

[00:25:07] I say they're fine, they're dogs. They're, talking, they're figuring it out. They're fine. Right now, I'm not always going to interject at the very first sign of Ooh, are they gonna be a match or not? 

[00:25:18] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Great. And what you're talking about is having a balance and we all have a level of risk tolerance with our dogs or our kids or what have you.

[00:25:28] Yeah. And I am not too risk tolerant. I'm more prone to, if I'm seeing the head over the shoulder, and no. So by the, can you explain a little head over the shoulder for 

[00:25:43] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: our listeners? Yeah. Head over his shoulder often goes with that body language we talked about earlier about stiff tail, stiff body.

[00:25:51] So head over the shoulder is a very dominating move. If you think about us doing it to our dogs, that's why a lot of dogs don't like the hand coming over their hip. It's very alpha, very dominating, very intimidating. Very. I might eat you. So head over a dog comes over to another dog and they place their head right over their neck.

[00:26:12] They're basically being a bully to for better terms and being like, heck, I can steal your lunch money. Are you gonna do anything about it? And it just again, depending on your dog and how soft your dog the, reciprocating dog may be, that could either kill, crush some confidence on that dog.

[00:26:34] Or if you have a dog that's yeah, no, I can also take your money. We might actually have a fight. Can you repeat 

[00:26:42] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: that one more time for us? Sorry. 

[00:26:44] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: If you have a soft dog. A soft dog, it might lower their confidence even more so have them a harder time interacting with dogs. And being like I don't know what this dog's gonna do.

[00:26:56] And then if we have a dog that has more confidence that says, oh you wanna steal my lunch money? Guess what I want? I want what's in your lunch too. And then might have a little bit of an argument. 

[00:27:07] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Yes. So I like to interrupt and redirect as needed. Yes. I am not one that with my kids either.

[00:27:15] Just let it work it out. I like teaching. As opposed to helicopter and swooping in and being like, not my baby. I don't do that either. . Yeah. But I like to coach and intervene as needed. 

[00:27:28] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: And even with interrupting, we wanna be cautious of our body language too, because if we come in and we're very tense and very yelling, that can also escalate if there is a concern of that.

[00:27:39] So again, being silly, being playful, Hey, let's go and call whatever it's calling your dog and being like, huh, let's go this way. And keeping it cool during that is better than the, hey real rough and mean. Get off her things like that too. So I'm 

[00:27:57] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: always Yeah. Grabbing the collar and yanking off.

[00:27:59] Yeah. 

[00:27:59] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: Yeah. I'm watching tone, I'm watching my body language, things like that too. Yeah. That I'm not okay with nipping of like back legs. I'm not a big fan of really rough play. I also, depending on the dogs, sometimes I'll allow it, but it's always very short. I, just won't let dogs play rough for a long time.

[00:28:20] I just it's not something I love. What else? What else in there? And when you're talking 

[00:28:27] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: about what you're looking for with play, if somebody's starting puppy socialization classes, a great way to learn body language in addition to this book is if you have a trainer present that's narrating, I'm seeing this, I'm seeing that, and it's real.

[00:28:42] They're your translator and you're learning the language with them there. And that do short, well-matched play moments. Yeah. Not an hour all out. Everybody just go nuts, 

[00:28:55] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: and size. And there's always a shy dog. There's always. I hate the term bully, but a overconfident dog, I guess you could say. You're always gonna have a variety.

[00:29:06] And a little bit of exposure is good, but it needs to be highly monitored and in a controlled setting. A hundred percent. That's why I actually am not a fan of dogs going to dog parks at a young age. So they need to be socialized. But I do not agree with dog parks is a place to socialize your puppy.

[00:29:26] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: I agree. Or the grumpy neighbors dog who's an adult. I, mean it's just, you wouldn't send your two year old on an adult with a 20 on a play date with a 25 year old. They're just playing different and they have different speeds and it's not setting either of them up for happiness. 

[00:29:46] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: I'll counter to that a little bit.

[00:29:48] Mi is pretty dang good with puppies, . Oh no, that's wonderful. And 

[00:29:51] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: when I'm saying grumpy, so would 

[00:29:54] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: you call her grumpy with. She actually likes puppies, which is funny, but not, but she can't not doodles. I dunno about a doodle. She hasn't met a doodle puppy in a long time. . Trying to think about that.

[00:30:06] I know. She's so funny. She loves Chihuahuas. Oh, you bring her chihuahua, she'll be your best friend. But with puppies. But here's a caveat. She likes puppies, but she can't play with a puppy. Like she, she tries to zoom me and she's got her arthritic legs and she'll try and, but she's really good with puppies, with interacting and being sweet with them.

[00:30:31] But she's good with setting boundaries as I don't know, she just has this I'm old and I'm wise, and so puppies don't harass her too much. So she's done really well with that. And if they do, she'll correct them appropriately. Which I'm okay with. So I think she's actually, again, a decent one.

[00:30:49] But not all, older dogs. I have somebody I'm working with right now who has an older dog and they got a new dog and it's been a big struggle and things like that. And this older dog was being overcorrecting. And that's where 

[00:31:01] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: have a thing and put in that 

[00:31:02] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: position. Yeah. And, pinning the puppy and that's not okay at all.

[00:31:07] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And I think what you're describing actually is true that a lot of older dogs could be more patient with a puppy. They almost get a little jet, get outta jail free card. A little bit, but that's not the only kind of dog we want. Are puppies socialize with No, like puppy to puppy play 

[00:31:24] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: is absolutely important.

[00:31:25] So different. Different, yes. Different breeds, different puppies. Not just one-on-one like your, just your neighbor's puppy. , 

[00:31:31] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: especially if you have a little shark ad doodle at home, your little land shark that's trying to tear up your own skin. Giving them that outlet to be able to play with their mouths in an appropriate way, yeah, is wonderful.

[00:31:45] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: Yeah. And I, have a lot of clients with the puppies and one of 'em was working on a lot of socialization and she goes I think he's good this one person said he's way too mouthy. Can we do one of our sessions? He come interact with your dogs. I said, absolutely. She goes, I really want your read on this body language.

[00:32:07] And again, that's the good kind. The parents that I wanna see yeah, let unicorn, let's eyes on it. Yeah, let's get those eyes on it and get a reassurance, not just from your neighbor who thinks they're a dog they've had five dogs, so they're a dog expert. Reach out to somebody. You can even do it virtually and be like, Hey, would you mind assessing this video for me?

[00:32:28] Yes, we can tell a lot of body language even in videos as well, like you've mentioned, watching a video without sound, things like that. That is very, important when you are looking at your puppies and you're not sure what's normal puppy behavior or what might be over the top. , 

[00:32:46] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: and I think that's a brilliant use of virtual training, which has really exploded in availability of being able to show even I've got my new puppy with my adult dog.

[00:32:55] Can I send you a couple videos? Yeah. While they're totally relaxed, there's not a stranger in the home and you can see what their true dynamic is. I know, Emily, you actually offer virtual training and if someone wanted to work with you, how could they reach out to do 

[00:33:10] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: yeah. So virtual training all new clients start with a new client orientation and actually this kind of goes in pair with this.

[00:33:16] I always focus on training the people first before jumping into the dogs. And in that we talk about body language, we talk about how dogs learn, how we speak differently than dogs do. That's a very important concept to understand and, looking at those expectations and learning how to speak our dogs' dialect.

[00:33:35] And then from there everything's on my website, so we'll have that in the show notes here. Yes. But you can go to my website and go to my services pages and you'll see the new client consult. And then I do, after that I do follow up weekly Zoom sessions as well. Wonderful. 

[00:33:51] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And so someone could send you their video.

[00:33:54] You can help translate for them what's 

[00:33:56] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: going on with their dog. Absolutely. Absolutely. 

[00:33:59] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: So if you've gone to the end of our interview and you think you've learned some things about decoding your dog's body language, I'll have in the show notes our quiz that Emily and I put together, and you can see if you've been able to interpret your dog's body language more successfully after listening to our interview.

[00:34:19] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: Corin also, I think we can toss in the show notes too, if you're cool. The A S P C A yes. Made a great dog video going over speaking dog and communications. And so too, if owners wanna dive in a little bit more and watch some dog language with a trainer going over what's happened, that's also perfect.

[00:34:40] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: A great. That's wonderful. I recommend people do not turn to social media and TikTok there is for interpreting dog body language. There's a lot of yeah, unqualified opinions on there about body language in particular. So I'm Thank you for that resource. I'll certainly add that in. 

[00:35:01] Emily Martin- Pawsitively Pets: Yeah. Yeah. Social media can be a pretty, pretty crazy, a lot of dogs and babies doing things that make me very nervous.

[00:35:08] It's 

[00:35:08] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: true. Emily, it's so nice having you join us again. Thank you so much. And I look forward to looking at the quizzes with everyone as they come in and see how people have learned how to decode their dog's body language. Have a good one. Thank you. 

[00:35:23] Are you ready to test your knowledge on decoding dog, body language? Head over to our quiz@thedoodlepro.com slash body. And see how well you can read dog body language.

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