Confidence in dogs can hardly manifest itself in a single large, melodramatic scene. More frequently, it is a constellation of small, insignificant acts which manifest themselves on normal days-on walks, on home, gloomy evenings or on slightly stressful situations such as a visit to the vet.
Due to the physical nature of canine communication, one and the same signal can have different connotations under different circumstances. When the entire body of the dog and the context are taken into consideration, reading trust cues works best.
1. Soft, relaxed eye contact
When a dog gazes upon someone with a soft eye relaxed eyelids, kind expression, easy face, etc. it usually indicates good feeling and emotional security. Such eye contact does not appear as a hard stare that might indicate tension or guarding. It is also unlike a dog that keeps moving its eyes, which is a relaxing move when one is faced with uncertainty. During a trusting instant the look of the dog seems easy and undress, and is commonly accompanied by a loose mouth and an indifferent attitude. One of the easiest ones is that the dog is safe in being attached.
2. Slow, full-body tail wag (not a fast twitch)
Tail wagging is often misinterpreted, since a wag may only indicate emotional excitement and not happiness. Body language counts: a long, loose, side-side movement that appears to lift the hips is typical of a greeting that is relaxed whereas when a motion is rapid and tight, it can be regarded as a sign of increased arousal. The height of the tail is also important, and the height of the tail should be neutral (depending on the breed), rather than extremely high and stiff. There are dogs who include a helicopter type movement in which the tail spins on greeting a favorite human being.
3. Voluntary check-ins in distractions
A dog that runs around and whenever he or she sees something he turns to look at him is not just being inquisitive, he is demonstrating more. A dog check-in assists in the reconnection of the dog, giving the dog direction, and splitting attention without calling the dog to attention. This can be particularly significant when one is outside and the senses and movement are competing. Frequent check-in is likely to demonstrate that the dog considers that individual to be a good point of reference. This glance may be as brief as a look and resume of search, or may be a momentary pause and the dog goes on.
4. Deciding to sleep along side (or completely stretched) the individual
Sleep is a weak position and dogs will guard themselves in case they do not feel secure. When a dog sleeps with a loose body often, on his side, stretched out, or otherwise uncurled, it is a sign of safety in the surrounding and the people around him. There is also a tendency of many dogs to become intimate as long as they believe that they are safe and may even get into the same room without necessarily seeking to interact with others. It is the big picture that counts, loose muscles, relaxed breathing, and the feeling that the dog does not have to be on guard.
5. Giving out a toy without supervising it
Taking a favorite toy to an individual may be a call to play, or be showing trust in resources. When dogs are not threatened, they usually do not resist, grab, or take the toy at least in the short run without stiffening or standing on their guard. This is unlike with a dog that will drop a toy and freeze immediately over it, or one that will keep turning away to cover it. During a trustful exchange, the body of the dog remains soft, and the command to give an offer does not appear like holding, but rather like sharing.
6. Contact lean-in, followed by relaxation
There are dogs that lean over a person with their shoulder, side, or back in a small quiet lean. When this occurs with a loose body, there has been no maniacal pawing of the ground, no flying, it tends to be a grounding behavior. The dog is also near enough to be supportive without being pushy. A great number of dogs accompany the lean in a case of easy sitting, or an easy sit. The thing that has to be observed is the overall tension of the dog: trust also is not pressed and is relaxed.
7. Cues given to the individual (such as slow blink, head turn) to indicate that they should relax
Dogs express discomfort and de-escalation by subtly acting as though they were avoiding something. A motion of turning the head away, blinking or a momentary movement of the body can be a sign that the dog is not sure and needs space signals which are so easily overlooked. What follows is the significant trust machine in that, when the individual believes that message, the dog learns that communication is effective. Demonstrations of how to move their head and blink explain how these small signals make dogs negotiate circumstances without ever progressing to larger responses.
When detected these signals remain small. In the long run, a dog that is listened to will provide more of the soft indications, such as gentle eyes, easy tail-rowning, uninvited visits to the dog, etc., as they are effective and safe.
Provided that these behaviors are accompanied with stress symptoms (such as reputacy of yawning or licking lips when everyone is on edge) then context is the determining variable. Composed trust signals seem informal, non-coercive and agreeable to a dog that feels safe at the moment.
