Two Pug Tails

  • About

Understanding Pug Body Language

July 19, 2022 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

Pug Body Language Explained

how to read your pug's body language

Tail wagging is usually happiness, but not always! Tail wagging shows heightened emotions in a dog, and most dogs will have high emotions when they’re excited to see you, or excited to go for a walk or things like that. However, if you see your dog wagging it’s tail extremely quickly and in short motons this is a sign of VERY heightened emotions and may be a sign of major distress or aggression. The angle of their tail can give you a clue on how happy they are, or not. Happy tail wags are done with their tail really high.


Tail tucking (meaning they have lowered their tail really far down or even between their legs) is fear. If you have a pug who has started to consistently leave their tail down, this can be a sign of pain or pug myelopathy.

Showing their belly is trust…usually. Sometimes it’s a fear response where they are trying to show submission.

Showing their front teeth in a growl/snarl is a warning. They may feel unsafe or protective over their space or belongings. However, this is very different from when a pug’s lip gets stuck and this causes them to show teeth. Most pugs have underbies so it’s easy for their lower teeth to show by accident. When this happens, it is a neutral expression.

pug showing teeth

Here’s an example of when Frank’s teeth were showing just due to his lip getting stuck – there was no aggression here! 

Lots of face-licking. If your dog keeps licking its own face, it can be a sign of nervousness. It could also just be itchy or trying to clean itself. Pug wrinkles require special care, and if not kept up with their faces can get itchy or even infected. Check out my pug wrinkles blog post to learn more. But if there is no physical cause, it’s usually anxiety.

Yawning is often a sign of stress. If your dog is yawning around other dogs or people, make sure they have space to hide or get away from the interaction as they may want to get away.

A relaxed body position (such as laying around) is a sign of a content to happy pug.

A stiff body suggests anxiety, upset or aggression.

Licking your face is a sign of affection.

Raised hackles is a sign of high emotions. Hackles are the strip of hair that run down your dogs spine. If your dog’s fur on that strip are raised, this tells you that they are having heightened emotions, but it could be positive or negative.

Following you around means you are their person! Pugs are bred to be lap dogs so if a pug is following you around 24/7 this means they’ve decided you are their primary person and their job is to sit on your lap and make you happy.

Whining or whimpering. This can be a sign of fear, but is often a way that pugs communicate longing. My pug Frank would whine while sitting next to his food dish when he wanted food. He’d whine when sitting near the exterior door to let us know that he wanted to go outside. He’d look at us and whine if we were sitting on the couch or a chair and he wanted in our laps. If you have a lot of crying happening with your pug, you might want to read my post titled pug crying.

Bottoms up. If your pug puts their front legs down and sticks their rear-end in the air, this is a sign that they want to play.

pug body language when playing

Prancing or walking quickly in a small area, such as doing little laps is a sign of excitement or happiness. My pugs both would prance around in a circle when they were excited to see someone.

Exaggerated sneeze. Pugs can sort of fake-sneeze when they are irritated or annoyed. Frank would do an exaggerated sneeze if we were ignoring him while he wanted in our laps. It was sort of his way of saying “heck you!”

Partially closed eyes or slightly squinting eyes is happiness or calmness.

pug happy body language

Frank is awake but his eyes are so squinted they’re almost closed because he was really enjoying this cuddle and being pet. 

Staring. When dogs stare with wide-eyes for a long time this is a sign of aggression.

Ears back is a sign of anxiety or submission.

pug ears back body language

Beans ears were up and slightly back, here. She did this more as she got older and blind, when she heard or smelled something. She didn’t seem truly afraid, but she would be on guard or cautious more often after losing her sight. 

Ears pushed far forward is aggressive.

Ears up is curiosity or interest.

pug body language ears

Beans and this puppy both had their ears up as they were checking each other out – both were curious and occasionally cautious, but friendly. 

Wiggling ears is often a sign of curiosity or interest. My pugs would wiggle their ears a bit when sniffing something new.

Tilting their head may be a sign that your dog is listening closely! (Source: SmithsonianMag.com)

pug head tilt body language

How pug body language is different from other dogs

Forehead wrinkles are said to be a sign of aggression in most dogs, but pugs have forehead wrinkles all the time.

A tail that is ‘up’ is said to be excitement or aggression, but pugs have upturned tails so their tails’ default or neutral position is up.

Source: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/advice/how-to-read-dog-body-language/

 

 

Can pugs be protective? Can pugs be guard dogs?

July 11, 2022 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

Are Pugs Protective?

Pugs can be somewhat protective. Pugs really live to love their owners. While they are primarily lap dogs, they are very loyal and committed to their people. If they feel that their owner is in danger, they are likely to act protective. That might mean barking at someone who they think is trying to hurt their person, or even biting if they feel it’s necessary.

Can Pugs Be Guard Dogs?

Guards dogs not only warn of danger, but also defend people or property by attacking when needed. Pugs are not good guard dogs.

pug guard dog

Frank would make this wrinkled-nose face whe we were playing with him. It was sort of his response to knowing we were going to “get” him. I always thought it was funny how it was clearly playful if you saw it in person – but in a picture it looks like a growl! 

Why Pugs Aren’t Good Guard Dogs

Guard dogs need to be able to attack if warranted. Pugs have exceptionally small mouths because of their flat faces. Most pugs can’t even get a regular-sized tennis ball in their mouth. A pug would struggle to get their mouth around the average adult person’s arm or ankle, because their mouths are just pretty small. If they could get their mouth around your arm or leg, they would have their mouth really wide open which wouldn’t give them much leverage to bite down hard.

They’re small, and easy for people to defend themselves against. I hate to say it, but if pug were attacking a “bad guy” who was willing to harm the pug, they could easily “win” the fight.

Pugs don’t have a lot of stamina, so most pugs couldn’t chase a “bad guy” very far.

Pugs aren’t usually naturally possessive. Most guard dogs are very conscious of ‘their space’ and are aware of outsiders coming into their home and so on. Pugs aren’t usually bothered by visitors coming into their home as they just aren’t naturally possessive of their space.

Many pugs are very social. Some are so social that they’ll excitedly run-up to the mailman to say hello rather than barking.

My two pugs would only bark when people visited or pulled in our driveway if the person surprised them. If they were sleeping and suddenly heard a loud knock a the door, they’d bark. If they were awake and someone pulled in the driveway, they wouldn’t bark and may or may not even get up to go investigate!

Can Pugs Be Watch Dogs?

Watch dogs just alert people to danger, they don’t have to defend or attack. With that in mind, some pugs can be guard dogs.

Pugs have a deeper bark than you might expect for such a small dog. They don’t have a yappy sound. If someone were to try to break into your house and heard your pug barking but couldn’t see them, they probably won’t mistake them for a really big dog, but they might think they were more of a mid-sized dog…which may be enough to make them hesitate.

Some pugs are really observant and will bark to alert owners if anyone shows up. There’s even a famous story about a pug watch dog! The Spanish attempted to assassinate the first prince William of Orange. William’s pug named Pompey saved him by barking at the attempted assassins. The pug was named the official dog of house orange in honor of Pompey!  (Source: AKC.com. )

Other pugs are just super friendly and don’t see anyone/anything as a threat! So it really depends on the pug.

It can also depend on training. If you want your pug to be a guard dog, you can use training to teach them to bark when people come to your home.

 

 

 

two pug tails blog logo

Welcome to Two Pug Tails! This is a blog all about pugs! I am Emily, I just adore the pug breed. My goal here is to share helpful information about pugs, while also sharing some of my experiences with my pugs Frank and Beans. You can learn more about me and my pugs on my about page if you wish.



Follow Me

Recent Posts

  • Do pugs cause allergies?
  • Understanding Pug Hair Loss: Causes, Treatment, and Prevention
  • Understanding Bow-Legged Pugs: FAQs and Helpful Tips
  • Pug’s Runny Nose: Causes, Remedies, and When to Seek Veterinary Care
  • Best Pug Movies

Categories

  • Products For Pug Lovers
  • Pug Behaviors
  • Pug Care
  • Pug characteristics
  • Pug health
  • Pug owners
  • Pug problems
  • Pug puppies
  • pug training
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in