A dog’s body language or behavioral cues can tell you a lot about how it is feeling at any given time.
If you want to understand your dog better and develop a deeper bond with it, reading these cues will provide clues as to how you can connect with and even ease your pet’s emotional and mental landscape.
While the eyes are supposed to be the windows to the soul, a dog’s ear position can give you an even better idea of its emotions.
If you have ever wondered why do dogs put their ears back, they do so for a variety of reasons—all depending on their emotional state at that time.
We will delve into those reasons and tell you how to make your dog feel more comfortable and calmer.
Let’s dive in!
Importance of Understanding a Dog’s Ear Expressions
A dog puts its ears back for many different reasons—understanding why can help you know your dog and its needs.
And you can take the right action to make your pet feel more confident and relaxed.
To read the cues from a dog’s ear position, you must factor in other visual cues. Doing so will tell you more about what it is trying to communicate when observed in conjunction with its ear position.
These signals include noting what its eyes and tail are doing, its stance (if it is leaning away from you or is hunched or crouched), facial muscles (relaxed or tense), and so on.
Ears Pointed Back – What Does It Mean?
Here are a few reasons that your dog’s ears may be pulled back:
1. Contentment
Some canine breeds do not have naturally pointed ears. So if they are relaxed and content, their ears will be pulled back in their natural resting position but not pinned flat against the skull.
In this case, other signals to check for include a soft face with relaxed muscles, a loose stance, and a relaxed tail but not curled between the legs.
2. Fear or Anxiety
A dog may put its ears back due to fear, anxiety, or nervousness.
In this case, you will also see other fearful or nervous body language cues, including yawning, lip licking, pulling back the corners of the lips, averting its eyes or fully turning its face away to avoid eye contact, squinting, panting, trembling, or attempting to retreat, hide, or escape.
A fearful or anxious dog may also have a stiff or lowered tail, a furrowed brow, whale eye, or dilated pupils.
3. Listening
A dog’s ears may be pulled back if it is straining to hear something. You may often see this happen when you are outdoors with your dog and there are a lot of noises around.
4. Warning
If a dog puts its ears back and pins it down flat, it may be giving you a warning that it is about to bite.
You will also see aggressive or fearful body language accompanying this cue, such as snarling, growling, lip curling, bristling fur, hard stares, and lunging.
5. Sickness or Injury
If a dog is injured or feeling ill, it may put its ears back to communicate its discomfort and pain. It could also be fearful of someone approaching it in this vulnerable state, which may be a cause for aggression.
In some instances, a dog may also put its ears back due to pain in its ears due to a severe ear infection.
6. Sadness
If your dog is feeling sad, it may tuck its ears down close to the sides of its head.
It may be experiencing separation anxiety when you leave the house for a trip or if it is on a leash and unable to play and run around.
7. Courting
A male dog may pull its ears back in the presence of a female dog that it is interested in.
This visual cue is its way of expressing to the female dog that it wishes to court her.
How To Make Your Dog Feel Comfortable
There is no need to intervene if a dog puts its ears back to listen or as a sign of contentment. This is normal behavior that you do not have to worry about.
But if your dog pulls back its ears as a warning that it is about to bite, do not scold or yell at it.
Most dogs that bite usually do so to protect themselves rather than launch an offensive. Shouting at your dog or punishing it will only make its anxiety worse.
Instead, you can try to identify the cause of its discomfort or fear and make it feel calmer and more comfortable. For example, if crowds or cramped spaces are making your dog aggressive, try to clear the space or move away.
When you’re home, you can use positive reinforcement and basic obedience training to help your dog feel more confident around crowds and strangers.
The same goes for your dog’s anxious or fearful behavior. Identify the trigger and then do your best to limit exposure to alleviate your dog’s stress.
If it is suffering from an anxiety disorder, an injury, or a health issue, it is best to seek professional help from a veterinary behaviorist who will suggest the right treatment plan for your pet.
Conclusion
Observing your dog’s ear position can give you clues to help you understand your dog’s emotions and needs.
This can help you build a better relationship with your pet and keep it happy, healthy, and calm.
We hope our guide helped you understand why do dogs put their ears back. If you enjoyed reading it, check out our other guides and articles on our website.
Also, share this blog post with your friends and other pet lovers you know.
Dan is a well respected content researcher who has vast experience working projects in the pets niche. He is a frequent contributor to dogtemperament.com and loves delivering numerous helpful dog articles like this one that are read by thousands of our readers monthly.