You’ve probably heard the saying, “Eyes are the window to the soul.”
When it comes to our dogs, I think their ears are the window to the soul!
Have you ever watched your dog’s ears? Like really, closely studied them? They tell you so much about what they’re thinking or how they’re feeling. I could write a whole book about my dogs’ ears. Though no one would read it. Except maybe John, and even he’d probably get bored by chapter 2.
Anyway!
When Lucas is happy, like on a walk with his buddy Turk, they loosely flop up and down.
When he’s nervous, unsure, or frightened, they stick straight out and droop down. We call that look “umbrella ears.”
His curious look results in a Dumbo ear situation.
With all three of them, I can see them tilt their ears like tiny little satellite dishes to listen to what I’m doing in the house. If they hear a strange noise outside, they pivot an ear to hear that, too.
Learning to “read” Lucas’ ears has been huge for us as we help him navigate and overcome his fears. He cries and whines a lot – whether he’s excited or terrified – so knowing which ear position means happy and which ear position means “get me outta here” has helped tremendously.
Emmett’s funniest ear situation is when he’s super exhausted, his right ear flops forward and bends in the middle. We call it having a “broken ear.”
What do you think Cooper’s ears are saying here?
I believe this look means, “I didn’t chew that hole in the rug. It was there when I got here. Promise.”
And, lastly, here’s an ear-related flashback to when Cooper was a wee little one.
What about your dogs? Are their ear movements as noticeable and dramatic as Lucas’? Have you named any ear positions or are we the only crazy people who have done so?
So, what I get from this is that Cooper broke Emmett’s right ear by chewing on it?
OK, but in all seriousness, this is awesome! All of our dogs have folded ears, and I’m not sure we can tell as well as you can with Lucas, but now I’ll be paying more attention!
Let me know what you discover when you pay attention! 🙂 It’s a cute and addictive hobby!
Baby Cooper is so cute 😉 I love to watch the ears on cats and dogs . . It seems like my cats have more expressive ears than Cali although it used to crack me up when she would pull them all the way back as if she is saying “are you crazy . .you’re not putting that on me” when we would try to put a gentle leader on her . . .poor baby!!
I don’t know cats as well as dogs, Julie, but I bet that’s totally true!! I’d love to know what your cats’ ears are telling you!
I hadn’t really thought of it, but I think you are so right. I was just walking one of our rescue dogs the other day, and she has these bunny-rabbit ears, and I was just watching her and they were so much like antenna trying to figure out everything going on.
Awww! So sweet! I love bunny-rabbit ears! 🙂
Elka’s ears definitely transmit all sorts of things! Every once in awhile we grab ’em and reposition them, to “change the signal”.
I do so love dog ears!
Haa!! Jen, that’s hilarious!
Oh, I love this! My Bella’s ears just SLAY me. We call it having a ‘good ear day’ or sometimes a bad ‘ear-do’. They never point in the same direction, from almost flat back (“do. not. like.”) to your Emmett’s broken flop (“Wait, what?”) to straight up (“Want!”) but not always both ears at the same time.
Learning her ears has been a big help to me in understanding when she’s happy and when she’s afraid (or just being crabby). It’s at least as important as her eyes, probably more so.
Leslie, I love it!! Good ear day and bad ear-do are PERFECT! Thanks for sharing!
Yes!! Both the girls’ ears can say a lot. Which, given that they are mostly long and droopy is surprising.
I absolutely agree!!
Dogs ears can say so much, knowing how to read your dogs ear language is extremely helpful, dogs can hear things way before we do and alert you of danger, they also tell you how your dog is feeling; happy, sad, nervous, afraid, alert, exited, sick or others.
If you are on the street or outdoors they can alert you of things you can’t see or hear yet; just to mention a few of the many great benefits related to knowing how to identify the message behind your dog’s ears and body language in general, to me it a “feature” I love, it’s helpful and cute, I which many more dog owners could learn how to understand their dog’s body language, it is the key to creating clear ways of communication and build a strong bond.
Holly’s ears are the half-cocked kind. Her “unhappy” ears look just like Lucas’ “umbrella” but my favorite is her “keyed-up” ears– they rotate all the way up on top of her head and her forehead wrinkles in the middle. However, this can either be keyed-up excited (“OMG a squirrel!”) or keyed-up nervous (“I smell the people across the hall who don’t like me!”) so I have to look at her tail to see which it is. Or, you know, see the squirrel.
Ears are so expressive. I’m also a big watcher.
That’s why I’m so sad to see dogs with cropped ears. They’re losing a major form of communication. It would be like removing the voice box of a person.
Elka has cropped ears, which has given her something like a 200 degree range of motion with them (she can’t quite spin them in a full circle, so I hesitate to say it’s 300-something). She seems pretty expressive to me!
The uber short “pit” crops, though, I do get sad when I see those, and agree. A dog with hardly any ear left must be hampered in that regard.