Euro Puppy's Blog

Ask the average person to tell you whether a dog is happy or not, and they will advise you to look at its tail -- if the dog is happy, the tail is wagging. Yes. But this is only partly true. Some tail wags have totally different meanings. This can be especailly important in understanding canine body language.

- A rapid tail wag, where the tail swings from side-to-side in a not very large, but constant way, is actually a sign of excitement rather than pleasure.

- A moderately fast, broad tail wag: the dog is trying to say either "I’m pleased" or "I like you."

- A slight tail wag with the tail held at its normal height, for example, usually appears when greeting someone. It can be interpreted as "Hello there," but can mean "I see you looking at me. You like me, don’t you?"

-A slow tail wag with the tail held lower than its usual height is a sign of insecurity. It often shows up when a dog is working on a problem -- trying to understand what is going on. During dog training, this can be interpreted as "I’m trying to understand you. I want to know what you mean, but I can’t quite figure it out (yet)."

- Once the dog finally solves the problem, the speed and size of the tail wags will usually increase until it becomes the broad wag that we interpret as happiness!

"My husband and I are either going to buy a dog or have a child. We can't decide whether to ruin our carpets or to ruin our lives." - Rita Rudner

Newfoundland Dog: Nana from Peter Pan (1904- )

Nana was the Newfoundland dog belonging to the Darling Family in the Peter Pan story by J. M. Barrie. Nana howled to alert Wendy's parents that the children were flying away. Mr. Darling ignored the warning of Nana and was so remorseful at the loss of the children that he slept in the kennel in Nana's place until their safe return. Nana - like her breed- is a loving, family-oriented Newfoundland and a lovely character in the story. A St. Bernard was used as a canine actor in the movie version of the story, but everyone knew (or was supposed to know) that she was supposed to be a black Newfoundland Dog like in the book.

This poem caught my eye...and I had to share it. It deals with something that is important to any dog lover: how to deal with the topic of dog attacks and the bad blood caused by the media...Food for thought!