Key Points Dog trainer Taylor Reardon educates owners on reading canine body language via TikTok series.

She distinguishes avoidance (polite) behaviors from confrontation (aggressive) signals in dogs.

Recognizing these signs strengthens bonds and helps prevent escalation in dog behavior.

Our pup’s body language can reveal a great deal about how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, and what their current needs are. Sometimes they are hungry. Others they are anxious, want to play, or are just plain uncomfortable. Often, they need us to figure out exactly what it all means, and make them feel safe.

While we try to pay attention to every little huff and puff and body movement, it’s not always easy to know exactly what they are saying. One dog trainer has made it her mission to help pet owners clear up the confusion surrounding their dog’s behavior with a multi-part series on TikTok.

🐶SIGN UP to get “pawsitivity” delivered right to your inbox with inspiring & entertaining stories about our furry & feathered friends🐾🐾

Learning Your Dog’s Body Language

Oops! We’re unable to load this content right now. View directly on TikTok

Taylor Reardon, known as @sit_stay_tay on TikTok, is a certified dog trainer and service dog instructor. While she trains dogs locally in Georgia, she also does some travel training plus shares her knowledge with her loyal followers on Instagram and TikTok.

In Part 2 of her dog behavior series, Taylor discusses the distinction between avoidance and confrontation. Her focus is on helping pet parents keep their pups on the polite side of the canine aggression scale and avoiding escalation altogether. Avoidance is on the polite or green side of the scale, while confrontation takes it into the red side of the scale, aggression.

Signs of Avoidance

Taylor points out that most aggressive behavior stems from feelings of fear. A person, animal, noise, or situation scares the dog, so they rely on their survival instincts. Taylor says that avoidance can be something as “simple as your dog turning their head away.” She continues, ” That could be in the context of you actively petting their head, and they begin to turn away.

She adds that it could be you petting a different part of their body, like their back or sides. But the avoidant action to be aware of is the turning of the head in the opposite direction. Strangers reaching for them could also trigger the avoidant behavior.

She explains it in terms that are easier for pet parents to understand, saying that facing the camera is her way of being active and engaging with others, as it is something she genuinely wants to do. Her turning her head away from the camera would indicate that she was disengaging or no longer interested in the initial interaction.

Another way dogs avoid situations is to walk away. The act of walking away is their way of politely creating distance between themselves and the uncomfortable situation. Walking away is just one step that leads to other avoidance behaviors, such as nose licking, lip licking, and fake yawning.

Taylor does say that you need to think about context when it comes to these behaviors. Obviously, if you’re dog has had a long day and it’s late in the evening the yawn as they curl up on their bed is likely real, whereas the situations that would elicit a fake yawn are vastly different.

Signs of Confrontation in Dogs

Next, Taylor talks a bit about what confrontation looks like. In the “danger zone” is biting, which is the top of the behavioral ladder. However, there are things that often happen before your pup gets to biting.

Snapping and growling often proceed a bite. While many people may think that their dog’s aren’t aggressive so they don’t need to worry about the signs of confrontation, however, Taylor says that it is incredibly important to learn these signs. Whether you have a regular pup or a therapy pup, you have to be able to see the signs and advocate for them.

She says, “Even the sweetest therapy dog in the world has their own emotional bowling point.” She elaborates that when dogs can select the avoidance option, they can avoid confrontation, which keeps them and other dogs safe, especially when they are leashed.

Being able to identify the signs that you’re dog is uncomfortable is a skill all dog owners can brush up on whether they have one dog or ten, and many of the dog owners in the comments agree. The majority were thankful for the information saying that it’s helped so much with bonding and understanding their dogs. Others asked questions that Taylor was kind enough to answer and help them better understand what’s going on with their dogs and move toward a solution.

To echo what many of her fans have said, I too look forward to seeing more in this series. It’s so helpful and a great reminder to take be more aware of your dog’s actions and what to do when you notice discomfort.