06/06/2026
"All good ☺️They're not growling"
Hang on.
Some dogs can and do growl in play.
It can be completely normal.
"So how can I tell"?
It can be tricky to tell the difference between healthy play and those interactions that are something else entirely.
There are some areas we can look at to help us decipher.
➡️Immediate posture changes/rigidity/stillness
Some dogs pause, go still and then explode with loose and wiggly movements. That’s often play.
The problematic kind of rigidness is different.
It can linger for longer.
Even when the other dog is showing everyway they can "all's good here".
That stillness and posture is "tight".
It can come with hard stares, leaning or standing over.
Stiff body posture from either dog, even the one on the ground.
That’s not play
➡️When high energy switches to frantic.
Chasing and being chased. Some dogs love this.
There can be an energy change with chasing that we need to watch for though.
It can turn.
It can become far more frantic and direct.
If one dog is always the chaser, and when they catch the other, the tone changes, the body language tightens, the movements escalate and it stops looking mutual?
That’s when caution is needed.
We don't want to stop dogs playing but we do need to recognise when it's no longer fun for all dogs involved.
