Do prick ears send wrong message to other dogs?

[bc4ever]

A woman commented recently that she figured dogs probably reacted badly to Scooter because of his ears! She thought his prick ears might be seen as a sign of aggression by other dogs. ??? I know dogs have subtle body language that they use to communicate, but I've never heard this one before. BTW, other dogs don't react badly to Scooter.

[myshkin]

That's a new one on me! My boy's got lovely, wolfie, prick ears, and it certainly doesn't seem to send the wrong message out. I thought flattened ears looked more threatening from a dog's point of view. Scooter's ears are lovely, she's probably jealous (but I would say that ).

[bcnewe2]

I have dogs with prick ears and without. It's how they hold their prick ears when they want to be a prick! My dog that has aggression issues with other dogs is not normally prick eared although he can hold them up if he wants to. When he's PO'd at another dog or thinking about doing something nasty, his ears go back, not up.

NOw I do think there's something with boxer faces that set other dogs off. But don't knowt what it'd be.

[sweet_ceana]

Dogs LOVE Poke and most of our fosters want to grovel at his feet and he has prick ears.

[PSmitty]

Alex has fantabulous prick ears and he always gets a good reception (haha!) from other dogs.

[border_collie_crazy]

well considering their body language is similer to wild canids and all wild canids have prick ears..her theory doesnt hold much water lol. Misty has prick ears too and she doesnt illicit bad reactions from other dogs, nor do any of my prick eared dogs

[DTrain]

Perhaps other dogs are a little nervous that he may be able to hear them better, another myth. I have been exposed to a lot of myths in the past few weeks and this is a good one and funny.

[KelliePup]

Kellie's ears were pricked and other dogs didn't have a problem with her. I think that woman was thinking about cropped ears. There is a problem there since cropping damages the muscles thereby killing the range of motion. Since the dog can't use the subtle movement of the ears to communicate, misunderstandings between the dogs arise. That's completely different from natural pricked ears though.

 

 

NOw I do think there's something with boxer faces that set other dogs off. But don't knowt what it'd be.

 

In my dealings with various short nosed dogs, I've found many of them, but not all, to be just plain rude. Whether it's staring hard--even in puppyhood--or tackling another dog, or biting too hard. Maverick doesn't care for any of the short nosed breeds with good reason, he's been attacked way too many times.

[myshkin]

I still haven't quite worked out how to quote, so I'll have to paste:

NOw I do think there's something with boxer faces that set other dogs off. But don't knowt what it'd be.

 

Boxer-type faces set me off. I can't work out their intentions, because they have only one expression, and the older ones have docked tails, so an angry boxer looks no different to a happy one. If I can't avoid them I send them packing, I'm not prepared to wait and see if they're aggressive or not. Maybe dogs feel the same way?

[myshkin]

Oh I really need to play around with the help function and work out how to post properly!

[Tranquilis]

I have dogs with prick ears and without. It's how they hold their prick ears when they want to be a prick!

Heh! Right on!

Suka has prick ears, and so does Dakota. It's not that their ears are pointy and erect; it's how they carry them, along with the rest of their body language, that carries the message.

 

Suka's ears go back when she's seriously ready to go to war, but then they also go back when she's done something she knows she oughtn't, or when she's sucking up to someone. When she's just being a jerk to Dakota, they're up and forward. Mind you, there's a lot more to the "just being a jerk" body language than just ears. Head, ears, and (most especially!) tail boldly upright, body leaning forward tensely, stiff legs, direct hard eye contact, limited or no wagging, maybe a bit of lip curl, and ruff slightly elevated - That's Suka being a bossy little bitch (again).

 

OTOH, 'Head, ears, tail all boldly erect, much tail wagging, and bouncing' is just Suka saying 'c'mon, lets go play bitey-face smackdown!' There's some similarity in the general posture, but the body language still delivers a very different message.

 

Dakota commonly displays a much greater range of ear motion on a daily basis - She's as demonstrative as Suka, but really telegraphs her mood. Add to that the fact that her ears are about the size of hand towels, and you've got some really broad (and easily read) expressions. There's never any doubt about Dakota's mood, but with Suka you need to look a little closer for the subtle gradations.

[bcnewe2]

There's never any doubt about Dakota's mood, but with Suka you need to look a little closer for the subtle gradations.

 

Mick has a stink eye that will set any dog back 10 feet. His ears are like you described, up and back if he's ready to go off, up and front if he's wanting to play. Even the LGD pups that have to weigh close to 100#'s will stop dead if they see Mick with the stink look. ONe of these days I expect Lilly our female LGD pup to call his bluff. She is the only one that will continue to try and solicit play with Mick no matter what his mood. If he puts her down she lays there all sweet, then he lets her up and she's right back to darting around him, wanting to play chase. He's almost stopped threatening her. Like he knows it gets him no where. But Sam her brother on the other hand won't leave my side to run with the other dogs, as he's felt Micks rath one to many times. Last time Mick told him off, Sam fell backwards into a metal luggage rack and got all tangled. THen he bit his tounge. Mick just stood there smiling while poor Sammy cried for 5 minutes, I'm sure Sammy thinks Mick did it all to him.

He's a strange nut. When he growls for fun or meaness even the dogs can't tell the difference. They all just give way. But when he's growling wanting to play, he can't figure out why all the dogs turn their head. I'm pretty sure he's just not wired quite right...maybe the connection to his ears is out of line!

He isn't referred to as Mick the Dick for nothing!

[Tranquilis]

Heh!

 

Yeah, Dakota is an ISSR Shiloh. ~28 inches at the withers, and 100 pounds, give or take a couple, but Suka can back her right up or roll her, when she's in a mood to be a jerk. The little girl is fast as a snake, and twice as twisty. OTOH, Dakota, whilst definately second banana, won't put up with too much crap before pushing back - hard. Even still, Dakota will turn her head until she's sure Suka wants to play. Probably a good thing, in the long run. Suka has won every set-to, but often came away with minor dings even when she'd rolled Dakota clean over; Dakota's fur is so thick I don't think Suka can actually get through it.

[desertranger]

It's quite obvious that thiw lady knws nothing about dogs ears. I've never seen a dogs ers up when they are angry or investigating.l They're always laid back when their unsure.