Yorkie Information Center
Your Subtitle text
New Yorkie Information - Topic of the Month
Yorkie Info
Learning to Understand Your Yorkie’s Eyes in Regard to Communication
Learning to Understand Your Yorkie’s Eyes in Regard to Communication
As human beings, we feel that the most expressive part of the human body is the face…and one of the most expressive parts of the face is our eyes.
With dogs, there are several important structural aspects of the eyes…learning about this can provide actual interpretable communication. What does this mean? Well, basically, if you take the time to learn about this and pay attention to your Yorkie’s eyes, you will open a whole new door to understanding him or her….
You will actually be able to understand how your Yorkie is feeling…and this is an incredible form of communication!
Knowing if your Yorkie is nervous, happy, excited, tired, bored, happy, etc can make life much easier for both of you. It can make it much easier to figure out why your Yorkie is acting a certain way…and this can put you at peace… or allow you to take steps to help them…or to take control of a certain situation.
So, let’s take a very interesting look at the way that your Yorkie’s eyes communicate more than you ever imagined!
With dogs, there are several important structural aspects of the eyes…learning about this can provide actual interpretable communication. What does this mean? Well, basically, if you take the time to learn about this and pay attention to your Yorkie’s eyes, you will open a whole new door to understanding him or her….
You will actually be able to understand how your Yorkie is feeling…and this is an incredible form of communication!
Knowing if your Yorkie is nervous, happy, excited, tired, bored, happy, etc can make life much easier for both of you. It can make it much easier to figure out why your Yorkie is acting a certain way…and this can put you at peace… or allow you to take steps to help them…or to take control of a certain situation.
So, let’s take a very interesting look at the way that your Yorkie’s eyes communicate more than you ever imagined!
Yummy Healthy Home Cooking for the YorkieLearn about the differences between manufactured dog food and home cooked food. Which foods are the healthiest for the Yorkshire Terrier? Read this article to help you decide what is best for you and your furry little friend. Read More
The PupilWhen it comes to actual VISON, the purpose of the iris (the colored part of the eye) is to contract or expand (which changes the size of the pupil)….and this controls the amount of light that goes into the eye.
When the light is dim, the pupil expands to gather in whatever light energy it can…therefore it appears larger.
When a human or dog is in very bright light, the pupil becomes smaller to prevent too much glare from washing out the details of what they are looking at.
Now, with this being said, the pupil also communicates!
Different emotional feelings will change the size and shape of the pupil.
This happens to humans also, however most people do not think about this…they do not consciously aware of pupil changes in others. IF you purposefully pay attention to pupil changes in your Yorkie’s eyes, you will learn so much!
It is true that pupil size is harder to read in dogs…and this is because many have very dark irises…if this is the case with your Yorkie, the pupil may seem to blend into the dark surroundings of the eye. However, even with dark eyes, it is worth looking carefully since it can speak quite loudly about how a dog is feeling.
Pupils grow larger - This lets you know that your Yorkie is having an intense, strong emotion.
Pupils grow smaller – This lets you know that your dog is either: bored, drowsy, or relaxed.
Taking it to The Next Level
You will be able to narrow down their exact feeling by looking for other signs in the eyes as well….So, first, do try to get into a habit of noticing the normal size of your Yorkie’s pupils…
And then practice looking at them when a situation occurs that you feel may change the size of them….After you have this part down and you feel that you are doing well at being able to quickly know whether the pupil is larger or smaller than normal, you will be ready to read they eyes in more advanced ways that go hand in hand with pupil size… We recommend practicing every day until you feel that you have a very good understanding of your Yorkie’s pupil size and being able to identify it becomes automatic to you.
Gaze
Next, it will be time to pay attention to the white portion of your Yorkie’s eyes….this area is known as the sclera of the eye.
Many people are surprised to learn that this part also serves to communicate.
Many of you will find this to be an easier step since the white contrasts with the iris color allowing you to more easily identify which direction the eyes of your Yorkie are gazing.
Note: Virtually all animals interpret staring as a threat to them. Dogs use staring as a controlling gesture…
Direct Eye to Eye Stare - A wide eyed stare is often a threat, an expression of dominance or even an announcement that an attack is about to begin. Note: Those who have trouble with an aggressive dog or a dog who acts as if THEY are in charge should pay attention to see if their dog stares at them…this often means that the Yorkie is asserting themselves as being in charge and is saying, with their eyes, that they feel themselves to be the dominant one – a SURE sign that training must be done to teach the Yorkie that it is the human who is the true “pack leader” of the house!
Frequently, a dominant dog will approach a less dominant animal and directly stare at it. The animal that is lower in dominance will be the one to break off eye contact, turn away or even lie down in a submissive gesture.
If the direct stare is not responded to, an escalation of the level of confrontation may follow.
There is an interesting way in which dogs use the direct stare to control human behavior! It is most frequently seen at the dinner table, or when people are sitting around eating something…The dog comes over and sits, staring at a person and then stares at the food that the person is eating. This is an obvious attempt to be given some food…and it is most likely to work when the dog is small...either due to body structure or to age (puppy)….This is because even the most direct of stares which a dog uses to try and intimidate a person is often seen by the person as being “hopeful” or “pleading” and the person then gives in and hands a piece of food to the dog.
NOW, from the Yorkie’s point of view, they directly asserted their dominance…and when they were given food after doing so, it proved to the dog that the human turned submissive. This tells the dog that they have a higher status in the pack then the human does. This is NOT GOOD… It will ultimately cause the dog to be much more difficult to control. Since the human must be the leader in order for a dog to obey him or her, an owner should never allow this to happen…
And if you have already been doing this and did not know what it communicated to your Yorkie… it is not too late to stop.
Can You Stare at Your Own Dog? - It is recommended to NEVER stare at a strange dog. However, staring at your own dogs can be used quite successfully to control their behavior. If you need to establish that YOU are the leader of the house with a Yorkie who just does not seem to understand that, staring at your Yorkie directly can often make him or her stop a particular behavior… Many dogs will respond with submissive and pacifying gestures to win back your favor. Most often, this will be that they lie down on their backs, tummy exposed. Gently rub their tummy to show them that you are the leader and you happily want them in your “pack” (family).
Eyes Turned Away - If a direct stare is a threat, then it seems logical that breaking off eye contact would be a sign of submission… in some cases, fear…and this is true with dogs. A dog will avert his or her eyes when confronted by a dog whom they feel is more dominant then they are. The Yorkie will generally look down and then away in a movement that is best interpreted as reading “I accept that YOU are the boss” and “I don’t want any trouble”.
In certain situations, when a dog breaks eye contact with a human and looks away, this can mean that they are bored silly. You can see this in dog obedience classes when there are long pauses between training exercises…The dogs who had been watching their owners start to break off any eye contact and look around aimlessly. This means that they have lost interest.
Blinking
In the language of dogs, blinks break the dominance stare and shows submission. While it does represent a giving up of dominance, it is not as submissive of a gesture as a full scale aversion of the eyes.
The eye blink means “We are almost equals, but I will accept your leadership”.
Shape
The language of eye shape is rather simple: the larger and rounder the visible eye becomes, the more angry a dog is. The smaller and less visible the eyes become, it means the dog is afraid (if he or she is in a situation that could cause fear) OR submission (if there is some disagreement about who is in charge).
Eyebrows – Perhaps the Most Communicative Form of Eye Expression
Dogs do not have eyebrows as we do, but there is an eyebrow region. Often there is a marking on the area…either in the form of a bit lighter fur or darker fur… and with some Yorkies, the hairs will be either shorter or longer on the brow…and with others the hairs will grow in a slightly different pattern than other areas.
When a dog becomes angry, the space between the brows is contracted and the brows angle downward.
When a dog is afraid, or is being submissive, the brows are pulled upward in the center and the outside ends are pulled down and out toward the temples.
When a dog is confused or is concentrating on something, the brows will be pulled downward and together, but WITHOUT the slant that is found with anger.
When a dog is surprised or feels amazed by what he or she is seeing, this is signaled by an upward and outward movement of the brows that happens fairly fast… the brows will not stay as such…they will move in this way to show the feeling and then go back to normal resting position.
Crying
While some will argue that a dog only sheds tears because of the body’s reflexes such as muscle tension in the face and around the eyes… just about 50% of veterinarians will attest that dogs do indeed cry when in severe pain or distress. So, it goes without saying that if your dog is sick or injured…and they are crying, it is time to bring them right back to the veterinarian!
Don't forget to become a free Yorkie Info Center Member. You will receive reminders when we add a new topic and you may suggest a subject for us to discuss right here.
Looking for much more Yorkshire Terrier information? Do you have a question and would love direct advice from the Experts? Forget about those silly little books that already tell you what you know ! It is time for something different!
Looking for much more Yorkshire Terrier information? Do you have a question and would love direct advice from the Experts? Forget about those silly little books that already tell you what you know ! It is time for something different!
