r/Animals • u/Equivalent_Glass_463 • 11d ago

Fun fact about dogs and their ears that I learned in college

One day during my junior year, in my choir class, our professor's husky barked a couple times while we were laughing with him, and I noticed his ears going down. It made me wonder if a dog's ears always went down when they barked. When I asked my professor, he said that's what generally happens, but if their ears are poiting up/forward when they bark, that means they're angry.

How accurate would you say this is? It sounds right, but I'm down to hear your thoughts. I've seen plenty of dogs in my life but have yet to own one, and learning more about them (as well as animals in general for that matter) is half the joy.

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u/real_shim_slady 11d ago

Dogs are very expressive with their ears, but he is kind of simplifying it way too much.

That’s like saying a human is happy if they have their eyebrows down and mad if they have them up, there could be 1000 other reasons.

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u/Hey-Just-Saying 10d ago

Some dogs put their ears back when they are angry. You can watch videos of angry dogs. Different dogs react in different ways.

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u/ThePhyz 10d ago

My understanding is that it is more telling to watch the dog's mouth (lips, cheeks) than their ears when you are looking for anger.

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u/IOnlyHaveIceForYou 10d ago

I find the dog's stress/frustration face interesting, it looks like a quick yawn.