Wanting a Belly Rub vs. Submissive Behavior

Piper
Jan 3, 2023
2 min read

Dogs expose their bellies to us for two main reasons: as a submissive display, and as a request for a belly rub. It's important to know what your dog is telling you before you go in for petting!

Dogs adopting a submissive display are sometimes trying to diffuse social tension by showing that they're not a threat. Petting a dog who's showing submissive can make the dog more nervous, because now you're touching him in very vulnerable parts of his body!

Dogs who actually want a belly rub will generally show the following body language signals:

Overall: loose, wiggly body postures
Mouth: relaxed, open mouth—you might see their tongue flopping around
Eyes: Open or squinty, bright and not necessarily staring at anything
Tail: relaxed, wagging tail
Vocalizations: quiet ha-ha sound as they "laugh," or a light panting sound, or silent

In contrast, a dog who is showing submissive or appeasing behavior will look like this:

Overall: tense, low body postures—they may crouch, freeze, or tense up
Mouth: lips pulled far back in a "fear grimace" or lips and mouth closed, may see lots of lip-licking and tongue-flicking
Eyes: wide open and staring into the distance, or showing the whites of their eyes as they look at you, without turning their head, or eyes will be squinty and tense
Tail: may be still or wagging, but will have tension in the base of the tail and the tail may be tucked
Vocalizations: quiet or soft whining

Most people find it easiest to watch the dog's tail and mouth—but keep in mind that a wagging tail doesn't equal a happy dog. A tucked, stiff, fast tail wag is not the same as a full-body, loose tail wag!

Here are the basic steps to giving an excellent belly rub. How to Give a Great Belly Rub to a Dog (bloggernet.wixsite.com)