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Learning your dog's habits, mannerisms, and movements through observation will allow the process of understanding its communication behavior to feel more natural. There will be plenty of things it does that will make sense to you without explanation. Just as every person is unique, so is your dog. Be aware that much of a dog's language or communication techniques are subtle. By learning canine communication, you will be able to respond to any problems your dog expresses before a situation escalates. Not noticing small signs of stress or unhappiness can soon lean to more aggressive or distressed behaviors. Remember that this is a two-way learning process. Dogs have to learn our behavioral cues as well, and you should be careful about your own gestures and posture. Dogs also do not understand English. It is important that you teach your dog what you mean by "no" or "sit". Just saying "sit" over and over again won't make him learn it, and will make him think it's just part of the random nonsense you say during the day. Luring your dog into a sit position and then rewarding them heavily for doing that task will make him eager to sit, and then saying the word as he sits will make him connect the dots that the word "sit" means "put your butt on the floor". Note that a dog's ability to signal may be hampered by the breed in question. For example, if your dog has squat ears or a docked tail, some of the signals may not apply to him/her. Consider how you feel when someone stares at you directly rather than using normal eye contact. Just as you find it confronting, dogs also feel confused and threatened by direct head-on staring because it is a threat stance for them. A dog that looks away in this situation is actually being polite and is seeking to avoid confrontation. Alternately, training your dog to make eye contact to communicate is extremely helpful for keeping his focus on you. The most effective forms of dog training are positive reinforcement and clicker training. These are the most consistently proven type of training shown by scientists, veterinarians and animal behaviorists. Punishment is frowned upon because it is proven that dogs have very short memories, and likely do not connect situations like them pooping on the floor to your dissatisfaction. In fact, dogs do not feel guilt. Their owners simply stop being as mad when they "look guilty" and it becomes rewarding for both the owner and dog for the dog to offer signs of "guilt". The dog learns you dislike it when poop is on the floor and when you come home, they "act guilty" in order to appease you. They do not in fact relate their action of pooping to you being mad. Clicker training is the idea is to lure your dog into a position and indicate instantly they have done the right thing, and reward them for that behavior. Dog behavior is driven by the most rewarding or least punishing option they have in every situation. If the most rewarding option is to chew on your shoes, they will do so. If you reward them for not chewing on your shoes, they will choose to do that even when you are not around. In contrast, punishment or dominance suggests showing the dog who is boss, which simply results in the behavior being done when you are not around. Dogs are highly reward based and the dominance theory has been disproven. Dogs act in ways that are most rewarding, not based on trying to "dominate" you or another dog. Be the most rewarding thing in your dogs life and he will be eager to do whatever you say. Rolling over and exposing the belly is a gesture to appease you, and giving a belly rub serves as excellent reinforcement for this behavior. An exposed belly can also indicate passive resistance to a perceived threat. Mounting (or humping) can be a sign of stress in a dog, especially where a low-confidence dog is trying to establish allegiance with a higher-confidence animal. Dogs use a variety of gestures and postures to express discomfort, including excessive/misplaced sneezing or yawning, licking of the lips, avoiding eye contact, cowering, whale eye (seeing the whites or their eye) and a stiff body. When a dog is showing discomfort, the best thing to do is to stop what you are doing and not do it in the future. If you need your dog to be comfortable with something, make it very rewarding by giving them tons of treats and introducing them to the uncomfortable thing slowly. Soon your pooch will be offering to do those things for a treat! A dog can show many emotions with his tail. A wagging tail and wiggly butt mean pure joy. A slowly wagging tail means a cautious nature. A stiff tail held high is a sign of alertness, a low tail is a sign of content. A tucked tail means they are scared.
Observe your dog. Know your dog's response to eye contact.