Episode 54: What’s Normal For Your Dog
Owner Observations Worksheet
To know when your dog is anxious, you first need to know what they look like when they’re not. Use this worksheet to build a picture of your dog’s body language across different states.
Spend a few days watching your dog in different situations. For each state below, note exactly what you see: ear position, tail carriage, body posture, facial expression, breathing, movement patterns. The more specific you are, the better you’ll get at reading your dog on camera.
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| Date / Time | ||
|---|---|---|
| Your dog’s state | Body language observations |
|---|---|
| Playing | |
| Sleeping | |
| Engaging with you | |
| Greeting | |
| Disengaging | |
| Relaxed | |
| Anxious |
Tips
- Be specific. “Tail wagging” isn’t enough — is it a loose, full-body wag or a stiff, high wag? Those mean very different things.
- Take video. You’ll catch things on camera that you miss in real time. Review clips of your dog in each state.
- Compare to their alone behavior. Once you know what relaxed looks like, you can spot anxiety on your camera footage — even the subtle signs.
Listen to the full episode for more on this topic:
Episode 54: Why You Need To Know What’s Normal For Your Dog →
Written by Julie Naismith
Dog separation anxiety specialist. 15 years of experience, 100,000+ guardians helped, author of four books, and creator of the Be Right Back program.
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