Given the salience of eye contact to all canids, and the dog’s use of gaze, you can get a lot of information about an unknown dog from his eyes. Constant eye contact can be threatening: do not approach a dog by gazing non-stop, which may be perceived as staring him down. If he is staring at you, you can deflect his gaze by turning away slightly, breaking eye contact. They do the same when they are tense: turning their head to the side, or distracting themselves with a yawn or a sudden interest in a smell on the ground. If you think you are the recipient of a threatening stare, you can confirm
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