Forget for a moment what they say about dogs with their tails up being dominant.
Let's talk about social communication between dogs, and a behavior that I always find interesting to observe: “Who has the highest eyes.”
There are differences in size among dogs, which make it difficult, if not impossible, to base certain aspects of communication solely on posture, expression, body orientation, etc. This is a behavior that you will not find in any ethogram published in books and scientific articles. I added it to the ethogram of impositive behaviors (you can find the ethograms here https://www.alexacapra.com/en/courses-dog-alexa-capra).
And it is precisely one of the behaviors that is complicated for dogs. The principle itself is simple: “if my eyes are higher, I am stronger than you - and I have the power to stop/move you.” The problem is being shorter and still wanting to exhibit this behavior. Thanks to the presence of the fence, the female uses the barrier to stand up and appear taller. In the absence of support, dogs can exhibit an upright posture—like the Rottweiler—or rear up (another behavior I have included in the ethogram!).
The video shows an interaction between a male rescue Rottweiler and a rescue mixed-breed hound, who are strangers to each other. Shortly after, I opened the gate and they met without any barriers. In this one-minute video, it is already possible to recognize the elements of the subsequent interaction...
Video by Alexa Capra, 1 december 2025