Body Language
The wolf's visual signals consist mostly of body language. Just as humans and dogs show their emotions through various facial expressions, so too does the wolf. This is one reason why a wolf's mask emphasizes facial features so greatly.
Humans smile when they're happy, and our dogs assume a "happy face" at times. The wolf and dog happy expression includes an open mouth, tongue hanging loosely, and ears forward.
The emotions that a wolf expresses through body language are suspicion, threat, anxiety, and submission. Threat behavior is quite different. The threatening animal - dog or wolf - wrinkles its nose, opens its mouth, bares its teeth, pulls its lips forward, and erects its ears. Usually this expression is accompanied by a growl or a snarl. The anxious dog or wolf on the receiving end of the threat puts on a very different face. It keeps its mouth closed and its lips drawn way back, lays back its ears, and whines.
One of the most useful expressions of an alpha wolf is the "fixed stare," or glare. Often, all an alpha has to do is stare at a subordinate wolf, and that animal will immediately cringe, turn, and slink away. The glare is an alpha's way of controlling subordinate pack members.
A wolf or dog also uses certain tail and body positions to communicate. For example, a threatening wolf not only snarls and bares its teeth, but also raises its hackles and tail and essentially inflates its size. Conversely, the wolf being threatened pulls its lips back in a defensive "grin", lowers itself, holds its tail between its legs, and may even roll over on its side or back, trying to make itself look smaller.
