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If you're a dog owner who owns several dogs, or your dig enjoys mingling with others, you'll be familiar with how much they love to play together. This is a perfectly normal and

beneficial activity that helps to strengthen social ties, develop skills, and provide both physical exercise and mental stimulation. When dogs play together, they exhibit various behaviours

such as chasing, wrestling, and nipping. However, despite how rough it may look, they often display clear signals that differentiate their actions from aggression. These include relaxed body

language, taking turns during chase or wrestle games, and incorporating breaks to signal to the other dog that it's all in good fun. However, it can sometimes be tricky to determine

when playful wrestling tips over into genuine aggression. The shift can be abrupt, marked by subtle changes in their body language. To help dog owners in recognising these changes and

prevent play from escalating into something more serious, dog trainer Cherry Hoggs has taken to Instagram to share her advice. In a recent social media post, Cherry Hoggs, a dog training

expert, posed an important question: "Would you know if your dog is playing or warning?" She emphasised the importance of understanding your dog's behaviour, particularly when

off-leash and during play, to ensure safety for all involved. Cherry then proceeded to share some subtle dog cues that might otherwise go unnoticed. "Here you can see our two bullies

together engaging with each other in a play that could escalate," she explained, showcasing a video clip of the two dogs frolicking in her garden. "You'll notice the tense wag

of their tails, they look as though they're having a stare off, but they're actually avoiding eye contact, and almost sizing each other up." The situation then escalated

slightly, yet the dogs remained silent and stationary. Cherry explained: "Now here you see their tails completely stop wagging. Our brindle dog actually turns to walk away and then lays

down, the ultimate sign of submission." However, the tension was soon diffused by her other two dogs, with Cherry noting: "However the key cue here that would often be missed is

our two other pack members walk clearly between them to break the play and fixation. The pack is very intuitive and although we may not always pick up on subtle cues, they always do."

It's crucial to supervise your pets during play and be vigilant of their body language for signs of their emotions. In Cherry's demonstration, the key moments of concern were when

the tail wagging ceased and the dogs started to avoid eye contact. In her video's caption, Cherry advised: "Our opinion is any escalation can be prevented when knowing your dog and

understanding, dog 'language'. Obviously somethings can catch anyone off guard but if you think about those situations, did you have full concentration on your dog?". In

order to understand your dog's signals and body language, she advised: "If you're like us you've developed eyes on the back of your head so it's pretty difficult for

any escalation to get past us. Plus we study our dog every day. Plus every evening we talk through the whole day and our dog's behaviour to analyse." Cherry's video quickly

garnered comments from viewers, with many commending the dog trainer for her enlightening content. "This is amazing. Very informative," penned one viewer, while another added:

"Very cool. I really like these breakdowns on body language. Very helpful." Meanwhile, another user remarked: " That's amazing! Those two dogs saying 'leave

it!' As they cause a distraction."