If a dog is wagging a tail, it does not necessary means that it is happy. If you want to understand its mood, you need to take into account the whole dog's behavior, all the signals of dog body language. If a dog is coming to you slowly and whining, wagging tail means that it is "waving a white flag", trying to calm you down.
Dogs use this signal to calm down a handler when he is in a bad mood. Many dog owners interpret this signal absolutely wrong. They consider that this way a dog shows that it feels guilty. It is wrong. A dog feels that its owner is strained and tries to calm down him/her.
Though, however I tried, I never managed to imitate this signal. Probably, it is not for people to wag a tail! :)
Examples.
1) Dog handler came home in a bad mood. A dog felt that something happened and was afraid that a handler would be rude with him. That's why a dog came to him wagging its tail and trying to calm down his handler.
2) My friend was shouting at her children. While the quarrel she passed
by at her dog. A dog came up to her wagging its tail and "smiling". This
was all a dog could do to calm down a handler.
Pitbull harnesses for better control and comfort of your dog!
