eye contact

Question
Dear Anne Springer,

when attacked by a dog is eye contact a deterrent signal to dog , how an expert knows that the dog may or may not be afraid by eye contact??

best regards. ali

Answer
Dogs consider direct eye contact to be a threat.  To defuse the threat, the best thing is to look away - avert your eyes.  Dogs are not necessarily "afraid" of eye contact, they just turn away so that the other dog knows they mean no harm and do not intend to challenge the dog.