I am at a social gathering and I'm talking to someone who just learned that I'm a professional dog trainer. He asks me if I can shed some light onto an incident with his Mastiff. He continues to relate how his Mastiff whom he has made sure received ample training (I don’t know where or what kind of training) growled at a friend his dog is familiar with as the friend was reaching over the dog in order to reach the cooler while they were camping.
He is baffled when he notices his dog is now also growling at a woman who approached him just minutes after the first incident. As I tell him that I can only speculate as to why his dog growled since I do not have much information on his dog, never met him and did not witness the incidents. He goes on to relate to me that his dog normally is friendly to people. He “will sit and wait” he tells me, as a person his dog is not familiar with approaches him.
I tell him again that there might be a myriad of reasons why his dog is just sitting as a person approaches him, but that I am not even sure his dog is that friendly! There is a difference, I assured him, between staying putt and wanting an interaction.
A dog that is truly friendly or interested in interacting with another dog or a person will approach the individual, not remain passive or worse, move away.
A dog approaching someone and, of course, depending on the dog’s body language and potential vocalization is a clear indication that the dog is interested in the interaction.
What we want to see is a dog that eagerly wants to interact. And the best telling sign for assessing this is the dog’s overall attitude (reflected in his body language & other forms of communication).
One wants to see a very loose body- not rigid musculature. The mouth is also relaxed and open instead of tight and closed.
The eyes are - you guess it, soft in their expression and blinking, instead of hard either darting from one spot to spot or staring at you.
Indeed, be careful of making a typical mistake of only “reading” the dog’s tail for signs of friendliness. The tail is one of the most misunderstood body parts in the repertoire of dog communication. Moreover, learn to get a quick read on the overall demeanor of the dog as a whole and then concentrate, if needed, on the message that specific body parts such as the mouth, eyes, facial expression, etc. are telegraphing.
On these same lines, I had an owner interested in bringing his puppy to my puppy class. On the class form he told me that his puppy is “so easy”: he does not bark, chew on household items and the like. Aah, I immediately saw this as a red flag. This is not normal dog behavior!
The moral of the story here is that a lack of behavior/behaving does not mean that the dog is, comfortable, not stressed or welcoming of affection and interaction.
As a matter of fact, there are circumstances in which a dog that is ready to aggress will really slow down its movements. Communication between our dogs and us is not a simple affair. It is actually complex and nuanced.
All beings behave and their behavior, of course, is a reflection on their interaction with
their environment at large, and is constantly changing and adapting. This is one example
where looking beyond the obvious will serve our animals in our care and us very well.
He is baffled when he notices his dog is now also growling at a woman who approached him just minutes after the first incident. As I tell him that I can only speculate as to why his dog growled since I do not have much information on his dog, never met him and did not witness the incidents. He goes on to relate to me that his dog normally is friendly to people. He “will sit and wait” he tells me, as a person his dog is not familiar with approaches him.
I tell him again that there might be a myriad of reasons why his dog is just sitting as a person approaches him, but that I am not even sure his dog is that friendly! There is a difference, I assured him, between staying putt and wanting an interaction.
A dog that is truly friendly or interested in interacting with another dog or a person will approach the individual, not remain passive or worse, move away.
A dog approaching someone and, of course, depending on the dog’s body language and potential vocalization is a clear indication that the dog is interested in the interaction.
What we want to see is a dog that eagerly wants to interact. And the best telling sign for assessing this is the dog’s overall attitude (reflected in his body language & other forms of communication).
One wants to see a very loose body- not rigid musculature. The mouth is also relaxed and open instead of tight and closed.
The eyes are - you guess it, soft in their expression and blinking, instead of hard either darting from one spot to spot or staring at you.
Indeed, be careful of making a typical mistake of only “reading” the dog’s tail for signs of friendliness. The tail is one of the most misunderstood body parts in the repertoire of dog communication. Moreover, learn to get a quick read on the overall demeanor of the dog as a whole and then concentrate, if needed, on the message that specific body parts such as the mouth, eyes, facial expression, etc. are telegraphing.
On these same lines, I had an owner interested in bringing his puppy to my puppy class. On the class form he told me that his puppy is “so easy”: he does not bark, chew on household items and the like. Aah, I immediately saw this as a red flag. This is not normal dog behavior!
The moral of the story here is that a lack of behavior/behaving does not mean that the dog is, comfortable, not stressed or welcoming of affection and interaction.
As a matter of fact, there are circumstances in which a dog that is ready to aggress will really slow down its movements. Communication between our dogs and us is not a simple affair. It is actually complex and nuanced.
All beings behave and their behavior, of course, is a reflection on their interaction with
their environment at large, and is constantly changing and adapting. This is one example
where looking beyond the obvious will serve our animals in our care and us very well.
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