Guest post by Sara Enos
Founder, CEO American Pit Bull Foundation
As a doting pet
parent, here’s a fact that may surprise you - dog’s don’t speak English. Yes,
they learn what we want when we say “sit”, or “come”, or “off”, however,
mastering the English language is not at the top of the canine agenda, (like
food and attention are) though they typically are rather attentive to your talk
so that they can be pleasing to you. We can say “stint” or “dumb” or “cough”
and chances are, our four-legged friends will perform the tasks that they have
associated with the sound of the word, not the actual meaning of the word.
Dogs communicate a number of ways. They do
communicate verbally, however, much of what our dogs are trying to communicate
with us can be translated through their body language.
Language begins with behavior. Whether it’s a desired
behavior that you are asking of your dog, or a behavior that your dog is
exhibiting to communicate with you. Though it may seem elementary, it is
important to state that dogs exhibit dog
behavior. Humans often have the expectation that other animals exhibit human
behavior and make decisions as a human would. The term for this is
anthropomorphism - ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things.
Ultimately, we are responsible for the behaviors that dogs exhibit based on how
we interact with them, train them, and the environment that we provide for
them. It should be noted that genetics play a role as well but for the sake of
simplicity, we are just focusing on external influences.
So what are some of the basics in dog body language?
First, is that dogs generally communicate with multiple signals at once. It’s
not just the tail, or the ears, or the fur that we are looking at to determine
the message they are transmitting, it is a combination of signals. Secondly,
just as how there are similar words with different meanings in the English
language, (for example their, there, and they’re), some canine communication
has more than one meaning. Take a tail wag for example - a slow and low tail
could signify tentativeness or nervousness, where as a tail that is positioned
at average height and whipping around like a flagella on a mission, can be a
sign of happy excitement.
Now couple that whipping, seemingly excited tail, with a low
head and a lip curl. The tail alone may have led you to believe this dog was
happy. Looking at the total picture, we can see a frightened dog that may be
having apprehensions based on the environment. That’s a warning sign that
shouldn’t be ignored.
Some additional signs of stress, again, generally paired
together, include hypervigilance (constant watchfulness to surroundings),
lip-licking, heavy panting, growling, backing away, barking, bowing head and
hunching down, etc.
Panting can also be a sign of overheating, lip-licking can
be a sign of appeasement and barking can be a sign of excitement. This sounds a
lot like the confusion of English language rules such as i before e, except
after C, except in “their”, “beige”, “eight”, and so on, right? To simplify,
here’s a math analogy to better explain. You can look at understanding canine
communication like an equation.Total body signals + environment,
(familiar/new/possible stressors) = cumulative language assessment.
We learn foreign languages to communicate with other humans.
Learning dog is similar but oh so unique in that we are communicating with a
completely different species, incapable of mastering our own language and vice
versa, (at least from a verbal standpoint thus far). What’s also interesting is
that canines receive input from our body language. How we are standing, how we
position ourselves, communicates a message to the dog. Standing over a dog can
often come across as intimidating whereas kneeling and sitting at a dog’s side
can be seen as a friendly gesture.
Knowing what your dog is trying to communicate with you can
save frustration, can strengthen the bond between you and your dog, and
ultimately, can help prevent bites.
Learning a new language can be fun so why not learn
dog?.Once you’ve gotten the hang of your dog’s communicative gestures, teach
others - family members, friends, etc. -
that interact with your dog to recognize what communication your furry
friends are imparting. Look at every interaction as a training experience for
all involved.
Happy learning!
For more information about how your body is communicating
with your dog, visit How to Greet a Dog and What to Avoid.
Related Reading Recommendations:
- How to Behave so Your Dog Behaves, Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM
- Decoding Your Dog, Debra F. Horwitz DVM (Editor), John Ciribassi DVM(Contributor), Steve Dale (Contributor)
