“Dog Language” is a term used to describe the way in which dogs communicate.
Dogs mainly rely on body language as their primary means of communication with other dogs and humans. However, scents and sounds also play an important role in their interaction with both species.
- Dog language consists of body positions, facial positions, scent expressions and sound expressions. Some signals are displayed voluntarily (like barking for attention) others are involuntarily (like a happy dog wagging its tail).
- To understand what a dog is communicating, you must examine the whole dog in context, otherwise there’s a risk of incorrectly assessing what the dog is communicating.
- Dog language is universal – a dog will understand another dog's language, provided it has had the opportunity to be exposed to other dogs’ company from an early age in safe and appropriate settings to properly learn dog language.
Calming Signals
They use a series of “calming signals” to express an array of emotions from stress to pleasure. Sometimes dogs will use the same calming signal to express different emotions therefore it is important to not only recognize their body language, but the surrounding environment as well.
When we take into context the surrounding environment as well as the calming signals being displayed, we can then make an appropriate decision on what to do next. Often the appropriate thing to do is simply to sit with the puppy and let them watch the world go by.
Common calming signals that dogs display:
- Lip licking
- Yawning
- Turning their head away
- Panting
- Sniffing
- Closed mouth
- Position of the ears
- Position of the tail
- Shake off
- Play bow
- Paw lift
Recognizing a dogs' body language is extremely important when socializing. It helps us to know if the dog is having a positive or negative experience. Noticing the body language can also help us understand the dog’s limitations when we are training.
Canine Communication Tips:
- Consider the surrounding situation.
- Observe their whole body from head to tail.
- Identify the level of stress:
- What is the noise level?
- Are there other animals?
- Is this the first exposure?
- Do not over analyze.
- If in doubt, gain some distance.
The Puppy Development Trainer will have a list of environments/experiences, stores and different distraction levels that they will need to practice before coming into formal training. This will be different environments and situations split into age categories and durations. It is important not to expose the puppy to other animals or stores that are pet friendly until they are fully vaccinated (approximately 16 weeks). It’s important to not skip ahead and begin exposing puppies to stores and for long durations until approval from your Puppy Development Trainer.
Strive to expose the puppy to one new experience a day and aim to keep the experience as stress free as possible. An example strategy to help keep a new experience less stressful is bringing the puppy onto the subway for the first time. If you observed some signs of stress while standing on the platform, take a seat on the platform and allow the puppy to simply observe the trains come in and out of the station from a distance. In this case you would not get onto the subway car but come back in a few days to observe the puppy's reaction to the previously exposed environment.
Contact the Puppy Development Trainer if you see consistent signs of stress in the puppy.