Say What?

Among the many discussions that have been the buzz among dog trainers and behaviorists recently, a common theme is the topic of understanding dog body language. As professionals working with dogs, not understanding what a dog is trying to communicate to us can lead to serious injury, as we have recently seen happen to a popular television personality.

While many people understand the basic communications of dogs such as growling and happy tail wagging, there is so much more to dog communication. Although dogs do vocalize in a variety of ways to communicate, the majority of their communications are non-verbal. And just as tears and crying do not always signify sadness in humans, a wagging tail does not always mean a friendly or happy dog, and a growl does not always signal aggression. (There are

2 thoughts on “Say What?

    • Sue MAny years ago probably back in the late 70’s early 80’s I was ivenlovd with a Police Work Dog Asso. We were at a symposium for the police dogs in Tulsa Oklahoma. Approximately 250 k-9 units were present. Out of that total, only a small handful understood canine body language. for Most of the officers never had a dog and never trained one. They got their dogs trained by someone else and they went through the handling to certify the dogs to be put on the streets. That is what their departments required. An incident occured where I took a bite coming out of a swimming pool because the handler was not paying attention to his dog and had it at the pool. When I notified the handler to call the dog off, he panicked and proceeded to call and pull on the leash and collar. At that point , the dog had torn my upper arm.Later I explained to the handler that the dog was uncomfortable with the environment and because the handler was unaware of it, anyone coming out of the pool could have been bitten.I informed the instructors to have handlers learn reading canine body language so the handler can be aware and modify the situation immediately. Timing in training is everything

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