Lessons from a dog in body language
By Liz Palika
August 5, 2009
Many years ago I thought I knew a lot about dogs. But now, the more time I spend with dogs and the more I work with them and write about them, the less I seem to know. Funny, huh? Or maybe it’s just that I’m more open to letting the dogs teach me.
Archer, our youngest dog, is still in the throes of adolescence. He’s not being too obnoxious with my husband and me, just an occasional, “Sit? I’ve never heard that word before!” But Archer is pushing Bashir, our 5-year-old, who is the big dog on campus.
This morning when I let the dogs outside, Archer made a rush for Bashir. No aggression but more “mobbing” as if to push Bashir around a little. Bashir handled it very well, and I’m so happy I saw it. As Archer charged towards him, Bashir got very tall and very still. Bashir’s mouth got tight and I saw just the least little flicker of a lip lifting over a canine tooth.
Archer immediately slowed and lowered himself, still moving towards Bashir. But instead of mobbing him, he began licking Bashir’s muzzle. After a few seconds, Bashir began to relax and Archer took off in another direction.
The body language of both dogs was so wonderful; their messages were conveyed so easily and so simply. The incident was over, with no growling, snarling or muttering afterwards. It was over. Wow! If only people could handle things so easily.
Our oldest dog, Riker, is ten. Although he gladly allowed Bashir to step into the leadership role among our three dogs, Riker likes to pretend he’s still in charge. He won’t show any outward signs of giving way to Bashir – no muzzle licking from him! – but he does show it in other ways. He will never ever try to take a toy or chewie away from Bashir, although he will take one away from the puppy. He always allows Bashir to go in or out doors first and will never try to push past him. In response, Bashir is a kind, benevolent leader.
I admit, I try to copy Bashir when I can in situations where it’s warranted. When handling difficult dogs in training situations, I try to be calm and still so as not to create a more difficult situation. Although it’s tough to lift a lip over a canine tooth (snicker…) I found that some canine body language can be duplicated.
One of my favorite books on canine body language is by Brenda Aloff, “Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide” (Dogwise; 2005). The photos show dogs in a variety of situtions demonstrating a wide variety of emotions. Aloff also provides a discription of what is being shown in each of the photos. Although I don’t agree with all of her assessments, I wasn’t there when the photos were taken eithor and so many canine emotions — like ours — often can’t be accurately portrayed in one still photo. But overall, her book is wonderful, and it’s required reading for all of my trainers at Kindred Spirits.
Image: The puppy, Archer, is doing a submissive muzzle lick even as he tries to continue to steal a toy as the older dog, in this case Riker, shows some teeth.
Liz - thanks for the comment about the body language book… I’ve passed it by on Amazon for several years now and neglected to pick up a copy. I will correct that situation on my next order. ;O)
One quick inquiry though (and this is directed to anyone in the same situation). I notice that your three furkids are all male. I’m always interested when I see this (a pack of dogs, all one sex) as to the motivation and the difficulties of having an all male or all female canine family.
We are about to bring in our third pup (yet another female) and while we have yet to experience any female competition aside from the regular sibling rivalries, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the third dose of estrogen affects the situation.
Any comments?
Comment by Kim — August 5, 2009 @ 6:28 am
One of the most wonderful things dogs teach us is the value of letting go. When they’re over it, they’re over it.
Humans on the other hand…
Comment by Janeen — August 5, 2009 @ 7:31 am
I’m with Liz: The older I get, the more I know I don’t know that much about my dogs.
Admitting that opens the mind to learning, and I love that about my furred and feathered family.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — August 5, 2009 @ 7:33 am
That seems like a very interesting book, and I would love to learn more about dog body language. Personally, I feel like my dog is so expressive because he is a Chihuahua, but it is normally an anxious expression on his face!
Comment by Bethany — August 5, 2009 @ 9:02 am
When we had only 2 dogs, I thought I was a fairly keen student of dog body language. But it wasn’t until we added #3 that I began to fully appreciate the complexities and graceful subtleties of dog body language. There was a certain aspect of their communication that remained invisible to me until we added Nicky to our family. Now there’s a whole lot of body talk going on between the 3 of them, as well as shifting roles depending upon the context, the environment, the job to be done etc.
Comment by Melinda — August 5, 2009 @ 9:16 am
Yeah, I’ve also noticed with my dogs what Melinda said. Though one dog does tend to be dominant, there is some fluidity, depending on the situation and mood of the dogs. Again, just like people! You see shifts in dominance all the time with us (like perhaps one partner generally decides what movie to go to, but the other decides the financial issues). Maybe the generally submissive dog makes a stand for a particular toy or place to rest.
Comment by Arlene — August 5, 2009 @ 9:23 am
Kim, in regards to having three male dogs at the same time.
My husband and I have had bitches, too, and in fact, this is the only time we’ve had three boys and no girls. But I find I get along with the boys better. I find my boys to be more cooperative, more compliant, and more willing to please me. This particular personality group of three males (who are all half brothers by the way - same sire to three different litters, each about four - five years apart - the sire’s ONLY three litters) get along very well.
Now as far as squabbles and fights, I’ve never ever had a fight among my male dogs. The only fights we had were between two bitches who took a - let’s say - strong dislike to each other. And once the girls had a squabble, there was no mending fences - they hated each other from the first fight forward. The boys seem much more able to work things out and respect each other.
I think there are many things that go into preferring a male or female dog, or multiple males or females, including the owner’s personality, likes and dislikes, as well as the individual dog, the dog’s breed or mixtures, the dog’s relationship with the owner, and more.
Comment by Liz Palika — August 5, 2009 @ 11:31 am
Hey Bethany, I couldn’t help but notice how strongly you’re pushing the idea of an annual vaccination protocol on your blog. You might find this some interesting reading:
http://www.petconnection.com/b.....cinations/
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 5, 2009 @ 11:54 am
Wowser Pat… now there’s a load of clueless. And why you gotta be careful about using Teh Googles instead of a good veterinarian!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — August 5, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
Funny, my first lesson for students is an assignment to watch the body language of their animals prior to their first training lesson.
At the moment I give the intro class away to my online subscribers and hope to get a video version done before too much time passes by and it is always exciting when people come back to report how it has changed their lives (and those of their pets).
I am always happy to learn new things—sometimes I sense something or subtly pick up on the communication—my favorites are always the species that are new to me.
Comment by Ark Lady — August 5, 2009 @ 4:06 pm
Another fascinating thing is watching dogs use their body language to try to “speak” to another species of animal. Opie throws very obvious and classic calming signals. When he first met neighbor’s cows on the other side of our mutually shared fence, Opie would stand at the fence and throw little lip licks, BIG yawns, averted gaze, head down, etc. to try to tell Cow that he was no threat. Cow eventually got the message and they had daily meetings at the fenceline. Funniest thing in the world to see Opie lick the cow’s “muzzle” and receive a fur rubbing slurp from the cow tongue in return.
Comment by Melinda — August 5, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
Thanks Liz! Just wondering what another owner’s perspective is.
Personally, I’ve always leaned towards males. In fact, the third pup (set to arrive soon) was supposed to be male. I had my heart set on a male, and then just fell head over heels for a female in the litter. Ah, well.
That’s kind of the same thing that happened when we added our second dog. We had just lost my male retriever, and wanted a companion for our other girl. Ended up falling for a female pup.
The two females we have at the moment are wonderful. Biddable, sweet, affectionate, hard workers who are incredibly loyal to those they know and love. I still have quite the urge to add some testosterone to our house, and I do have a few concerns about an all girl pack, but who knows - this may swing my preference the other way.
I have to agree with you about the female grudge issue however. A friend has a female ACD/GSD mix who my ACD/Rott mix just HATES. Well, she may be more the hate-ee than the hate-er. Regardless, whenever these two meet up, there’s serious tension on a good day, full out assassination attempts on the worst day. *Just* when you think they’re doing ok with one another, one will come flying, knocking down furniture and people in an effort to ambush the other.
We’ve given up trying to get them to share space. It’s too bad, because they have to share a dog park too, which means more scheduling. :O(
Comment by Kim — August 5, 2009 @ 9:31 pm
Re: Kim about female (cough, cough … canine) grudges.
As I always say, there is a reason why we call bitches - bitches! smile….
Comment by Liz Palika — August 6, 2009 @ 11:44 am
I don’t have a cite for this, but what I have been told is that for some bitches, the presence of estrogen tends to moderate their temperament. After spaying, the testosterone which they also have and which was previously “suppressed” (for lack of a better term) by the estrogen is no longer encumbered in that way and so tends to cause a sharper - i.e. “bitchier” temperament in the bitch. I believe it also becomes a factor in interbitch aggression.
Anyone with cites handy feel free to jump in!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 6, 2009 @ 11:52 am
I don’t have any ‘cites’ - don’t have time to do research at the moment - but with our two, one was spayed and one was intact. The aggressor was the intact female.
There may be hormonal issues, breed tendency issues, relationship with the owner issues and more. And then some dogs/bitches just don’t like each other for whatever reasons.
Comment by Liz Palika — August 6, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
I’ve definitely seen bitches get sharper after spaying.
I’ve also seen bitches mellow out after spaying, when their sharpness was due to hormonal fluctuations.
Damned if you do …
There are two things I never want to hear when I pick up the phone to talk to a potential client.
One is true separation anxiety. (Much rarer than casual tantrums and destructiveness, but intractable when it’s real.)
The other is bitch fighting within the household.
Worst of all is when people get littermate sisters and the two have started trying to kill one another, generally around age 2-3.
Comment by H. Houlahan — August 6, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
Great story Liz. Dogs have such wonderful conflict resolution - and avoidance - mechanisms!
So will the new puppy be Worf, or maybe Sisko?
Comment by Eric Goebelbecker — August 7, 2009 @ 4:35 am
For Eric:
When we add a puppy to the household, we usually have a list of Star Trek character names ready. (I have a couple of trivia books to aid our memories!) Then we try to match the new puppy’s personality with the name. Worf has been on our list for a long time and to be honest, I am very happy we haven’t found a Worf yet! smile…. Sisko has been on our list; as has Tuvok, Scottie, Spock, Sarak, and a number of other favoites from the whole range of shows and movies.
I know; it’s sad but hey….
Comment by Liz Palika — August 7, 2009 @ 11:03 am
We were just making the Bitch jokes today, discussing this issue with friends.
My girls are intact at the moment. Lex is 4, Fable is a few months shy of a year, and Juno is the new pup.
Fable is so socialized she’s a well-oiled machine. She knows just what to do in each situation, well beyond her years. I’m not really worried about her.
Lex on the other hand can be a bit defensive with certain dogs. She keeps Fable in check, which is fine with both of them and not likely to change even with maturity. Fable just isn’t the Lead Bitch type. Not a fan of responsibility that one… whereas Lex takes it all on her own shoulders if she doesn’t have someone guiding her.
The new pup is a bit of a Bossy Betty already, which worries me a bit - or at least enough to keep a pretty constant watch on the situation as things progress.
I’ve always found that three dogs fare better than two as far as personality clashes go - there’s always a third wheel to ease the tension (although this can go the other way if the third wheel enjoys pushing buttons…).
Thanks for the comments everyone - you’ve at the very least given me something to think about as far as Lex’s spay date. Nothing’s been decided yet, but we were planning on having her done this summer. No real reason for doing it, aside from pyo avoidance and the three-snarky-bitches-in-heat concerns. Perhaps we’ll ride it out for a while…
Comment by Kim — August 8, 2009 @ 8:31 pm