Talking with Dogs - May 11

by Patty Homer

When people ask me what I do for a living, I say “I am a dog trainer.” That is not completely accurate.  I should actually say “I am a dog/human communication educator,” but dog trainer is the publicly accepted term and easier to say.  In 100% of cases I take on, the most important thing I do is teach people to communicate effectively with their dogs and to interpret what their dogs are communicating to them.

Dogs Communicate with Us

Dogs communicate with us constantly, but many times the communication is so quick or subtle that it is missed.  Every dog trainer I know, even the most experienced ones can still miss important communications from dogs, which in our profession can be a physically painful mistake.  So…if a dog trainer with 20 years of experience working with dogs can miss important signals, just think how difficult it is for novice or even experienced dog owners to pick up on those tiny, quick, subtle signals.

We humans tend to assume that everybody thinks like us, whether it is another human or another animal. Attributing human characteristics to your dog is called anthropomorphism. This can be harmful to the relationship you have with your dog creating unwanted, inappropriate and sometimes dangerous behaviors. Dogs have emotions; they think in pictures but don’t have complex thoughts or the ability to plot revenge. In order to communicate with your dog you have to simplify the way you interact with him.

A Dog’s Way of Thinking

I hear clients say, “he knows he did something wrong because as soon as I came home, he was hiding or hanging his head” or “he chewed up the remote because he was mad that I left him alone.” In order for your dog to punish, deceive or act out of revenge, he would have to understand that you have a particular point of view and then consciously work to manipulate or stop that point of view. This requires a thought process that dogs just don’t possess. Since dogs don’t have complex thought processes the explanation is different. The reason he is hiding or hanging his head when you get home is because he has learned that when you come home, you sometimes get angry and he is conflicted because he likes for you to be home, but he knows that many times when you come in you are angry.  He chewed on the remote because he was bored, dogs love to chew and it was within his reach.

Dog Training is About Creating Associations

Training a dog is all about creating associations. Dogs associate your words or actions with something he finds either enjoyable or unpleasant, and the association is immediate. For instance, your dog enjoys being petted, touched or talked to. When he jumps on you or a guest and you grab him, push him or yell at him you are actually rewarding him for jumping. You may know that you are not happy with him, but he doesn’t care, he is associating jumping with attention and excitement, therefore he will continue to jump because it works. However, if when he jumps you completely ignore him until he has 4 on the floor or sits, he will start to associate 4 on the floor or sitting with attention and he will start to ask for attention that way.

In order for you to teach your dog “English as a second language,” you need to understand canine language first. Dogs communicate to us through body language and vocalization. Their body language is so complex that to fully define it would take many hundreds of pages, illustrations and video. I’m going to touch on just the extreme basics, but if you want a more in-depth guide, an excellent reference guide is Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide Interpreting the Native Language of the Domestic Dog by Brenda Aloff.

Reading Your Dog’s Body Language

Reading your dog’s body language can tell you whether he is happy, fearful, anxious or angry. A dog that is relaxed, wagging his tail and glancing at you is probably a happy dog. If he is stiff, still and avoiding eye contact he is probably a little fearful or anxious. If he is stiff, still and looking directly at you, he is probably angry. Dogs give warning signs when they are uncomfortable such as a hard stare, lip lifting, teeth baring, growling, hackles raised, tail straight out and stiff, leaning forward, lunging, air snapping and biting. When you see these signals, you need to take the hint and leave him alone or if he is on a leash and you have put him in this situation, you need to remove him. Correcting your dog when he shows any of these signals is a dangerous practice. When you correct the warning signals, you can create a dog that no longer warns, but goes directly to the attack.

When a dog feels stress, anxiety or fear (threatened) he will display signals that are meant to either calm him or avoid conflict by showing the source of the threat that “I mean you no harm.” Dog trainers call this “calming signals.” These signals include repeated lip licking, sniffing the ground when there is nothing interesting there, averting the eyes and/or head and yawning. There are many more and these signals vary depending on the rest of the dog’s body language and the environment. A great resource to learn more about this is a book and/or video by Turid Rugaas On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals.

Signals Your Dog is Sending

If you are working with your dog and you see he is avoiding eye contact or turning away from you — that is a strong signal that something is making him uncomfortable and it is time to take a break. During the break, think about what could have been making him feel this way — were you getting angry or frustrated? Were you asking him to do something he didn’t understand or leaning over him? Did you work too long or is there something in the environment that he is uncomfortable with (umbrella, strange dog, loud noise)?

Since associations work so well with dogs, you will find that the most “untrained” or “misbehaved” dogs live in a house with more than one person. That is because one person is usually pretty consistent with the message they give but when there are multiple family members in a household, the dog gets many mixed signals and becomes confused, therefore starts to live by his own rules which include barking, digging, chewing, jumping and biting.

The more you stop interpreting your dog’s behavior as human, the easier it will be to train him. This also starts to alleviate a lot of frustration on you and your dog’s part. By consistently associating single syllable words with your dog’s actions and then rewarding that action, you can teach your dog the meaning of dozens of words.

Dogs Like Pleasure

Dogs like pleasure. Using this to your benefit works wonders. Most species including canines and humans learn and respond better, quicker and retain the information longer when the learning process is positive. Be a teacher — not a disciplinarian, there is no need to hit, shock, jerk or hurt your dog in any way to train him. Dogs bring so much to our lives; they deserve to be trained with and surrounded by kindness, love and respect.

Patty Homer is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and a Pet First Aid instructor. She has been training dogs for 20 years. She owns Good Pup dog training and boarding in South Kansas City. Her certifications include CPDT-KA (certified through the Certification Counsel of Professional Dog Trainers); CDT certified through the International Association of Canine Professionals. She is the Founder and President of HEARTland Positive Dog Training Alliance. For more information, visit her website at www.goodpupkc.com.