Noticing Dog Body Language

[welshboy454 3]

I thought I would ask if anyone has some good body language tips.

I have noticed 3 with my dog there must be many more and I am just not tuned in so if you can help/advise please do.

 

1 Licking his lips to tell me to give him food

2 To go in the car - he stands by the car door then looks at me/looks at the door repeatedly l.a.m/l.a.t.d

3 Dummy work he will fetch the dummy and then drop it near me then back off 5 yards and look at the dummy /look at me repeatedly

These are the ones I have noticed and I would like to know if there are any more I should watch for - maybe I am missing obvious stuff.

[Irish Setter 1]

I thought I would ask if anyone has some good body language tips.

I have noticed 3 with my dog there must be many more and I am just not tuned in so if you can help/advise please do.

 

1 Licking his lips to tell me to give him food

2 To go in the car - he stands by the car door then looks at me/looks at the door repeatedly l.a.m/l.a.t.d

3 Dummy work he will fetch the dummy and then drop it near me then back off 5 yards and look at the dummy /look at me repeatedly

These are the ones I have noticed and I would like to know if there are any more I should watch for - maybe I am missing obvious stuff.

 

I don't think I would call that dog body language as in natural canine communication, i would call that knowing what the human is likely to do and pre-empting it or encouraging it The licking the lips will be a reaction to salivating knowing there is potentially more food, the car door and dummy are reactions to a known action, he knows you open the door or throw the dummy and is waiting for you to do the expected action.

 

Natural canine body language is facinating and can be so subtle that us humans usually miss it completely, a quick flash of the ears, tail held a certain way group yawning etc. A fight can suddenly break out between two dogs leaving us wondering what the hell triggered it, it could have been a glance that lingered a milli-second too long etc

 

Interesting stuff

Setter

[welshboy454 3]

I thought I would ask if anyone has some good body language tips.

I have noticed 3 with my dog there must be many more and I am just not tuned in so if you can help/advise please do.

 

1 Licking his lips to tell me to give him food

2 To go in the car - he stands by the car door then looks at me/looks at the door repeatedly l.a.m/l.a.t.d

3 Dummy work he will fetch the dummy and then drop it near me then back off 5 yards and look at the dummy /look at me repeatedly

These are the ones I have noticed and I would like to know if there are any more I should watch for - maybe I am missing obvious stuff.

 

I don't think I would call that dog body language as in natural canine communication, i would call that knowing what the human is likely to do and pre-empting it or encouraging it The licking the lips will be a reaction to salivating knowing there is potentially more food, the car door and dummy are reactions to a known action, he knows you open the door or throw the dummy and is waiting for you to do the expected action.

 

Natural canine body language is facinating and can be so subtle that us humans usually miss it completely, a quick flash of the ears, tail held a certain way group yawning etc. A fight can suddenly break out between two dogs leaving us wondering what the hell triggered it, it could have been a glance that lingered a milli-second too long etc

 

Interesting stuff

Setter

Thanks for your comments- whatever it is I would like to understand it more. As far as the car/dummy is concerned he is definitely trying to instigate/encourage the action. He will run over to the car on our yard from say 30 ft and then fix his stare at me then the door even if I am 20ft away in another direction (not going to the car). It all amuses me no end

Edited May 8, 2009 by welshboy454

[flak88 0]

you are absolutely right, the dog's non-verbal communication is very fascinating. In order to understand it, you have to spend a lot of time looking at dogs and particularly when there is some sort of interaction between dogs or a dog and a human.

 

One of the most noticable things to look at is the tail we all know the waggling as a sign of enthousiasm but also the way the dog wears it is a tell tale sign of its state of mind. If the dog wears his tail straight up in the air he is acting very dominantly and will be in for a quarrel, on the other hand the well know tail between the legs is a sign of fear or submissiveness. Anything in between points at various degrees of arousal or relaxation the amount of which you will learn in time.

 

There are also a lot of similarities between dog's and human non-verbal communication. Just think of the example when you are sitting in a pub and some stranger keeps staring at you. At some point you will get fed up with it and depending on the bloke's size you will either leave the pub (flee) or address the bloke (fight). Now try the same with your dog (or any other dog ftm), just do nothing but sit and stare the dog in the eyes. Sooner or later it will turn its head off or walk off - some dogs may get somewhat upset up to the point that they will show you their teeth - another typical example of dogs communication but you may want to stop staring at that point