How Dogs Communicate . . . and why we humans need to understand them!

Hello Steemit Community,

This is my first post about my all time favorite subject: dogs. I am a dog lover extreme, a dog behaviorist, and can talk about dogs ALL day! I hope you can learn something and I welcome your comments and questions. Here goes! (And hopefully next time, I can figure out how to upload some pictures . . . all I got was a bunch of code, no images - ugh!)

Although dogs do not communicate the same way people do, they do communicate. Understanding what they're saying can help us know how to respond to their "words" and create a better relationship - especially if a dog tends to be fearful and/or aggressive. By "reading" their body language, we humans can decide how best to handle a situation that could become tense, or at least uncomfortable.

Dogs have many ways of communicating, and just as we want them to understand what we're saying ("Sit!", "Come", "No", etc.) it behooves us to make this communication a 2-way street. The most common is through their body language, and dogs use this to "talk" to other dogs and, if we watch closely, we humans will begin to understand what our 4-legged friends are "saying".

Let's start with the classic play bow: here, a dog's rump is in the air, the tail is wagging, the head and shoulders are lowered and often the mouth is partly open. This dog is clearly happy and is inviting either a person or another dog to play!

Pop quiz: TRUE or FALSE? When a dog is wagging his tail, he is relaxed and approachable - (I will answer this in my next post, but would love to hear your responses.)

Next, an alert dog: have you ever been outside with your dog when suddenly, she "snaps to attention"? Five seconds earlier, she was relaxed and chilling, then her head came up, her ears perked up, her tail went from hanging down to horizontal? This dog has noticed something worth paying attention to and it could be anything from a car passing by to another dog approaching.
And, depending on your dog's overall temperament, the alert is significant: it could lead to becoming relaxed again, or excitement, or one of the fear-based responses we don't enjoy seeing in dogs like staring, showing teeth, growling, lunging.

But let's stop here for now. Start paying attention to your dog today. Watch him closely to see how his body "talks". Notice what external situations trigger his body language, and what he is telling you.

This is the foundation for really understanding our canine companions, all of whom are unique individuals. This is how we humans can truly start to know and bond with our dogs.

And, let me know your answer to the tail wagging question too! : )

Till next post . . . .