Calming Signals

[hoegaandit]

I'm reading a book called On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals by the Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas. It's a good short read.

From when she was little Turid wanted to talk to animals, and she appears to have accomplished this, to the extent that that is possible. She's at the cutting edge of dog training.

The essence of her thesis is that dogs, like wolves, have a system of communication and we can have a much better relationship with our dogs if we observe and understand this. In fact, we can even "talk dog" eg  by yawning and stretching (and only looking indirectly at it) when faced with a nervous dog.

Most of dog signals and communication, particularly with dogs they don't know, are aimed at calming the situation. For instance when a yappy little dog was barking a lot at our boy (and a labrador) at the park the other day, our boy turned away, sniffed the ground, and carried on with his marking. This was indicating to the little dog that he was not a threat, and the little dog was mainly getting the idea (but his owners, unfortunately not understanding dog language, were a bit upset at his display and went running around trying to catch him, which unfortunately was just feeding his concern).

Our boy is generally a very relaxed bully, but he does sometimes use calming signals for himself eg he always yawns when we get in the car going for a walk. That is the highlight of his day, so it is a way of suppressing his excitement.

For what it is worth, here is a list of calming signals used by dogs - turning head or body away, turning eyes away (a stare is a threat), licking nose, freezing, slow movements, play-bowing without movement, sitting down, lying down on belly, yawning, sniffing, approaching in a curve, splitting up (ie moving between a boisterous dog and a scared dog), wagging tail etc etc.

Turid points out that if you jerk the leash this is perhaps painful for your dog, and he may try and calm you by turning away or even sitting (which of course makes a non-understanding dog owner mad!) If you yell at your dog to come from the park (when off leash) he may come very slowly, not directly but in a curve. Your dog is trying to calm you down by that, not to annoy you!

In Turid's view  your job is not to be a leader to your dog (ie requiring him to do what you want), but to have a parenting relationship that goes two ways. You need to respect your dog enough to learn his language. She writes there is no excuse for scaring a dog. You need to tell your dog in a way he can understand that you are friendly. There needs to be two way communication.

If there is not and your dog feels threatened by deliberate or inadvertent actions by the owner, your dog can continually be on edge (it can take days to come down off an anxiety high, and this can lead to "bad" behavior, and ill health (supposedly allergies)).

As Turid says - dog owners have a choice! - and if you observe and understand dog language, your dog is likely to be a lot happier!

This book is recommended.

[mtc]

So, when Meatball does his ARMY crawl across the living room floor - my interpretation is that his belly needs rubbing!

Think I'm close? 



When he gets to us, he rolls over so WE can rub/scratch his tummy!   

[ksdstny]

Hmmm interesting! Thanks for the info

[Jerr_N_Tiff]

I knew about the yawning and looking away, the rest of it was just plain interesting!  Thank  you for posting 

[LynnKing]

Thanks for posting this, it is a great book. It's a shame that we expect our dogs to understand us and our language and we spend so little time understanding them. Dogs are pretty easy, once ya get the hang of it.

I went to a week-end seminar at a shelter, it focused on dog language/stress and how to better understand and help shelter dogs during their confinement. The dogs were used to study and for demonstration. Without attachment to any one person or having to deal with owner interferance/interpretation, shelter dogs are remarkably clear in their communication. Rugaas's book was frequently brought up in discussion, makes a terrific topic amongst trainers/behavior consultants.

"Calming Signals" is a good read for any dog owner.

[hoegaandit]

You can see some pictures on Turid Rugaas' website here - http://www.canis.no/rugaas/gallery.php

And (although they have not been ordered) there are a lot of questions answered by Turid here - http://www.canis.no/rugaas/questions.php

[Susan & the bullies]

I think this is all very cool. Can you clarify for me what calming signals are? By that I mean is the dog trying to calm itself? Or does it wants the one it is interacting with to be calm?

Thanks I ordered the book!

[hoegaandit]

Turid Rugaas is referring to signals that dogs use to calm other dogs. People can learn to use most of these signals too (although as Turid states, with her rather laidback Norwegian sense of humour, she has had some trouble with eg the tail wagging part).

(I'd perhaps misled the gist of her book by mentioning that I believe dogs can sometimes use these signals to calm themselves, eg with our boy yawning when he gets in the car to go on a walk - or, with regards to cats, an injured cat purring as a means of dealing with the pain)

[LynnKing]

Susan, excellent question. Put 10 trainers in the same room and you will get 10 different answers and/or interpretations. Some will say that it is deference behavior, some believe its appeasement and yet others will argue that it is behavior that calms both the dog displaying the behavior and the "other" dog.

Dogs are such fascinating creatures.

[Susan & the bullies]

That's so interesting! Thanks. I'm looking forward to reading it.

[ksdstny]

Ive never paid much attention to when my dogs exhibited this behaviour or IF they even did.....well today steeler n i were met by the neighborhood troublemaker ....meka the akita she is usually on a long lead tied in the front yard when her owner is working in the garage...she is a jumping barking machine.  Today on our way out of the neighborhood she didnt stay in her yard she was not tethered. She stealthly walked toward us n before her owner got to her steeler completely turned his head away. She sort of stopped n looked at him. He did this as we walked back by on the way home also. Across the street she turned away from him. It was very interesting to watch.

[Susan & the bullies]

I'm half way through the book. So interesting! Auggie is always using calming signals with Violet since she is always looking for a reason to pop off at him. She does too, to a lesser extent regarding her surroundings. I was bringing in the big garbage cans today and they make a rumbling noise on the driveway and she was clearly licking her lips and looking off to the side.

I love knowing a little more about what is going on with them.