Are You Really Tuned into your Dog’s Emotions?
Know what your dog is trying to tell you.
Walkie Time — Come-on, let’s go sniff dogs and meet people.
An important part of the day is taking my dogs for a walk.
Like clock work at four in the afternoon, no matter what I’m doing, I can feel dog noses pressed hard against the side of my leg.
My Staffy dog Ollie and his band of wagging tail bandits have come into my home office to hijack my time away from work. They know four in the afternoon is their time to get excited about going out on sniff patrol around the neighbourhood.
When I’m in the middle of a creative project, it’s difficult to break away from my desk without a risk of losing my line of thought.
But it’s also hard to ignore my furry friends’ insistent nose nudges on my leg.
I try…
But their barraged of mind-piercing doggie stares have an ability to penetrate deep into my subconscious.
Dogs have an uncanny way to rattle you into submission at the most inconvenient moment. Somehow, with an alert sit and laser focused stare, they can zero in on a guilt nerve inside your brain.
Canine thought-bullets I call them.
To resist and complete my work, I have to up the power of my concentration to stay-focused on my project.
The longer I resist, the harder it becomes to dodge this relentless line of thought-bullets from my doggie’s stares — ‘It’s walkie time, come on.’
If all that persuasion fails, the dog’s ‘Dog-Father’ moves in with a more persuasive approach.
He’s a Flat-Coated Red Setter named Bailey, who plants his paws, one on each of my shoulders. Bailey stares directly into my eyes with his final demand.
‘It’s walkie time, come-on let’s go.’
Bailey’s sweet-talk is often accompanied by a facial tongue-slap — that’s if my response is a split-second too slow.
If you’re not familiar with Flat-Coated Setters, they’re large gentle natured dog breed with a long floppy tongue that has an ability to lick-slap one’s face with attention seeking accuracy.
Has Dog Parenting gone wrong?
An important part of dog parenting is to know your dog’s behaviour well and how best to care for their needs.
Walks are our value time to connect and share joy filled moments together.
Yet, I constantly see in today’s world of dog photos shared on social media, you-tube videos of dogs being guilt-punished, even in dog parks where anxious dogs display an emotional state of protest to what their human owners are asking of their unwilling pet.
Dog handlers insisting their dogs execute on a command that’s clearly opposite to what the dog is telling them.
Which raises a serious question about dog care…
Why are so many dog-caring people out-of-tune to their dog’s emotional wellbeing?
Fear is one emotion displayed that many dog owners miss or simply get wrong.
Not all dogs feel comfortable with social interactions, or rumbustious hellos from other dogs or people.
I hear dog owners frequently discard their dog’s social anxiety fear as “I just have an anxious dog. It’s the way he is.”
Yet, experts in the science world of Canine Behaviour will tell you, fear and anxiety are signals of a dog calling out for help.
“Ahh, help me — I don’t know how to handle this situation?”
A cry that many companion dog owners fail to recognise in their animal’s behaviour.
Is this because…
Dog people don’t know, don’t have knowledge of a dog’s behaviour to recognize fear and anxiety signals?
Or the advice they got was off-key, ill-founded to solve the root cause for their dog’s behavioural issue?
These owners are not bad people, whichever it is.
It’s not malicious neglect, rather a blind spot in their understanding of how fear and anxiety might make a dog feel.
It’s a lack of sensitivity to the reality of how a dog sees its own world.
This failure to understand a dog’s physical and emotional signals can cause complications in the human-dog relationship. Miscommunication and lack of connection have a tendency to erode trust in each other’s decision-making ability.
A result of pet-over-protection by dog owners is another behaviour that can lead a dog to lose trust and confidence about its owner.
Young dogs need to learn desirable dog manners by meeting other well-mannered dogs early in their social education.
Another human behaviour that can be extreme; when dog owners project their human emotions onto their dog with an astonishing intensity.
For example, over pampering or harsh punishment for non-performance. Extreme human behaviour can make it difficult for the dog’s mental capacity to deliver on their human’s demands.
Whatever you feel about humanising your dog, dogs are born as an animal with an instinct to survive the best way they know how.
Dogs are not human.
A dog’s brain processes thoughts differently compared to their humans.
Dogs require rules, structure and learning (let’s call it training) to cope within its environment.
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What a dog sees around them becomes the key influence on how they determine a behaviour or respond to a situation.
A modern trend that strengthened during COVID, human couples considered their dog as part of the family — their fur-baby.
This tendency, while well-intentioned, can muddy the human-dog relationship.
Muddied by mixed messages, commands that a dog finds difficult to process correctly. When instructions are not clear or inconsistent, this creates a challenge for a dog’s brain to work out exactly what’s going on and what’s expected from them.
They can get it wrong and receive an unfair reprimand for inappropriate behaviour they never intended to do — as seen on blame and shame dog videos.
The dog’s ability to learn depends on its handler’s skill to give well defined instructions the dog understands. As well as to recognize a dog’s body language signals. Dogs communicate their intentions through body gestures.
So it’s important to read your dog’s body and emotional signals to build a language between you and your dog’s intelligence. One that you both clearly understand.
Consistency, trust, and clarity are crucial elements dogs value in their relationship and education.
It pays to invest quality time early into your dog’s education.
Include educating yourself to recognize what your dog is telling you, and how you can respond to help them out.
Dog behaviour is a part of structured studies in modern day animal science.
It’s not like the dog park trial-and-error approach where one hopes by applying random suggestions that something will work.
This type of advice contains a flawed approach with a high risk of teaching your dog the wrong behaviour — another problem to solve.
With correct learning techniques that suit your dog, you can grow a unique connection with your dog that will last their lifetime — much like a love affair.
Get Help and save your dog’s love affair
Save the frustration, anguish and wasted opportunities by seeking guidance early from a certified dog professional. Select one who has a deep understanding of the psychology of a dog and dog behaviour.
Only then, you’ll learn to tune-in to your dog’s emotional signals and help flourish unconditional love it has for its favourite human.
In the meantime…
A Tip: Try this while walking your dog.
Dog walks can present a variety of challenges that can make you and your dog anxious. One challenge can be to remain calm within public environments.
Here’s a calming tip I used to stay connected while walking my dogs.
It can work by walking one dog or seven dogs. At times, that’s the size of my walking pack.
Try this…
Talk to your dog during a walk with no distractions.
It doesn’t really matter what you say as long as your voice is of a low, soft tone. At various times, I ask them questions, talk about the news or current politics. Talk about what interests you.
Don’t shout, talk with calm confidence. Your dog’s hearing sensitivity is three times more acute than yours. They’ll hear you, even if you whisper.
Mention your dog’s name first.
Watch for your dog’s ears and eyes’ response to the sound of your voice — a confirmation they’re listening and want to work with you.
Here are examples of what I say…
Ask short questions, reassure their safety, enquire about their wellbeing.
“What do you see Ollie?”
Or… “Ollie, there’s another dog coming — stop! Now stand calm. No need to worry.”
After a sniff and chat with a stranger… “Now, that was exciting wasn’t it?”
After a pee-mail tree inspection… “What did you smell? Any good news?”
Remember to speak in a soft, reassuring tone to show that you really are in-tune with your dog’s emotions.
It’s now four in the afternoon. My dogs have arrived. I feel their noses pressing against my leg. My guilt-nerve has begun to rattle.
Suggesting…
“Come on, it’s walkie time!”
I can’t resist as I love being out with my doggie friends.
To you all…
Have a lovely pawsome walk today.
And learn one thing from your dog that shows you really can tune into your dog’s emotions.
Let me know in the comments what you talked to your dog about. Love to hear it!
Author: Ron Pia
I’m a dog lover (cats too) who enjoys writing about the world of dogs and cats.
I also help people learn responsible-pet-ownership and the wonders of animal science.
My work purpose is to encourage pet guardians to build beautiful relationships with their dogs and cats. One that keeps everyone’s butt and tail wagging.
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Thanks for reading.
