On our trip to northern Minnesota and my talk at the gorgeous Virginia Public Library (thank you for your gracious reception!) Jim and I stopped at the International Wolf Center in Ely.
Lucky us, we just happened to arrive when the “enrichment” exercise was the delivery of a rack of ribs and a beaver. A caretaker delivered the goodies in a wheel barrow, and then we all got to watch, behind glass and just a few feet away, as the wolves sorted out who got what, and when.
I got a few photos that I thought you’d enjoy seeing, given that they are such good examples of canid social communication through facial expressions and body posture.
It’s pretty clear in the photo below what wolf Denali is communicating. I especially like how this “offensive pucker” shows the classic “tight C” shape of a forward commissure (corners of the mouth). It is universally believed to be a sign of a confidence and an individual on “offense,” versus on defense. Other places to learn more about this facial expression are For the Love of a Dog and Barbara Handelman’s book, Canine Behavior, A Photo Illustrated Handbook.
But don’t miss that tucked tail of the dog receiving the message, nor Denali’s eye expression.
Here’s another forward commisure from the wolf on the left, but notice the lip licking, raised front paw, yawn and ear position of the wolf on the right. Note however, that the growler’s ears are not directly forward, and the mouth position is different than that of above. A bit of ambivalence?
I love this next photo because it illustrates how easy it is to conflate “guilt” with appeasement. The lowered head, retracted ears and eyebrows of the wolf on the left are clear signals loosely and anthropomorphically translated as “I am but a speck of dust on the earth. I grant you all power (but I am also here, you might notice, sliding in appeasingly, just in case a speck of food happens to fall in this direction.)” So much of this wolf’s expression is interpreted as “guilt” by dog owners, the emotion we probably share the least with dogs and wolves. However, it has nothing to do with guilt, but everything to do with preventing aggression in a situation of conflict. The more we can educate the general public about this the better.
Speaking of “the public”, I’ll be using some of these photos in my talk on canid communication at the Animal Behavior Society Public Day on Saturday, August 4th in Milwaukee, WI. It’s free, has CEUs for trainers, and has a host of great speakers, who are experts at applying sound science to our relationships with companion animals (the primary focus is dogs and horses, but there will be lots about animals in general). The “day” is from 2 PM to 6 PM, and again, it’s FREE. Come up and say hi!
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: After our visit to Virginia and Ely, we traveled to Mora, MN where Maggie and I were in the Legacy Sheepdog Trial. The sheep were challenging to say the least. They were lambs who had never been worked by dogs (lambs are also harder because there is no lead sheep) and the first day it was like herding deer. More than half the dogs couldn’t begin to handle them and had to retire or got DQ’d. Maggie, however, was in her element. She loves flighty sheep and puts just the right amount of pressure on them to avoid panicking them. We got fourth, against some truly talented competition, and I was thrilled with her.
The next day, predictably, resulted in exactly the sheep that Maggie hates working. The lambs switched from flight to fight, and turned and confronted the dogs often. Maggie’s group couldn’t even be set out for her without the use of two dogs and two handlers (usually one of each). As I watched the struggle to set out our sheep, I knew we were in trouble. Maggie doesn’t do well with that kind of pressure, and indeed, she was at her worst–she didn’t listen and lay down a lot. I am now calling this her “Ropa-Dopa” routine. We did get a score (better than half the other runs), but believe me, it wasn’t pretty. Live and learn: I should have retired her as soon as I saw she wasn’t listening. Several trials are coming up, and I certainly know what we need to work on. The beat goes on.
We just got back so not a lot to report at home, except that the day lilies are still gorgeous but slowing down, the lambs look great, and Tootsie was especially happy to be home. She loved our shorter trip to Mercer, WI a few weeks ago, but six days away was clearly too much for her. She is so spunky sometimes that it is easy to forget how old she really is (we don’t know but estimate 14 or 15).
Truth is, we are glad to be home too. Dorothy was right–“There’s no place like home!”
And we were greeted by Mrs. Toad, who just might be the same individual who spent much of her time in the cat’s water bowl in the garage last summer. I’m very fond of her, have to say, even if it does mean we have to change the water more often.
Amy says
Oh I LOVE those wolf pictures–thank you for sharing them!
Nancy Asher says
I love these pictures that show how clear non verbal communication can be when you know what your looking at and how we can easily misinterpret it. I am constantly trying to teach the importance of this to teachers, parents and play therapists who work with children. I have read that up to 90% of our communication is nonverbal, through body language, facial expression and tone. A child responds to non verbal communication before language. May I have permission to use the wolf pictures in my presentation to help make this point?
Your information on behavior is so easily applied to small children. If not, I completely understand. Thank you!
Jackie says
Thanks so much for sharing these photos. Very clear examples of communication between two wolves.
Honey Loring says
What a timely post, Trisha. The newly re-established Animal Advisory Board in Putney, VT (where I live,) is trying to come up with how to educate, encourage, avoid, punish dog-dog aggression. Two little dogs were attacked by big dogs (they were pits or pit mixes,) but we don’t want to go down that breed specific road.
I am a “dog on a bone,) scouring the web for good dog ordinances, picking people’s brains, and trying to come up with ordinances that will really work (though of course never 100%.)
I could make an nearly ideal world at Camp Gone to the Dogs because I had control over who came and all had to sign a waiver that was touch (written by a Camp alum, a lawyer, who had her sheltie ripped up in front of her.)
I welcome any and all input from you and your blog followers and will look into the two publications you mention above. As part of what I hope we put in place is educating the public, both those with offending dogs and those who have dogs and don’t have any idea how to read dog. Side note: the Animal Control Officer in a town in Oregon both said that first thing for a person to know is not to listen to what a dog owner says about whether his or her dog is friendly or not.
Would you mind if we had a phone conversation? Honey Loring, 802-387-4673. I can call you at your convenience if you don’t mind.
Honey Loring says
ps Do you know of any good DVD’s to use to educate dog owners?
Trisha says
Well, hard to avoid recommending my DVDs, “Lost in Translation” and “The Art and Science of Canine Behavior”. “Lost” focuses on communication, so if you are going to get one, that would be the one I’d get!
Nannette Morgan says
Loved how you captured the wolves’ interactions. Great job!
I was fortunate to attend an intense 3-day trainers seminar at Wolf Park (Indiana) last summer. I learned so much working with the wolves, pups, coyotes and foxes. I feel it makes me a better trainer and consultant.
Sue says
“not to listen to what a dog owner says about their dog being friendly” Sooo true! How often have a heard ‘he just wants to play’ when clearly play is the last thing on that particular dog’s mind… and my girl can read him very well and keeps her distance!
Margo Harris says
All so interesting…thank you Trisha. I love Mrs.Toad. Now that we’ve finally had some glorious rain, we’re seeing more frogs and toads… yay!
Also just wanted to mention that I’m about halfway through “The Education of Will” and wow…what can I say? I can say Holy Moly, what a book! Life affecting, and as I’m sure so many others have told you, I can identify with many parts — dog-related and human-related, and dog/human related! I always read for a while as my old dogs Echo and Sam settle down at night, and I look forward to reading your book then. Possibly not a great idea to do so right before bed, very intense, but oh well, that is my reading time, so there you go.
A brave, wonderful book. You are amazing!!
Suzanne Lintzenich says
Oh wow my husband and sons were just there this past weekend. They took some amazing pictures as well but not during a feeding. They so want to take me back there. Thanks for sharing these amazing photos.
Rose says
This is a bit off topic but is related somewhat to body language! And dogs 🙂
I am wondering if you can write a post about dogs and children! I’ve always been well versed in the idea of never trusting dogs and children alone, and to respect a dog’s space, etc. Now that I have a child, I’m very mindful of this, and it’s hard! It’s ESPECIALLY hard because my dog constantly wants to come over and pester the baby – licking the baby’s ears is my dog’s favourite thing to do.
I can’t imagine that my dog actually LIKES the baby – body language wise I’d say the dog finds the baby somewhat irritating, and yet she still insists on interacting with her every chance she gets. Instead of removing the baby from the dog because the BABY is chasing the dog, I’m removing the baby from the dog because the DOG is chasing the baby, so to speak (not literally chasing of course, haha)
annyyyway, that’s my own particular situation but I’m curious about your thoughts on dogs and babies/kids in general and different things to watch for and all that good stuff!
Manuela Connatser says
Thank you so much for sharing these amazing photos.
Barb Stanek says
Thanks.
Diane says
Thank you for sharing those pictures!
I was at our local zoo when the Mexican gray wolves were fed a deer carcass. There was one female among the group who looked as if she may have had the pups that appeared to be around 8 weeks old as she had swollen teats. Although it seems likely, I don’t actually know if she was the mother. The pups did not venture into the enclosure where the food was placed.
This female was constantly chased away, growled at, nipped or bit. I actually remember getting worried for her safety at times. (There were a lot of “c” commissure displays directed at her..I watched a lot of your DVDs so I did focus on that! I can’t recall the ear positions… I need to learn to better observe.)
She was not able to get near the food. All the others got their fill with fairly minimal dominance displays from the one wolf, and the others also went after her if she tried to get any food. (I also can’t recall if she displayed a lot of submissive behavior…other than running out of reach.)
Anyway most of the hair was off of the feed animal, and much of the meat. The other wolves left with pieces. The one wolf that showed the most dominance was pulling the larger remains into the second enclosure. The second enclosure is where the pups were, but I did not see them and I don’t know if they were not seen by “wolf decision” or the zoo keepers decision.
It was then that the “battered” female swung behind the male who was pulling the largest of the remains and sniffed him. She then went around to the other side of the feed animal and latched on. There was a real tug of war, as the male did not want to give it up, but now the shoe was on the other foot it seemed. She did not give in no matter how hard he pulled and snarled and she ended up with a good portion of the piece he was taking away. He gave up.
I have no idea if he was full, or/and she detected a change in his scent which gave her confidence, or/and there was wolf politics involved that I would never guess. (This was, after all, a wolf group – they were not necessarily related and the environment was a zoo.)
All I really know was that it was fascinating to watch…..and that I need to remember to watch more of the body language details!