“Oh no, he’s just fine! Go ahead and pet him.” If I heard that once, I heard it a thousand times, from owners anxious for me to pet their dog, while their dog begged me not to. Of course, the dogs didn’t say so, but their body language spoke volumes. Mouth closed, stiff bodied (even if the tail tip wagged), head down and averted–these dogs were the equivalent of an introvert about to be hugged by a drunken stranger at a noisy party. Except the dogs couldn’t escape. So I didn’t pet them; but I had to spend no small amount of energy convincing the owners that I was honoring the request of the dog, not because I was afraid or uncaring.
These owners loved their dogs, deeply. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have devoted the resources–time, energy, and money–to see an applied behaviorist. They just weren’t as good as dogs are at reading non-verbal cues. And that’s pretty much the state of the world, isn’t it? I’ll never be as good at reading Skip or Maggie as they are at reading me. Surely there are a lot of reasons for that, but I suspect one important one is that verbal language doesn’t get in the way of dog’s perceptions of us. What else do they have to go on besides our tone of voice and body language? (Of course, I don’t mean to negate the fact that dogs can and do learn a vast number of words, but try saying “Bad Dog” to your own in a high, happy voice and see whether tone or the actual word itself has more power.)
I’d like us to have a conversation about what resources have helped you learn to “read” dogs better, and what we can do to encourage professionals–trainers, veterinarians, behaviorists–to better educate the dog-owning public. But first, I thought I’d mention what got me thinking about this. Author and trainer Melissa McCue-McGrath and I were talking about a talk she was about to give at the Animal Behavior Society on stress and dogs, and she mentioned a study that found that a measure of long-term stress, the amount of cortisol in the hair, correlated between owners and dogs. There was no effect of activity level or the number of training sessions. But, most interestingly to us, personality tests on both species found that anxious owners tended to have anxious dogs, but not the other way around. (I’m using the term “anxiety” relatively loosely, to indicate factors on the personality tests that indicate what is now called “emotional resilience.”) Anxious dogs didn’t tend to have anxious owners.
Why would that be? Our hypothesis is that dogs are better at picking up signs of anxiety or concern from us than we are from them. That can lead to what’s called “emotional contagion,” a well-documented phenomenon whose definition is in its title. (See more on this and its relation to us and dogs in a previous post, Anxious Owners, Anxious Dogs? from September of 2021.) In other words, we get nervous, our dogs get nervous. Dogs get nervous–we often miss the signs of it. But learning to better read our dogs can lead to better relationships, and avoid so many behavioral problems, that it feels more important to me than teaching people to teach their dogs to sit or stay.
So here’s the question: What resources helped you most of all when learning to read your dog’s internal state or predict his or her next behavior? I’ll list some here, but would love to have a group think about all the resources out there in the world to help owners learn to observe and interpret their dog’s body language. Before listing some resources in hopes of inspiring you to list others, I’ll first mention that I’m begging the dog training world to incorporate reading canine body language into its curriculum. What is more important? Your dog “telling” you that being forced to sit beside Misty for the Christmas card photo is going to get him bitten, or teaching your dog to do a perfect heel? I know lots of classes teach a lot about reading dogs–tell us about the ones you know about or teach yourselves.
In terms of resources that “translate” dog body language, I’ll just quickly mention my 5.5 hour Lost in Translation seminar (which can be streamed now if you’d like), which has a lot of slides and videos designed to help educate.
Dogwise.com is a great resource for finding books about reading dogs, including the classic On Talking Terms with Dogs, Canine Behavior, an Illustrated Guide, by Barbara Handelman, Doggy Language, by Lili Chin, an A-Z Ethogram of Dog Behavior and Body Language by Sue Sternberg, and Canine Play Behavior, by Mechtild Kaufer. I know that’s just a start.What book(s) or videos have you found especially useful?
Can we ever be as good as our dogs at picking up subtle signals of internal emotions? I don’t think so, in part because of the reason I suggested early on: Once you have language, it’s hard to focus as intently on other ways of communicating. And besides, what else do dogs have to do all day, anyway, but spend their time trying to figure us out? I’m sure there’s more to it–perhaps we humans have lost some of our ability to observe as accurately as we once could as a species. At least, most of us. All I can say is that I’ve seen sheep who could read a wisp of hesitation in a dog long before I had any clue that the dog was losing confidence. You can watch sheepdogs on their outruns, looking for the lead sheep from one, two hundred yards away, before any of the sheep have even picked their heads up from grazing. Other animals are REALLY good at it. We’ll never get to their level, but all of our companion animals would be so much happier if we could improve our abilities.
What resources have you found most useful? And how can we encourage more education of owners? I can tell you that every time I’ve heard an applied behaviorist asks “What is the one thing you wish more dog owners knew,” it’s always about encouraging and educating people to observe and “read” their dogs better. I’d love to hear what you have to add to the conversation!
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Yesterday, was a truly wonderful day. We spent the day at Counting Ewe Farm, helping out at a Novice Sheepdog Trial hosted by the gracious Victoria Peterson and her husband Vince. In spite of a downpour, it was a great day, compassionately and helpfully judged by Tresa Laferty, and well run by course director Randy Rohr. Competing in sheepdog trials is hard. And stressful–no one wants a dog losing control and chasing sheep around a field; especially if it is your own. This kind of trial is invaluable–in which the pressure of a big trial is off, and everyone is encouraged to help their dogs in anyway they need. (Remember at these trials, you have to stand at a post and not leave it for much of your run, no matter how far away the dog and the sheep are.) It was a great experience for everyone I think. And some of the young dogs and novice handlers did some great work. Kudos to all.
I didn’t get any photos, sorry–too focused on doing our work, but here’s one of Skip and Maggie after a training session at the farm a few days ago. They are both trained to be quiet and comfortable tied up to a fence while the other dogs works. (This factoid is relevant for the next paragraph.)
Our job at the trial was to either gather sheep off the field after each run and move them to a resting place, or to set out sheep for each run–meaning to herd each group of 4 sheep away from the handling system where their friends are and move them, quietly and with little stress, to the “set out” point where the competing dog will be sent to gather them up and bring them to the handler. We also got to move groups of sheep from one end of the field to the other, a very different job than to move just 4 sheep at a time.
First: I had a ball. I love doing real work with my dogs, and with 14 sheep and a tiny farm, I don’t have enough of it. Skip especially adored every minute of it, including working unprotected for an hour or so in a heavy rain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy for such a long period of time. Doing that kind of repetitive work, where the dog learns the job quickly and can do it with little instruction much be so much less stressful than a run during a competition. It was also good for his heart: Work then rest, work then rest, work then rest, rinse and repeat. He went all day long and never got tired, even trying his hardest to get Maggie to play last night. (She and I were equally tuckered I think. No one could’ve gotten me off the couch after dinner.)
Maggie had a great time in the morning, trading off with Skip on either task. I was so proud of both of them… for much of the day I had to have one dog tied up to a fence while I worked the other, sometimes 250 yards away. They were soooooo good… lying quietly until I returned, no barking or chewing or digging. Just waiting patiently for their turn.
However, after lunch the rains came when Maggie was tied up to a fence at the bottom of the course, and I was working Skip at the other end. It began raining lightly, then hard, while Skip and I (my raincoat safely stashed in the car, the one with the moon roof open) were a long way away, setting out sheep. There really was nothing to do but just get wet. It’s just water anyway, right? When it was time to go back down to the other end of the field, I got down to Maggie as fast as I could. And there she was, tied to the fence in a downpour, the dog who HATES rain, and would rather her bladder explode than pee in it. Her head was flattened in the grass, her ears flat, and her eyes squinted into little slits. I guarantee you I could not repeat what she would have said, if she could, on this forum. Princess Margaret was NOT HAPPY. I ran her to the car, toweled her off, closed the moon roof, thanked heaven for leather-ish car seats instead of fabric, threw my raincoat on over my sopping wet clothes, and went back to work.
Skip couldn’t have cared less. Although . . . there was one point in which I noticed that a tent where others were huddling out of the rain wasn’t too far away, so I left the pen where we were waiting for the next batch of sheep, and stood there too for a few minutes. I swear Skip, himself sopping wet and unprotected, gave me a side eye on the other side of the fence. I thought: Who am I to leave my dog in the pouring rain while I go under a tent? So I went back out again, and told him we were in this together, every moment. All I can say is that I’ve never seen him so happy for so long, doing his little skippy-skip dance (which some day I’ll get a good video of!) every time we finished a job.
The drive home was gorgeous, with dramatic cloud formations all the way back. Here’s from home a few days ago, just as thunder began to roll, and I got me and the dogs back down the hill and inside.
It’s so very much fall here, such a beautiful time! I especially love the Zinnias in the yard right now, their colors are so intense, and I’m so aware that the color is draining away, leaf by leaf. I try to suck it up as much as I can before the season of black, white, and brown begins.
The fall asters are blooming too, and the bees are loving it. Sadly, I’ve seen fewer butterflies than usual, but the bees are all over the yard now, several different species of them. When I’m weeding I am surrounded by busy bees, their buzzing like music to my ears. I know they won’t bother me, even though we are working just inches from each other, because I am no threat to them. Here’s a Bumblebee working hard to store up food for the winter to come.
What’s good in your world? And join our conversation about great resources to educate us on canine body language, I look forward to your additions.
Michael says
You already mentioned it, so this isn’t really adding much, but if there is ONE single book I would want for every dog owner to read, it probably would be Rugaas’ Calming Signals. It’s short, yet provides a fairly solid dictionary of sorts of things to look for that might indicate discomfort on the dog’s part generally long before the dog feels the need to escalate things past “would you please not make me have to do that?”. One can certainly argue about the word “calming” in the title, but so many “I never saw that coming”s would be avoided if people heeded some of those signs.
Trisha says
I agree completely Michael. I don’t always agree with Turid’s interpretations, but she’s as good an ethologist as they come, and is a brilliant observer.
Bruce says
I have also found Turid helpful, and of course Trisha’s writings have been invaluable. But the main thing I use is close observation of my dogs to decipher how they display their internal state and how they telegraph different patterns of behavior.
Signaling has varied quite significantly among the dogs who have been part of our lives. Some dogs beam out every emotion with their ears, eyes, mouth, tail, and body language, to the point where nearly anyone can read their internal state. We have also had dogs that kept their thoughts and feelings as hidden as possible in certain situations.
We have even had dogs who were quite devious, broadcasting good will while planning to snatch food or commit other transgression. Yes, those were the smart dogs.
The thing that is really amazing is how fast dogs read each other. It seems like “reading dog” is their native language, whereas “reading human” is like speaking a second language – one can become fluent, but it always takes extra effort.
Christine says
The book that most helped me as a brand new dog person was Brenda Aloff’s “Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide Interpreting the Native Language of the Domestic Dog”. It has helpful text, but most importantly, many, many photos (some of which are admittedly not of the best quality). Many hours of close observation of my dogs was also important, but Brenda Aloff’s book is what gave me a baseline or starting point to begin to decipher what I was seeing from my own dogs.
Lynne Stott says
Reading dogs body language with a bit of genuine understanding began for me when I got involved with playgroup at the municipal shelter. I watched how they read each other. It was an eye-opener!
Jen Gibson says
Dr. Sophia Yin put out a great cartoon graphic poster about fear in dogs. I’d love to see more like that. How about flash cards with every dog you get? And maybe every dog training class series has one session where the instructor explains dogspeak. I mean you have several dogs right in front of you to learn from! I think people don’t do all the reading that most of us do because it’s not their jam. We all love learning about our dogs but does the majority of the population?
Our colours are turning here and thankfully we have a few shrubs that get nice and red before the leaves drop. The rest go yellow and then a big wind comes too soon. Harvest is right outside our window this week, making for a whirring non-stop activity for the eyes and ears. A beautiful week ahead for getting it all in the bin or in the tubes. And for finishing up all the things before the snow flies. Sigh.
MinnesotaMary says
As you indicated, once you have verbal language, the ability to understand non-verbal language diminishes. I find that if I don’t practice daily, my ability to read non-verbal language goes away. I currently have a very under-socialized foster dog whose 4 years of life seems to have been traumatic. She is afraid of everything and everyone but me. She wants to be “my” dog – at the expense of my own two boys. So it’s another crate & rotate situation. I dislike having my house upended like that. But on the positive side I am seeing more energy, joy and relaxation as she learns the household routines and knows what to expect. She’s spending a lot of time in a room alone, which is helping her destress. Reading her body language is a refresher course! As we walk through the neighborhood, she ignores some people and bolts away from others. Mostly it’s men she fears, but some women also. I have learned to glance at the people to whom she’s showing fear and most of them are giving her a stare or their body language shows interest in me and 3 huskies. So she’s adept at reading us and I’m learning how to read her. It’s getting to the point where she’s ready to start accepting new challenges, so I’m going to call the fire house down the road from me to see if they’d be willing to have her visit and get treats from them. Crossing my fingers they’re willing to help! This sweet girl deserves a good life, free from anxiety.
Hali says
I laughed when I read about recommended resources, because YOU are my first thought! I also appreciate Temple Grandin’s “Animal’s in Translation.”
Maureen Foos says
While books and articles have been invaluable to me, my very first eye-opening to learning dog body language was at the first ‘manners’ class I took with my first dog, then a 4-month old border collie. While the trainer tended towards ‘old-school’ methods, using choke chains and some other forceful methods, the one thing that made a lasting impression was an early assignment: For the next class, be able to describe something my dog does when he’s happy. I noticed how the top of his head ‘went roundy’ – and that got me watching him and learning from him for the rest of his life.
Betsy says
When I started doing training I was mentored by a very good positive reinforcement trainer and learned to conduct the usual sit/down/stay etc classes. Then I read “The Other End of the Leash” . It was my aha moment. My classes changed to primarily sitting on the floor with our puppies, watching them interact and discussing their body language. Our primary focus was the dog’s perception of different situations. Of course, we completed the basics for good behavior, too. I am pleased to report that one of my students was so excited to learn about behavior he decided to become a vet. He is nearing the end of vet school and is excited to begin his practice. He is hoping to be able to teach his clients about the emotional well-being of their pets as well as their physical well-being. In short, you are my primary resource.
Newbold Richardson says
Actually, my best teacher was my profoundly hearing impaired daughter (now 40). I have always had companion dogs and “thought” I could read them, but Ruth takes it to a whole new level. She once told me that she did not know how hearing folk could work with dogs, as they miss so much communication. ( She is a gifted lipreader).
She really honed her skills when she partcipated in training her own hearing ear dog when she was 10 years old. A local trainer, Carlos Mejias, Old Town School for Dogs, Alexandria, VA guided us. Basically we trained Montgomery to find Ruth – even at the crowded shopping mall. This was before cell phones and texting.
Victoria A Long says
I train and trial border collies for sheepdog competitions. Hello Trish – I’m friends with Dr. Biller here in Colorado. I’ve read all the books mentioned and have attended Dr. Temple Grandin’s seminars and think they are all amazing. The one thing I started doing was teaching Scent Work classes. It is one of the best things (aside from herding) that an owner and dog can do. We see the world through our eyes and the dog sees the world through their nose. The best thing about this sport is that the dogs are the leader and the handler is an observer. This means that they have to focus on the dog’s body language in order to be able to alert when the dog finds the hidden object. Observing my students has made me much better at reading any dog’s body language, especially my own when they are on the trial field.
Debbie says
Dr Sophie Yin’s poster is invaluable, Susan Clothier’s resources, Grisha Stewart BAT training – and of course yours. But the biggest shout out goes to our very difficult foster dog who failed three interviews and ended up living the rest of his life with us. Without his challenges, I wouldn’t even have gone looking for the resources!
Tori Beauclaire says
I recommend Rise VanFleet’s on-line course, Canine Communication in Animal Assisted Play Therapy. You do not need to be a play therapist or mental health professional to take the course.
Laura Anne Welch says
I also really like Brenda Aloff’s “Canine Body Language: a Photographic Guide Interpretive the Native Language of the Domestic Dog” as well as Turid Rugaas’ book, “Calming Signals.”
Interpreting my dogs’ body language has been different with each one. I had a “shepherd whatever” mix who, when afraid, went still. Someone who didn’t know him would think that he was aggressive, but that boy had not an aggressive bone in his body and would do ANYTHING to avoid a confrontation. He once barked frantically and ferociously to warn us about danger outside. I went to the door and saw the cat that had scratched him on the nose walking across our yard as my dog hid behind me, trembling.
Corie and Poe says
So true that an anxious person makes for an anxious dog. When we (we are older) brought home a sweet golden retriever puppy I was so worried that he would have a bad experience with a strange dog that I caused this sweet boy to fear dogs for the first three years of his life. Then I took him to a behaviorist who worked at a wonderful ‘last chance’ rescue group.
I already knew that I caused this sad situation and I was really taking private lessons to fix me. My sweet boy just needed to learn that I was really not afraid of everything and so he need not be also. From this wonderful behaviorist I learned some doggie body language and how to stop my own fear. It took about a year before I noticed a positive change in me and our beautiful golden.
Like others that have commented previously, it would be great if all training (learning) classes began with dog body language. Let the behaviorist teach and demonstrate how all the class participants are displaying their emotions. No human talking, just observation.
Love dogs.
Scott Fischer says
The Whole Dog Journal just published a great primer on reading a dog’s facial expressions written by Pat Miller.
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/body-language/your-dogs-facial-expressions/
Cook says
In addition to Trisha, I use Dog’s Playing For Life’s website, they have a great video library. It is directed at shelter dogs and helping as many of them as possible make it out alive. It’s a huge learning curve for me as I am training to be yard handler for play groups.
As a runner getting dogs out of the shelter kennels to get them to the yards and learning to read body language and respect what is happening and what the dog is telling me is huge. These are dogs that are very stressed and often fearful, I have to stay calm when I drive to the shelter I don’t listen to the news and I try to be as relaxed as possible when I get there.
I’m learning to read dog to dog language and dog to human all the time, and vice versa.
I try to apply what I know and am learning when I am out with my dogs and foster dogs and the people who often say, my dog is friendly, when clearly their dog doesn’t want anything to do with me or my dogs.
I can tell when my dogs pick up on my behavior if I am anxious or upset, two go lay down out of sight and one comes to comfort me. I try to be conscious of how my behavior affects the dogs in our house, often I have a foster that has come out of a bad situation and they need a calm and as stress free of an environment as possible.
Candace Weber says
No books to recommend but I found that Agility training has been remarkably helpful in learning how to read my dog more effectively. The smallest change in my attention, mood or movement can make all the difference in how she responds on a course. This has also transferred to working with my therapy dog – my job is to be her advocate, so I need to be able to “grok” how she is doing in various situations. BTW-loved the photo of the ESS – though all the dogs are lovely.
Dan says
I agree with Lynne – helping with playgroups at my local muni shelter has given me so much greater an understanding of how dogs communicate. With my own girl, Scout, as well as with most of the kennel dogs, I consciously try to limit my words and communicate with them through my own postures, movements, and body language. I have no delusions that I am speaking “doggish”, but by focusing my efforts on the parts of my presence they seem most attuned to, I find myself better attuned to what they are trying to say to me.
Terrie says
In addition to all the great starting points mentioned, spending time with a variety of dogs really helps. For instance, muscle tension in a short-haired dog looks different than tension in a long-haired one, because the fur moves differently. I foster dogs, specializing in shy ones, so being able to read when I’ve hit the edge of their “bubble” is critical. Short hair makes the more subtle signs so much easier to pick up on.
Libby says
I’m doing doing Sindhoor Pangal’s Udemy course, Canine Communication. I find it hard, I watch the videos again and again (and again!), but a great course. I’m also keen to take any chance I can to learn from Michele Minunno.
Andy says
On the suggestion of a classmate, I picked up “The Language of Dogs” and “Am I Safe?” by Sarah Kaljnas. I have to say that, despite not agreeing with some handling choices and knowing that assessments are complicated and controversial, LOD in particular was really, really helpful. Great camera work and very helpful categorical groupings (DI, DD, Calming/Appeasement, Displacement, Abnormal). I watched the LOD at least three times and took a ton of notes, all with the understanding that this stuff is not set in stone and definitions and standards have changed since its production.
I’ve also come around to Sue Sternberg after years of (erroneously) shying away from her work. I’ve seen two of her Tawzerdog videos and am going to purchase the Ethogram. Also looking forward to her peeing seminar. What a talent!
Second both Aloff and Rugaas as well – great books.
Kimberly Reilly Agzigian says
I literally just read Turid Rugass’s On Talking Terms With Dogs Calming Signals as I was waiting to be wheeled into a medical procedure – it calmed me down (LOL) and I have been “seeing” my pack with new eyes. I do think you need to take into account the context in which some behaviors are occurring. It really helped me with the 18 month old hound/pointer mix I just adopted. I know I wouldn’t have picked up many of the signals he is throwing out but I’m picking up a lot more and it is definitely helping his transition into the collie pack.
Gayla says
Because of who my dog is, I spent the majority of my career studying aggression and trying to improve my ability to read a dog’s emotional state. I learned a tremendous amount from our hostess, Sternberg, Grandin, Aloff, Yin, Donaldson, Reid, Ramirez, the PBS video; Dogs Decoded, etc.
One thing I’ve thought is pertinent, but seldom mentioned, is ‘speed’ or lack of it. Did the dog turn away from me slowly or jerk his head away? Is the dog loping up to a strange dog, or acting like a heat seeking missile? Is there a slight reduction in the speed at which the dog bounds after the ball (might be losing interest) or does he hesitate completely? (tired of this game.)
I also agree that time spent on a Search and Rescue team helps to hone some skills. Not only do you need to recognize when the dog is alerting, but also whether there was a pause (possible area of interest) and whether or not that German Shorthair you’re using is ‘working’ or has it just noticed a pheasant?
Emily Sieger says
I think I learned most from your wonderful books and Blog posts, Trisha! “commissure” .. what’s THAT? (lol) Now there are so many great online resources with photos and (even better) videos. 30 years ago when I got my first dog, there was little of that and much was way too simplistic. A dog licking another dog’s lips is appeasement, right? Because that’s what wolves do ???…. well, when my young dog would do that to another dog, mostly they HATED IT and would growl/snap/move away. So I learned not to let her do that. thanks again for all the knowledge you share, I love watching dogs interact and trying to understand what they are saying to each other and to the humans.
Fran Berry says
The only thing I will add to this excellent thread is that not only are humans clueless when it comes to reading dogs, they are also clueless about their own body language that the dog is actually responding to.
The average dog owner doesn’t believe their dog doesn’t understand human language because they have “proof” that the dog responds to words, except when the dog is being stubborn or spiteful 🙂
When I’m teaching, I prefer to let students experience dog language vs human language. As an example, I’ll ask them to tell me the words that their dog knows. Then I’ll take one of the words such as “Down” and ask for a demonstration which typically is the person saying the word while giving the hand-signal. Once the dog responds to the cue, I’lll say “great, now I’d like you to stand up straight, put your hands at your side and just give the word, “Down”. The majority of the time the dog stares at the owner, who then repeats, “Down, down, down”. But you already predicted that 🙂
Next I’ll ask them to withhold the word, and just give the hand-signal, which is usually successful.
The way I explain why we teach the dog the visual cue first, and then teach the verbal is the following:
“Say you bring your non-English speaking friend to your pottery class to observe the class. The instructor begins the class by giving everyone a big hunk of clay.
Are you going to teach your friend that this hunk of clay is a vase or wait until you shaped the clay into the vase? This is how your dog learns too. We build the behavior and then we give that behavior a name.”
I heard a great story, which I use with my students. I may have even heard it on this blog!
The quick story is that a well known trainer was called in to observe a woman working with her dog. The issue was that the dog would respond to the owner’s cues at home, but once in the obedience show the dog was clueless.
The trainer, after observing the woman and dog, asked the woman how she wears her hair at dog shows, and the woman responded that she wears her long hair tied up in a neat bun. The astute trainer figured out that when not in the show ring, the owner gave the recall cue by enthusiastically gesturing and that made her ponytail swish which, as far as the dog was concerned, was the cue, not the word, “Come”!
Nannette Morgan says
What a great discussion! Besides all the great books mentioned, another one of my favorites is Roger Abrantes’ “Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior”. It was on the required reading list when I attended a Canine Training/Behavior Instruction Academy given by Trish King. I also just read that Temple Grandin is coming out with a new book in October: “Visual Thinking”. Should be an interesting read.
For my private clients I have them read 2 handouts – one on stress signals written by a fellow professional trainer and the ASPCA Dog Body Language PDF that shows the basic faces/poses of different emotional contexts.
Kathy Brown says
Connection work with horses – Warwick Schiller, Josh McNichol and a plethora of others who promote the importance of observation of the slightest communication signs.
Trisha says
Fran, I love this point and this story! So valuable.
Sarah J says
In addition to others listed above, The Language of Dogs by Sarah Kalnajs gave me a great primer. Then Brenda Aloff’s book as bedtime reading. My truly best instruction came from many many hours spent at the dog park. Observing dogs is the best way to learn! I even began to try to get some of the other owners to clue into what the dogs were saying to each other. Still so much to learn!!
Maureen says
I now have a bunch of books to look up (have some, but want more!) – thanks everyone!
One of the things that most helped me was…more dogs! I began learning SO much once I had more than one dog in the home. The language they speak with each other, both verbal and body language, was so much richer, and frankly, easier to understand, than with one dog. To see the communication with one another was like a master class. Add that my breed was a docked tail breed, and everything “body” becomes more noticeable and more important to notice (for both me and other dogs! – we all get lazy with that easy full tail, waving like a neon sign). Up on their toes, arched neck, piloerection over the shoulders, or butt, or the entire back! – the body stiffness/stillness, the ears, the commissure, eyebrows with those helpful dots over the eyes – I have so much to thank them for. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone with one dog would ever learn this stuff in a lifetime!
Julia Velson says
The most important resources for me have been the Academy for Dog Walkers course put on by Dog*Biz (formerly Dog*Tec) which spends a very substantial amount of time on body language, followed by LOTS of observation of many different dogs in many different situations. As an (off leash group) pro walker for the last 10 years, opportunities for observation have been endless and endlessly fascinating. There are so many variations. You can learn the generalities of body language but what those signal mean can vary so much from dog to dog or with the same dog in different contexts.
Nicola says
I actually like Zoom Room Guide to Body Language on You Tube for adults – I find it much easier to correctly interpret body language with more context than books give me. Yes, books can be useful to point out what a tucked tail, pinched brown or whale eye is, but often what it means is context dependent – for instance, much of the same body language can be used in fight and play situations. I can’t tell from a photo which it is, but give me a video, or dogs together, and I immediately “know” what is going on and when to intervene. Things like how stiff or relaxed the dog is often doesn’t come out in a still. Given that, I noticed that everyone has given books suitable for adults, many of which I love and have used. The one I love for children is Good Dog! Kids teach Kids about Dog Behaviour and Training by Evelyn Pang and Hilary Louis. This book was written by two 12-13 year olds after attending a summer school for kids who were afraid of dogs (if I remember correctly). I have given it to two children who were slightly worried about dogs and both gained a lot of confidence after reading it. My niece was one of those children, and she was caught reading it past her bedtime one night by my SIL. When asked why she was reading it she replied “So I know what Buffy and Poppy are telling me”. She was 8. Buffy and Poppy were my two dogs at the time, both very good with children, but my niece had been slightly scared of Buffy, a kelpie x since she was tiny and Buffy was bigger than her and excitable. When my niece was 9, she spent a couple of hours training Buffy to put her toys back in the toy box while I was asleep (she was supposed to stay in her room until I woke up, but I couldn’t be cross with the result). No food, Buffy wasn’t toy driven, but the interaction was so rewarding for both child and dog. So I recommended that book to my students if they had children, or children who often visited. Many success stories. It is now available in an e-book.
Ellen Coltrane says
This is such a timely discussion for me. Thanks so much for all the input! I have devoured most of Trisha’s work, and some of the other resources listed. I am an apprentice dog trainer and I missed the signals last night in a beginning adult dog class from a gsd female that did not want me to approach. I was tired and too relaxed from mainly working puppy classes and she had a good lunge at me. No one was hurt and she is moved to private lessons with a senior trainer. Of course hindsight is so 20/20 and I am embarrassed, relieved, a bit disappointed in myself and engaged to learn more body language FAST. I mostly felt bad I made a dog so uncomfortable.
Cathy Madson says
The amazing Tricia Hollingshead (who has a great book on body language – “Listen to Me”) and I are currently working on the Dog Body Language Library – a photo library of user generated images of canine body language for free or very affordable downloads so that trainers everywhere can create more body language education. Hoping to launch soon after lots of work. But her book is a great resource!
Sheridan Davis says
Such a great post Tricia and wonderful suggestions shared in the commentary. I am delighted to see so many resources I’m unfamiliar with! In addition to your invaluable works, favorite books like “Merle’s Door”, “A Big Little Life”, the Chet and Bernie mystery series, “Where the Red Fern Grows”, parts of “White Fang” and the “Julie of the Wolves” series have helped me think and read dog language. There has been no better teacher than my Gryff, and Pepper before him. I’ve also learned a great deal from the Facebook group Canine Emotional Detox and the video and commentary posted there. And though many of mentioned it, “Bones Would Rain From the Sky” has influenced my dog translation skills too. And a Bark magazine article on shelter Reiki work is something I often think about.
Eve says
I once saw a companion video to Calming Signals done by the author. It was not slick, fancy, or we’ll produced but I watched it 3 or 4 times before returning it. Seeing what she saw with commentary on video was amazing!
Linus & Amber's mom says
Like many others here, I am always turning to Patricia’s sage words, along with Julie London. My thoughts are that, while attending training classes with my various dogs over many years, I have noticed that many people don’t have great awareness of THEIR own body language/movement, and are often not aware of the need to attend to it in their dogs or other dogs they may encounter. As an athlete since as soon as I could walk, I have always had a good awareness of my own body, its movements & positioning, but have witnessed many people in dog training classes that have absolutely no idea where there hands, feet, etc. are and even when the trainers attempt to bring their focus to this, they still struggle to do it. So, this makes me wonder how this lack of attention to their own body contributes to their (potential) inability to attend to the body at the other end of the leash- or any other dogs they may encounter. As always, I appreciate the forum & any comments or thoughts others reading may have on this.
Carolina Jardim says
I’m so happy that you wrote about this subject. I’ve read an article that a Brazilian researcher (my country!) wrote last year about the capacity of dogs to infer emotional states from human emotional expressions and was thinking about how we have to evolve to reach the emotional intelligence of dogs.
They have the ability to perceive, categorize, recognize and respond to human expressions and we still can’t read their signs of stress. Or, sometimes, we can read, but we don’t respect these signs.
As a professional dog trainer, I always say that if the schools could teach specially boys between 7-10 years old (that are the most victim of dog bites in our country) only 4 signs of stress and discomfort, we could have a big change in the relationship with dogs.
Thank you for always bringing such important topics in this way that only you can do it! 😉
PS: Sorry for my imperfect English!
Louise says
There are a couple books that I have that are probably not the best “What Dogs Want” by Arden Moore is one. “Inside of a Dog” by Alexandra Horowitz is another. Much better is “The Other End of the Leash” by you.
Trisha says
Linus, and tomothers who have talked our our lack of awareness of our own movements?.. GREAT topic for a future post, so impoetant!
Marianne Lathrop says
Wonderful article!! Although I’ve been retired from dog training for over one year, I always emphasized and educated my students (especially during puppy class) body language!! I found that most people are quite fascinated!! It really helped those students whose pups were on the timid side or just a bit slow to join in play – what I discovered is the owners of shy dogs were less forceful of said pups to join in play, which also created good bonding and trust!!
Adam says
My day to day experience living with my Sheltie leaves no doubt in my mind about the phenomenon of social contagion.
I am an anxious person by nature. Sadly, I can see that my Sheltie seems to synchronize his anxiety levels to match mine. I cannot count how many times I’ve gone to bed anxious about something or other only to be awakened in the middle of the night by Oliver. He is restless, begging to go outside and burn off nervous energy. Other nights I go to bed feeling that all is right with the world, and Oliver sleeps like a log all through the night.
I see a similar pattern play out when we go on walks. The more anxiety I’m feeling, the more reactive he is to dogs and motor vehicles while on our walks. It’s uncanny. And yet he is visibly more relaxed whenever my wife (a constitutionally calm soul) takes him for a walk. His reactive outbursts are a far more muted and he’s better able to enjoy his walk.
I wonder if some of this is related to breed? For example, the recent literature I saw on this used Shelties and Border Collies in their study.
Martin says
Thanks for this post – and for the comments! Some of these resources I’ve already read/watched, but others are new to me.
When I had Dolce, I thought I was fairly good at reading “dog.” Once I had more contact to other dogs, I realized I was only good at reading “Dolce.” The fact that Nanuk’s neutral face has a closed mouth threw me off for the longest time. Because Dolce and the Golden Retrievers I had known previously only had drool threads hanging from their mouths when they were extremely stressed, I thought that the neighbor’s drooly Golden Retriever was also stressed – no, he just has a droopy mouth and the spit that comes with it.
Now I’m trying to learn how to not only reading my own Nanuk’s body language better, but to be able to read dogs in general – even when they have a different body type and a different communication style/personality.
One thing I’m still looking for is a resource on the vocalizations of dogs. I know they primarily use body language, but the sounds they make are also relevant – and I have a hard time figuring out what the different barks mean.
Martin says
Oh – I forgot to mention something. Someone mentioned that dogs only understand tone of voice, not words (sorry, I forgot who and I can’t find it just by skimming back through). One study suggests that isn’t quite true.
They trained 13 dogs to lie in fMRI machines, then talked to them through headphones. They said both “neutral” words like “however” and praise words, either in a happy voice or in a neutral tone of voice. The dogs processed the tone of voice in the right part of their brain, while they processed the actual words in the left part – and responded best when the intonation matched the meaning. See https://mymodernmet.com/dogs-understand-human-words/ for more details.
Obviously, words are only arbitrary sounds that don’t gain meaning until that meaning is taught – and that meaning does not have to match up with how the rest of the culture uses that word. “Good girl” probably gets its meaning in no small part through the intonation. But this study implies that once the dog has learned the meaning, it’s more effective to keep using that word rather than saying something in the same tone of voice – especially if the dog has reason to believe that “something else” is actually negative.
Alli says
A little late to the party, but I can’t recommend highly enough Mara Velez’s work over at Shelter Playgroup Alliance. They offer an in-depth course on canine play behavior that is free and really beneficial for novice and seasoned pro alike. Love her (and your work, Trish!)
Donna Baker says
This is a great topic as I think reading and understanding canine body language is such a key ability for anyone who works with or lives with dogs … plus it’s just plain fascinating. I was a volunteer in rescue for many years, but when I was hired by the rescue I volunteered for in 2007, I had to quickly ramp up my ability to read the body language of the dogs who were living in the kennel until they were adopted. I remember a day soon after I was hired, when I was standing with two seasoned staff members while they “narrated” what they were seeing in a multi-dog playgroup, easily assessing ear and tail positions, overall loose vs. tense bodies, play style, signs of any stress, etc. I tried to keep up, but I was frankly out of my league at that point! Within a few months, however, just from spending time with the dogs, learning from my colleagues, and probably doing some reading and studying on the side, I was soon able to see and understand the same behaviors that had eluded me at first. One of my responsibilities was to do dog-to-dog matches with potential adoptive dogs and the existing dogs in the family. That is a bit terrifying at first, given how much can go wrong if the situation is not well planned and choreographed, so it provided extra incentive for me to hone my observational skills and avoid any skirmishes! Later in my rescue career, I oversaw the recruitment and training of volunteers, and I sometimes provided workshops on body language to help them in their interaction with the rescue pups. One of the resources I liked a lot was a power point presentation called “What is My Dog Saying?” which was created by Diamonds in the Ruff. It dates to 2009 but I would think the information (if not the format) is still very relevant and valid. It can be tailored to the needs of the group if used for training purposes and generates a lot of good discussion.
Jackie D says
Brenda Aloffs book which is just photos of dogs interacting. I can’t remember what it’s called right now but it was a revelation.
And yes, two of my threee dogs are frightened of wasps but not other buzzing insects, like me. The other one is generally more independent and less owner-oriented, even though she’s the only one that as far as I know has actually been stung by an insect!