Dog Talk: How To Understand What Your Dog Is “Saying”
Part 1

Your dog has the ability to tell you exactly how he feels – whether he is happy, sad, bored, excited, disgusted, puzzled, confident, uneasy or frightened.

The inconspicuous and almost continuous movements of his eyes, ears, body and tail are his emotional body language and his primary means of communication. Researchers are finding that, rather than being limited in their means of expression, animals are attuned to an extremely subtle and refined system of communication.

The wild dogs of Africa studied by Jane Goodall and wolves observed by Dr. Michael W. Fox, recognized authority on canine body language, communicated to each other a wide range of attitudes, including anger, dominance, submission, joy, interest, disgust, dismay, affection and fear – using only the slightest body movements.

Though domesticated dogs have lost some sensitivity to this language in their dealings with humans, they still use most of these instinctive, inherited forms of communication. With practice, a sensitive observer with a keen eye can learn to read his dog’s body language.

As he becomes more skilled at identifying subtle changes of mood in his pet, his communication and companionship with him will grow deeper and more pleasurable.

Veterinarians with long experience often read canine body language well, noticing the smallest nuances. Dr. Theodore Stanton, a veterinarian who has practiced now for more than forty years, has become an expert at it. He frequently acts as interpreter for his patients when their owners bring them in for treatment and ask him why their dog is doing certain peculiar things.

“Among Dogs, as among most animals, a hierarchy exists in every group,” says Dr. Stanton.

He goes on to say, “From the most dominant ‘top dog’ to the lowest ‘under dog,’ each dog works out with each other in the group which of them will be dominant and which will be submissive. Much of a dog’s body language is used in the context of establishing these dominant-submissive relationships with other dogs and also with people.”

A dog uses every part of his body in some way to express his feelings and intentions. The appendage he uses most conspicuously and expressively is his tail.

“You can tell everything by a dog’s tail,” explains Mr. Stanton, “He holds it up when he is alert and expecting something. If he has met a strange dog or heard an unusual sound, it quivers a little. He is saying, ‘I’m ready for danger; I’m ready for anything!”

The Doctor finishes with, “A tail held very high – almost vertically – or arched over his back says he feels aggressive and dominant, and intends to do something about it if necessary. The dog with his tail tucked tightly between his hind legs is saying, ‘I’m scared, and I’m getting out of here!’”

Dog Talk: How To Understand What Your Dog Is “Saying”
Part 2

When your dog is talking, do you listen? Are you paying attention?

Barking is not the topic here, but rather, the way our dogs communicate to us and the world around them with the use of their body language, specifically the tail.

There are lots of different wags. Plain, ordinary, enthusiastic wagging means “I’m a friendly fella!” A slow wag is the nervous laugh of a dog who is embarrassed about something. A tail held high and wagged widely, instead of only slightly, means he wants to play. If he wiggles up to you after you have disciplined him, wagging his tail between his hind legs, he is saying he wants to make up and is sorry.

Most of a dog’s nosing around is done for identification purposes. When he approaches another dog, the first thing he does is sniff him out to discover whether he is friend or foe. First he smells the rear; then he smells the face.

When your dog props his paws on your chest or shoulders, he is trying to get in position to smell your breath. He can tell whether it’s you for sure, and what you’ve been eating that he might get some of!

You can often tell immediately whether a dog cares for your company by noticing the position of his lips. When he draws the corners of his lips forward, he is feeling distinctly antisocial. He may become aggressive and could attack, especially if he has drawn his lips open to show his teeth. However, when he pulls back horizontally so that he appears to be grinning, he is expressing his friendliness or submissiveness.

When he feels very submissive, he will smile like a simpleton. He looks like he’s feeling silly and has lots of “waggle.” A few dogs are capable of the mimic grin, something they have learned from humans and display only to humans. They retract their lips to show their front teeth in a wide toothpaste smile.

A dog that uses those teeth to chew up your slippers may be telling you that he is unhappy. A chewing dog is a fretting dog. A pet that gets a lot of attention otherwise, but is left shut in the house alone all day will fret in this manner. When he is lonely and unhappy, and he wants something done – now – then he becomes like a hyperactive child. He’s liable to chew up everything in the house eventually.

Technorati Tags: dog talk, understanding your dog, body language, wild dogs, wolves, domesticated dogs, pet, barking, wagging tail, tail, Veterinarians, dominant, top dog, The Puppy Blog, Teri Champigny

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A family run animal sanctuary in Birmingham, England’s story. Even though they love what they do, they feel that some people need to realise that a pet should be a long term commitment. They should not be seen as just a bit of fun which they can then get rid of when they get bored.

Many people arrive at the animal sanctuary with their pets, which are mainly dogs, with many excuses as to why they are no longer able to look after or care for them. They are sure many of their reasons are valid but are also aware that many others are just an excuse to offload them.

The excuses they give are varied:

I have recently divorced from my husband and can no longer afford to keep this dog as a pet. The dog has started to bite my children. The dog is too difficult to handle and is destroying my furniture. they have recently moved into a flat. One of their rules is that no animals can live in these flats. The dog barks to much and it is upsetting the neighbors. Our other animals do not like the dog. The dog is affecting my health. I am too ill to look after my dog.

Animal shelters do not question the reasons but they then have to find another suitable home for these dogs. This is easier said than done as they need to ensure that the new owners will be able to care for them, for hopefully the duration of their life.

They also keep many of these dogs as their own pets, especially the ones which nobody else seems to want. One such dog is called Cassie. She is full of life and has been ill treated it seems when she was a puppy. Half of her left ear is missing and she is seemingly quite afraid of men. Cassie needs a huge amount of love, care and attention. She can be too lively at times which is possibly why three people who attempted to re-home her, have bought her back. She is not aggressive in any way but does tend to jump up at people.

What they did with Cassie and what they will continue to do, is to give her lots of love but also a little bit of training of what is good and what is not acceptable. It took a long time, but she is now able to understand that jumping is not wanted and that she needs to chill out at times. Cassie is turning into a wonderful dog to have around the house and now feels for the first time as part of a family.

With a little more patience most other dogs can turn out this way. This is why they want more people to take more responsibility and to give their animals more of a chance to settle into their homes, and to get used to a new set of rules. Having animals as pets can be very rewarding, nearly as rewarding as having a child. A dog however will rarely answer you back.

If you are having problems with your animals you can always phone up an animal sanctuary for advice and to hear about possible solutions. The people who work there are animal lovers and will help you as much as they can. If you are unable to continue looking after the pet, the sanctuary should be able to take them off you.

Technorati Tags: dogs, puppies, animals, animal sanctuary, family, commitment, child, rewarding, care, love, attention, Puppy and Pooches, Teri’s Dog Training Tips, Teri Champigny

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Over 50% of the population allows their dog to stay indoors and sleep on the couch or in their owner’s bed. For those of you who are interested in building a dog house for you beloved pet here are some simple rules to follow when considering what type of shelter you want to provide.

1. You should begin your dog house building process by making sure the house is big enough to accommodate your animal’s potential adult size. Humans enjoy having about 2 feet of air above us in a room in order to live without feeling claustrophobic. Your dog will probably also enjoy having that much room. The comfort zone for both humans and dogs is about 1/3 of their standing height.

To figure out how much room the dog will need get out a tape measure and measure your dog. Measure him standing straight up, sitting on his haunches and above all measure the full dimension of the dog when he is the most comfortable, relaxed and stretched out position he can get into. Your dog should be able to look out the front entrance while both standing up and sitting. So the dog will not have to significantly lover his front shoulders or scrape his belly make sure that entrance is high enough. Stand over the dog and measure the width of the widest point of the animal’s shoulders.

2. Remember to raise the dog house several inches from the ground to allow air and water to flow underneath. To dissuade pests from invading the dog house and taking your dogs health into consideration remember how important ventilation is. Put in a few nickel-sized holes in the walls under the eaves. Install a wind block inside the house so the dog can use the heat of its own body to warm up the area if it is really cold or windy outside. Consider adding a partial wall which will allow your dog to escape the bad weather.

Your animal can choose to just sleep in the entry room or go around the inner archway maze wall into the inner sanctum. Your beloved pet would probably love having a pillow or some sort of bedding to sleep on.

3. To avoid rain coming into the dog house make the floor just a bit slanted toward the doorway and build the roof a little bit slanted, as well. Make sure the house is well insulated but you should not paint the inside.

4. In the United States most storms come from the south and west so make sure the dog house faces a different direction. Most dog house plans suggest that the dog house door faces east. The cold air will not be able to whip through the entryway then.

5. It is suggested that you put hinges on the roof of the dog house. This makes it easier for you to clean out your dog’s home. You should clean the dog’s house as often as you give your dog a bath.

If your dog lives outside then he deserves to have a comfortable place to sleep and get out of harsh weather. Hopefully these easy tips on building a dog house will help you get started.

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