In our last article, we discussed the human perception of our dog’s body language and the communication indicators they display physically. In this article, we are going to turn the tables and attempt to look through our dogs’ eyes as to how they perceive human body language.
As you can learn to understand your dog’s body language, they can understand yours as well. Dogs are incredibly intelligent animals and can interpret human emotions better than we believe. For example, take look for yourself at the service dogs trained to help humans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) issues by detecting a veteran’s physical signs of anxiety, distress, and panic attacks; these dogs not only are trained to detect these occurrences but are also trained to counter, de-escalate, or ground these occurrences. Other impressive examples of dogs’ ability to react to human behavior are service dogs used for diabetic alerts, seizure alerts, disability, and mobility issues.
Eye Contact
Dogs’ instincts differ from human instincts; some of the actions humans unconsciously use to communicate or connect do not match our canine counterparts. An example of this would be eye contact: humans view direct eye contact as a confident, attentive, and friendly way of connection; however, dogs can view eye contact as confrontational. Dogs seldom look into other dogs’ eyes, but they will make this connection with humans they trust when the tendency is built with a positive association.
Vocal Language
Most dogs can learn and respond to familiar words and short phrases associated with their training such as sit, down, stay, etc. The words or phrases themselves are only a small part of the equation of a dog’s understanding process; how the word or phrase is said greatly impacts their comprehension level of the command. The tone of your voice is recognized and understood by your dog as a form of body language and plays a large part in effective canine communication. For example, if you enthusiastically say to your dog “Let’s go for a walk!”, they are most likely to respond excitedly or eagerly; if you were to speak the same phrase in an aggressive or angry tone, your dog may cower or believe they have done something wrong. This is an important aspect to remember when it comes to training.
Body Position
For humans, it is normal to stand facing each other during greetings or communication; for dogs, especially unfamiliar dogs, this approach may trigger cautiousness or nervousness. If you notice a dog reacting in such a way, try slightly turning your body to one side to appear less threatening. Crouching to their level will also encourage them to come closer.
Petting
Like the human-to-human interaction of shaking hands, many humans assume to greet a dog by petting them on top of their head or face; many dogs, especially dogs unfamiliar to a particular human, do not like to be petted on the head. Although this may not be true in all cases, petting a dog on the head or face may be considered stressful, uncomfortable, or threatening – pay close attention if a dog ducks or shies away from this. As a rule of thumb, don’t pet an unfamiliar dog on the head or allow a stranger to pet your dog’s head or face. Dogs can learn that being petted on the head is a good thing if it is trained with a positive association and conditioning. Instead of the head or face petting, try petting them on their back or their chest and collar areas.
Speed of Movement
The speed at which a person conducts body movement also plays a factor in a dog’s response process. Fast, sudden, or erratic movements can be alarming to dogs, especially if combined with eye contact or hand-reaching. For better chances of positive reaction, dogs prefer slow and calm movement.
Mood
A human’s state of emotion or mood can easily be exhibited in their body language; however, humans and dogs may react to the same behavior differently. For instance, your dog may pick up on human anger instantly as your body tends to be tenser in an angry state; this may be intimidating to your dog and can produce anxious, guilty, or ashamed reactive behavior from them.
Exciting behavior displayed by humans can be extremely stimulating to dogs, in turn making them excited too. Human sadness could be interrupted by your dog as confusing; but from experience, they seem to understand this and are great at cheering you up.
In Conclusion
Be more aware of your actions and body language and take note of your dog’s reactions to them. Although they may not understand everything you say to them, their instinct and their senses make them master translators of human tendencies.
In case you didn’t know, your dog can read you like a book.
Read Nex: What's Your Dog's Body Language Telling You?
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