Inferior beings

Good Monday morning.  I'm sure that you all noticed that I've been absent?  I was busy with wedding festivities and family visiting over the last couple of weeks.  But now it's back to life as usual. 

First let me tell you all that Elsa is doing well physically after her attack.  I am following up further on the attack and details and it waits to be seen if she will suffer from emotional fallout; I'm thinking most likely.

This brings me to today's topic of discussion, reading body language.  Dogs are amazing at reading body language; of course there are levels of understanding but most are experts.  There are some who can read it but ignore much of the meaning and then there are a few who just don't get it.  As for humans reading body language?  We are HORRIBLE.  Take for instance the act of stepping off of a path or reining a dog in; this should tell the passers by that we do not want to interact.  But even when we give off all of the clear "do not come near me" signs; the humans still continue to approach.

There are those who walk their dogs on the end of an extended extension leash; the ones who take up a 10-15 foot circle around them.  Do they rein in their dog as others approach?  Nope.  You not only have to step off of the path; having to deal with their lack of space consideration but also their dog leaping at the end of the leash.   When you move away they often throw the "what's wrong with you?" look.  Let's face it, most humans have lost their ability to read body language.  When we send clear signals that are completely ignored, it forces us to use words.  The use of body language can completely remove the need to "get into it."  Remove the interaction before hand and a problem never arises.  But we just don't get it.

As an intense watcher of canine body language; I am also a human body language watcher.  It comes with the territory and is fascinating.  I have begun to read people as much as dogs by watching.  It truly is amazing to see how much we can read just by really watching.  But many humans have thrown the whole body language thing out the window.  They don't watch their dog and they definitely don't watch other humans.  They rely solely on words, ignoring clear signals given. 

Body language is a bits and pieces act.  You can look at the big picture or dissect it to pieces.  It is in these pieces that you will find the information.  Small cues that give off so much information.  Humans are very easy to read; even given the fact that we can lie and do so.  If you watch carefully you can even see the truth and a lie via body language.  Humans can try to hide but much of who we are, is held within our movements.  Movements of extremities, eyes and posture. 

If we all focused on better communications there would be far less issues to deal with after the fact. 

The act of hiding cues

 

She is always listening, not a word or action gets by this one. 

Stepping off the path, I was laying the ground work for getting some needed distance.  When Luke was a little man, he had an occurring problem with running to greet people and dogs.  If new people and/or dogs arrived at the park; he felt the need to run to say hi.  Not everyone wanted to say "hi" in return so I got in the habit of leashing him when I saw someone coming.  It wasn't long until Luke realized that the "leash" word meant that new folks had arrived.  Upon seeing this response from him I realized that I had to work on the "no cue" giveaway.  To this day, if I say "leash" to Luke he looks around to see who's coming.

There are many things in our life with dogs that need to have hidden cues.  That means that you don't want to tip your dog off to something.  Let's face it, our dogs are far smarter than we think they are.  So when I do something, I always think to myself  "will Luke and Elsa figure this out?"  The answer is usually yes so I need to implement the action with a day to day association.  If you associate an action to a reaction it can become a cue. 

Cue:  anything said or done, that is followed by a specific action.  A sensory signal used to identify experiences, facilitate memory. 

You know how when you put on a specific pair of shoes; your dog already knows you are going for a walk?  Or when you get out a certain towel, it is bath time?  Cues, they are all cues and it doesn't take much for our dogs to "get" them.  One cue that I am continually working on is distance.  When I am out walking Luke and Elsa and see a dog up ahead of us that I do not want to interact with I get distance.  The act of getting distance can tip them off if it is a cue; so I get distance often and switch it up.   Sometimes distance is just a step off the path for no reason.  Other times we step off and then back on again to say "hi" to a dog.  Mixing it up keeps it from becoming a cue. 

During your day to day, pay attention to the cues that you are creating.  If you've accidentally created cue; you can undo it if you work hard and consistently.  But once a cue is very set in, it can be difficult to get rid of it entirely.  Different dogs will learn cues at different rates.  Elsa is a fast cue learner.  She is a watcher, this girl never misses a thing; so it takes a great deal of work on my part not to set cues.  It is a constant work in progress to try to not let my actions become cues. 

Does picking up my grey running shoes mean a walk?  Elsa might think that it does so I put them in the yard.  Touching a leash can send your dogs into a frenzy; so pick it up and move it somewhere often.  Opening a particular cabinet cues a reward, so change it.  Change the meaning of your actions if you want to get rid of a cue or desensitize a behavior.  Association is everything for dogs; if you think in those terms it is much easier to understand them.  Pay attention to your actions and your dog's reactions.  We create cues on a daily basis without ever knowing it.  By watching your dog's reactions we can discover our own actions.