THE emotional needs of your dog are as vast and complicated as the emotional needs of humans. Dogs feel grief and can take a long time to deal with the loss of a family member, they feel the need to bond with their family members, they need time to adjust to new family members such as a new partner or new baby in the same way we do, they feel the need to belong within a family or pack, the need to make choices. They need space as we do, they need to feel safe and secure, to live in harmony with their humans and other pets within the family.
Dogs have a well-developed communication system allowing them to communicate with one another, with other animals and with their human family. It is up to us to learn this communication system, known as calming signals, so that we can develop a better relationship and understanding with our own dog. Without some knowledge of this communication system we are very limited in our understanding of what our dog is trying to tell us, how it may be feeling, its needs, or that it is afraid or insecure.
Much of the dog's communication is ignored or not understood by its human family, making it hard for the dog to achieve a desired outcome. Learning canine body language and calming signals is paramount to understanding your own dog, its stress levels and what it is trying to tell you.
Some of the calming signals your dog uses to communicate are: panting, blinking eyes, yawning, turning head, turning body, whining, barking, growling, wagging tail, sitting, lying down, urinating, splitting up (walking between people or other dogs), lip licking and many more. Every dog is different and will use some calming signals more than others.
It is up to the owner to understand which signals their dog is using and what their dog is telling them by this body language. We must learn the body language if we want a good relationship with our dog and to meet our dog's needs in every aspect of its life.
One example of our dog using calming signals is when dogs go between partners. Two people may be sitting on a sofa having a hug, then suddenly the dog jumps up and goes between the couple. This behaviour is often mistaken for jealousy but, in fact the dog is splitting up a potential conflict.
Dogs are natural conflict solvers. If two dogs interact too close together, then a third dog will walk in-between them to split up a potential conflict. As their humans, we can use this same behaviour when interacting with our dogs by walking between them to split up and calm a situation.
It is not normal for dogs to hug each other by placing their paws over each other or making contact the way humans do. The dog sees this as threatening and a potential for conflict and will come between in order to calm the situation and prevent conflict. Dogs prefer to live in harmony and to know their family members are not going to get into a conflict. This is the same in a multi-dog household when a family member pets one dog, another may rush over and come between in order to prevent a potential conflict and calm the situation down.
Recommended reading: On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals - by Turid Rugaas, When Pets Come Between Partners - by Joel Gavriele-Gold, Parenting Your Dog - by Trish King. All available at: www.qanuk.com
