What is your dog saying to you?

“What’s that Lassie?  Little Timmy is stuck down the well and needs me to come and rescue him?  OK, let’s go!” I was on my way to meet a family last week when I remembered this and it made me laugh out loud.  I used to love the Lassie films as a child and I was always so impressed with how communicative he was.  How on earth can you understand what a dog is saying?

Now that I own collies myself, (albeit Border Collies, not Rough Collies) I know that they are easily able to convey this information. I absolutely know what my dogs are saying to me. Most notably my first dog, Rue, came into my study one day and said “Mum, you’d better come, that puppy is doing something really naughty.” I was quite surprised when she said this, but sure enough, when I went and looked, he was doing something naughty.

Why are dogs scary?

Anyway, I was on my way to meet a family whose mum wanted to get a dog desperately.  However she said that her 8 year-old daughter was terrified of dogs.  I offered to take Busy over to meet them and discuss what kind of dog they might get.  As part of my preparation, I was considering what is it that makes dogs scary?  I decided that the easiest answer is that we don’t know what they are thinking (or saying).  And of course they don’t know what we are thinking.  Or do they?

When you spend all day every day in the company of dogs, you come to realise that they are not that complicated.  They love routine, they like to know the rules and they want to be loved.  That’s not too hard, is it?  They want us to be consistent towards them, hopefully consistently loving.  Dogs really love it if you do the same stuff every day, so they know what to expect.

A Dog Needs

What might a dog be saying to you?  Well, these are the things it needs:

• Food (always top of the list)
• Warmth (somewhere nice to sleep)
• Water
• Toileting (they much prefer to toilet outside, away from their bed)
• Exercise (is it time to go out for a walk?)
• Play (throw the ball throw the ball throw the ball…)
• Cuddles (well a nice stroke or tummy rub at least)
• Kind words

Basically then, a dog is saying something about one of these topics.  So if you are out on a walk and a dog comes bounding over, it is probably saying “Play with me?”  Or “Hello pleased to meet you,”  or “Aren’t I gorgeous?”  Chances are they are NOT saying “You look tasty, can I bite you?” or “I hate you!”

Why might a dog bite?

Unless they are trying to catch and kill prey to eat, dogs usually only bite in self-protection.  So if they think you are going to attack them, they will try to get in there first. Sadly, people who are afraid of dogs often try to kick them or hit them to make them go away.  This of course makes the dog retaliate and they then learn that people are not friendly.  Unfortunately, they might then bite the next person they see, which leads to that person becoming frightened of dogs.  Understandably so.

Dogs also might attack if they are confused.  This is why dogs find children so threatening: they are noisy and unpredictable.  They run around very fast, making lots of noise. They try and grab at the dog and put their faces too close.

Listen to what the dog is saying

If you have an encounter with a dog, try to stay calm and quiet.  Make yourself inoffensive.  Don’t go for a full-on stare at the dog, it’s too intimidating.  Ask the dog if they would like to be petted and wait for a reply.  Don’t expect them to be thrilled to see you.  Be gentle.  Offer your hand, palm down, to be sniffed.  If you smell OK, they will be happy to be stroked.  Patience is important, don’t rush.  If you want to stop a dog jumping up at you, turn away from them.  Trust me, it works.

Once you get to know a dog, you will learn to understand them.  Hopefully they won’t need to tell you about someone stuck down a well, but they probably will tell you it’s dinner time.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. This book is a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely! Find out lots more by looking at the Contents page.

Remember..

 Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. 

If you are looking for a Border Collie puppy, please contact the Kennel Club Assured Breeders and ask to go onto their waiting lists? Or visit the Champdogs website? Don’t ask me for help, I can’t do anything more.

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