Calming Signals In Dogs This is something I have wanted to write about for a while. When I first discovered calming signals all those years ago, I was blown away. I had misinterpreted what my dogs had been telling me and now, I teach people what their dog is trying to tell them simply by looking at the behaviour their dog is exhibiting.
What Are Calming Signals In a nutshell, they are things a dog does that tells us it is feeling stressed. Dogs have been exhibiting this behaviour naturally since they evolved. This is how they communicate with each other. A lot of how dogs communicate is non-verbal so body language plays a huge role in dogs telling each other how they are feeling. The problem exists once we humans come into the picture. We have been misinterpreting a lot of dog behaviour as stubbornness ignorance, laziness (all human characteristics by the way, dogs wouldn’t have a clue what any of that means) when in essence, our dogs have been telling us… “Hey Dude….Chill Out….I’m Feeling A Little Stressed Here….” or “Hey, All Good Here…I’m Not Going To Pull You On”
Turid Rugaas The mother of calming signals is one of the leading canine behaviourists in the world. 25 years experience gives her a lot of credibility but she is amazing at identifying and interpreting dog body language. She identified that the large variety of body signals that dogs exhibited using their body, ears, talk, face sounds movement and expression signalled to other dogs of their intentions and their reactions to the situation at hand. Dogs have a huge variety of non-verbal communicators, but none more important than the calming signals. These signals are used to maintain a healthy social hierarchy in a pack and used as conflict resolution. Often when dog’s greet each other, there is a display of non-verbal communication going on that is telling each other how they are feeling about the situation. Dogs are always giving out these cues to us as well and if we can identify them, we can understand more readily how our dog is feeling.
Calming Signals Diagram I have borrowed this image from this blog, as it depicts quite well the certain body language that dogs exhibit when are using calming signals.
I have seen many people, and I admit, I have misinterpreted some dogs language and thought they were ignoring me or just mucking around, but if you see certain behaviours like these ones, they might be just telling you..they are feeling a little stressed.
Alert Behaviour When your dog is moving its body into a stiff erect position, it’s ear’s raised, it is preparing to identify a new situation. I see this often when I see dogs out walking. When are coming across a dog, a jogger, a new thing, they extend their neck and prick their ears. Something new, possible a threat. This is a precursor to the next step. They could rush, show fear aggression, or throw in a calming signal, like sniff the ground or like their nose.
Stressed Behaviour If you see your dog licking its nose, sniffing the ground, yawning, turning their head away from you, they are saying they are feeling stressed. Some more subtle cues are using a sit or lying down. How often when we have been doing training do we see our dogs throw in one of these unsolicited This might be a good time to ramp back the pressure.
Submissive Behaviour These are much easier to see, laying on their back, maybe the ears back, cowering. These are pretty tell-tale signs that dog is quite stressed and it telling you, I give up, you have it all over me.
Summing Up These are quite simple to learn and easy to recognise. Watch how your dog reacts around other dogs and in certain situations. See if you can read their body language and identify any of these signals.
About Glen Wilson
Glen was a Police Dog Handler with the Queensland Police Service for 14 years. During that time, he handled and trained 5 police dogs.
The police dogs were trained in tracking, manwork (attack) work, drug detection, finding lost people, cadaver detection and obedience.
Now he has a website called Ozdogtrainer found at http://www.ozdogtrainer.com.au where he helps dog owners with their dog problems
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