Now, before I get started, let me note that I am not a animal behavioral specialist, nor a "know it all" on animals. This post is just some of my observations having lived with animals in my life my entire life. I admit I learn as much as I can about alot of topics, and I learn alot about people and animals by watching them. Body language says a lot you know.
That being said..... I got home from work yesterday to a lovely happy sounding, tail wagging bunch. It made the day so much better and helped me smile after the long day. Later my brother and I got to talking about how much happier he felt his dogs were here. He noted that they had their tails up more, and were wagging them more and overall seemed less stressed. He talked about his concern with the grandchildren that had been living with them in their previous state, and how of course kids being kids, a couple of them the boy especially was always poking at Biscuit's face or pulling and grabbing or trying to poke at his eyes. There was concern there as the dog in his fear had nipped the kid several times as the kid didn't learn to leave him alone. The poor little guy was getting very stressed out.
I talked to him a bit about it and some observations about dogs being protective and such. We went on to talk about why most dogs might bite a child. Alot of times the poor dog is blamed, and what might seem like an unprovoked attack might have other reasons why a dog would "out of the blue" and "unprovoked" attack or bite a child. The truth of the matter is, we simply don't know if there were preceding circumstances, perhaps the dog had been tormented by neighborhood kids, and came to associate kids with fear, aggravation, or pain. Or the owners taught it to be mean and protect and attack anyone within it's territory. Or perhaps it's an older dog, and the kid unknowingly or knowingly hurt it in some manner and the dog felt cornered and needing to protect itself.
Some dogs that are sadly deemed vicious by police may not really be that way at all. In Albuquerque, NM there have been several incidents where police felt they were being attacked by a "vicious" animal and shot and killed the dog. In actuality, perhaps the bigger picture needs to be considered here. A dog is very much a part of the family "pack" unit. And it knows it's job is to protect it's family, that is instinct. In ANY situation where the police will become involved, the emotions are heightened of the people involved. And the dog will react to those heightened emotions, and it becomes confused and upset. Now, enter the police. All the dog knows is that there is something terribly wrong, and strangers are invading it's territory and space and acting very authoritative and aggressive. The dog reacts to this by barking and perhaps lunging to try to warn the strangers away and protect it's family unit first. Then if the officers don't heed the warning, it may attempt to bite them. Again the poor dog suffers a sad and terrible fate, just for trying to protect. I am sure perhaps the officers may have told the people to restrain the dog or control it, or put it up. But the people are too focused on each other to think of their loyal family member. And so, quite often the dog is shot, because they are in a hurry to end a volatile situation and don't call animal control to come control the animal in a humane manner. And of course when people are calling the police hurriedly to come end the situation, they don't ever think to tell the dispatcher there are dogs involved. Ah well, it's a hot button issue for me. And is very heartbreaking to read about.
So my point was, that dogs that are so firmly bonded to the family unit can act irrationally based on how we act. And something I learned long ago that my folks taught me was to show respect for all animals, because any one of them can do me injury. And like people if you treat them with respect you gain respect and trust back from the animal or person. Perhaps that is why so many animals do get along with me. I immediately show respect to them in their territories, while my body language shows nothing but calm and compassion. It works, and I always try to talk to them in an upbeat manner, positive. They will always respond to it. Some dogs though who aren't used to this approach or who were only taught what their owners called respect by beating them into submissionor cowing them, will be afraid of you at first, but soon are curious and crave it and will come to you. When you treat your dog with respect, understanding and compassion, you have a much healthier and happier to comply companion.
My brothers dogs show it in our house, they are more content, less stressed, and very happy to communicate back with us or play gently and lovingly. Biscuit and I have this little smoochie game going lately. He'll play and talk if I gently blow on his head somewhere, and rub his tummy. He talks like a little Ewok, and if he could say words he would. Then I'll start making kissy noises, softly, and even though he has his mouth open, he'll turn a cheek towards me for kissies. And I make the soft kissy sounds, and he talks like he's giggling when I do it. Then we start it all over again and do the other cheek. He just loves this, and where he was once very afraid to have his face touched, has learned to trust me to touch his face gently with love all over, I can clean his eyes and tickle his whiskers now. And he loves to give me kissies back. This is a big change and trust issue for him due to the kids that wanted to grab his face and poke at his eyes.
And my little girl, Thumbelina loves to be held close and whispered to, give a little kiss on her cheek and she'll reciprocate. Licking and lightly chewing on your fingers is an acceptance behavior. And they do communicate emotions that way. And with each dog, they have such a different personality, and how they choose to communicate with you is very different from the others. But when you have a content, and happy dog, they won't hesitate to protect you. And if emotions are heightened, they do become confused and worried and want to make you feel better, and they will protect you at all costs.
Please, consider you pets and their wants and needs too, don't become so wrapped up in each other you forget the protector of the family.
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