surchinmy
Ultra ALPHA
Feb 4, 2004, 11:30 PM
Views: 3754
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Re: [sun-arrow, ALL] My Puppy Keep barking to other dogs
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Hi people ...
Just a few thoughts ...
To sun-arrow ... Errr ... while most growls are signs of warning ... that is not always so ... some dogs will actually make soft low growls as signs of pleasure ... Our Beagle and mix-breed both make growling sounds when playing or when happy (I know it sounds weird, but it's true  ) ...
In the same way, not all showing of teeth are signs of aggression (some are actually doggie equivalent of human smiles) and not all wagging of tails are signs of friendliness (a slower side to side movement of the tail, is often a warning) ...
When trying to understand dog communication ... we really need to interpret the sound or signal a dog makes, in the context of the whole dog ... We need to observe the entire dog ... from general posture to placement of weight, and of course, the sound being made (if any).
For example: I would personally be more wary of a dog that is silent, but balanced (with weight slightly on forepaws), eyes alert, ears pricked or folded slightly back ... and a slight turn of the back lips ... than one that is visibly growling with weight on it's back paws ... The first dog is probably ready to take action, while the second dog is probably more on the defensive.
And while the following may overlap ... there is significant difference between a dog that is "aggressive" and one that is exhibiting "dominanance" or just being "territorial" ...
Convenient maybe, but it may not be correct to lump issue of dominance, territorial instinct, nervous disposition and aggression into the same category ... they may overlap, but that is not always the case ...
In order to effectively recondition, teach or train our dogs to behave in a manner acceptable to human society, we need to try and correctly identify the primary cause of the behaviour, habit and/or response (whether instinctive or induced) that we are trying to recondition or remove.
While a dog that is trying to assert dominance and one that is showing nervous aggression, may exhibit some very similar characteristics or signals, the cause is substatially different ... and we will want to treat and/or train a dominant dog in a different way from one that is actually showing nervous aggression ...
Learning "dog language" will help us greatly ... and it's actually a lot of fun ...
Cheers all 
(This post was edited by surchinmy on Feb 5, 2004, 12:02 AM)
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