Calming Signals, illustrated with Aussies

I talk about "calming signals" with regards to canine body language once in awhile here. I even reviewed Turid Rugaas' book on it.

Well here, on Quality Aussies, is a fabulous page on Calming Signals (though unfortunately, the linked Rugaas web sites at the beginning of the page are no longer up). I really know little about Australian Shepherds, and have never interacted with one, but that doesn't matter in this context. These are things that every dog does, naturally. Instinctually.

Now, does every dog listen to the calming signals of others? Even if they're doing some of their own? No, I can't say that they do. I think dogs are rather like people in that regard (or people are like dogs) in that we can miss the messages that are right in front of our faces, and end up making poor decisions.

I've got a good "yawn and head turn" picture of Elka:

The "sideways approach" illustrated by the Quality Aussies is one that I do frequently with a library patron's dog. She's a little mini Aussie-Border Collie cross (okay, so I've interacted with half an Aussie), and she's demonstrated herself to be rather fearful. So, I sideways approach. I turn my head. I let her come to me. Typically, she'll wiggle over to me, and then turn her back to me and sit. Then she looks at me, grunt-whining, and I scratch her rump and haunches, which makes her get up again and close her eyes with happiness.

Really, I'm jealous of all those great Aussie pictures (though if I'd properly socialized Elka, I'd be able to take pictures of her playing with other dogs. Sigh.) I do have a piloerction one:

But really, situations in which Elka is doing a play bow, or the occasional whale eye, or anything like that, I don't have a camera out. I'm typically interacting with her, or watching her interactions.

Dogs and Babies

I got the New York Times "dogs" article alert and sighed when I saw the title: "The Dog Bit Me". Oh boy. I read it anyway, of course. I wanted to know how bad it ended up for the parties involved. For those of you whose stomachs dropped with mine, the kid was bitten, but not "mauled" or disfigured. The dog was also fine; already, in fact, in residence with the grandparents, but this was a family visit.

Alpha? No, that's just not how I roll.

Fewer things are more alarming to me when I see one faceless person on the Internet say to another "Make sure you maintain your Alpha position. Your dog must be submissive to you. On his back or on his side. Bring him down and hold him there until he submits to you."

Paraphrased, but you get the gist. You probably have heard of the "alpha roll" before, but if you haven't, it's as physical and improbable as it sounds: you physically roll the dog onto his or her back. And hold him or her there until the dog submits to your dominance. Sound like a bad idea? Yeah, I think so too. Have I ever "alpha rolled" Elka? No. And I never intend to.

See the joy in this face? I don't want to crush that.

We got new furniture!

We got new couches. And a new coffee table. Elka, to say in the least, is dismayed.

See, first, we emptied the living room. Took the furniture out. The whole nine. Poor princess had nowhere to lay, and was very disgruntled the entire time.

(please ignore our unsightly Internet wires. They were in a table that is no longer there)

The Silent Treatment

On Tuesday, I read a blog post called A Simple Trick for Calming an Excited Dog, on the True to Dogs blog. While Elka isn't Super! Excited! All! The! Time! I thought that it would be interesting to try, for my own sake. There are times I talk too much, I know it's true.

For the experiment, we went to a park that we had not visited before. It was totally empty when we pulled up, which was pretty rad. I put the long leash on her, and attached it to the leather leash around my waist. If I was going to go words free, why not hands free too, right?

The Funny Thing About Counter Conditioning

There are a few things I've worked on with Elka on our walks.

First all, the Holy Grail of walking a dog, especially a big one: loose leash walking. I'm happy to say that, combined with the clicker, repetition and improved consistency (I've never said I was perfect; I just play it on the Internet), Elka walks loose leash very well. I still Heel her on my right. We're also working on the left, for which I use the cue "Fuss", which is German for "heel", so we can act all fancy.

We've also worked on reactions to two persistently present things: barking dogs, and machinery, be it from construction or from yard work.

Dog Body Language: Photo example

I was taking pictures of Elka in her harness, when I got this picture. I'd asked her to sit, and she got up in between completing the cue and my getting the picture, so I asked for another sit.

See the lovely calming signals Elka is presenting? She turned her head, so she isn't looking right at me. Her tongue is doing that because I caught her at the beginning of a yawn. And she licked her chops after. 

Sorry, puppy, but "sit" does mean "sit".