When you greet your own dog, or someone else's, do you usually reach out to pat them on top of their head? Did you know that many dogs don't actually enjoy this? In our own joyful moment when greeting a dog, we may not notice the signs that indicate their discomfort with our head-patting behavior.
Here are some doggie signs of discomfort to look out for:
Head is ducked or moved away from hand
Ears are pulled back
Lips are licked
Body is moved so hand can't make contact at all
Full body shake-off after petting is over
Please take a look at this video to see the signals that three different dogs give when a hand approaches and pats their head. All three dogs are very social and enjoy attention. Cooper, the first dog, has the most subtle response at first, but the full body shake-off at the end lets you know it was a bit overwhelming for him. The second dog is Bond, who ducks his head and lip-licks. The third dog is Bean, who rolls over in an effort to avoid the hand touching her head, but when it happens anyway, she does a lot of lip-licking.
If you start paying close attention, you may see some signs that a dog is uncomfortable with this form of contact and teach yourself to touch them somewhere else. For instance,
many dogs would enjoy having their chin or cheek stroked or their chest scratched instead.
Because many well-meaning dog lovers aren't aware of this, I encourage you to tell them specifically where your dog likes to be touched so that this mild stressor can be avoided. Your dogs will appreciate you spreading the word!
Need assistance learning how to better ready your dog's body language, or are you dealing with some behaviors that you're not sure how to address?
Let's discuss options for in-person or remote training services.
You can reach me at virginiadare2013@gmail.com.
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