A dog's body language

[Mag-Pie]

Hector has always been uncomfortable with Buddy being in his space. Sometimes he's fine, but other times he's not. There's no real pattern I can pick up on. I've worked on giving out treats to the other dogs with Hector in a stay. Letting Bud eat treats dropped right by Hector. Gave more attention and food to Bud and Ging. Those times - no reaction - he just waits on the release word. Anyway, I thought this was a good video where a dog can tell you a lot through the use of their eye muscles. This is also a typical move I've seen that results in a growl and results in a timeout. I'm glad he made a good decision.

Great job Hector for making the right choice!!!

I understand that Hector get nervous and uncomfortable, but is it possible that it's not always his fault, could it be that Buddy might be sometimes to blame for Hector's more intense reaction to him? IDK, I'm just thinking out loud, plus I am bias because I think Hector is soo cool and in my eyes he can't do anything wrong as I admire him from afar, lol. Sorry.

While we're at it, might as well

Dogs Toddlers: Watching for Signs of Stress - mom.me

Good article! The 1st video was very good also, BUT the 2nd one was soo hard to watch, wow, poor dog... that child should have been removed and corrected, f'n idiots... people like that should not own dogs... the whole time watching I was waiting for the dog to snap at that kids face... but being a very tolerant dog, it didn't, wow. I am appalled at how the adults thought this was funny. Stupid beyond comprehension. SMH.

 

[sjdavenport]

While we're at it, might as well

Dogs Toddlers: Watching for Signs of Stress - mom.me

I HATE that video of the toddler bouncing on the rottie! Every time the dog goes from panting to the tense closed mouth, I'm thinking, "here we go, any second now...."

 

[Hector]

Great job Hector for making the right choice!!!

I understand that Hector get nervous and uncomfortable, but is it possible that it's not always his fault, could it be that Buddy might be sometimes to blame for Hector's more intense reaction to him? IDK, I'm just thinking out loud, plus I am bias because I think Hector is soo cool and in my eyes he can't do anything wrong as I admire him from afar, lol. Sorry.



Good article! The 1st video was very good also, BUT the 2nd one was soo hard to watch, wow, poor dog... that child should have been removed and corrected, f'n idiots... people like that should not own dogs... the whole time watching I was waiting for the dog to snap at that kids face... but being a very tolerant dog, it didn't, wow. I am appalled at how the adults thought this was funny. Stupid beyond comprehension. SMH.

LOL, Mag-Pie. I just don't know. I just think it maybe a competitive, insecure thing.

Some people have very very high expectations from their dogs without really understanding or seeing it from their perspective. Sad situation. In that photo, I couldn't believe they thought the dog was comfortable around the baby and they couldn't understand why the dog started growling, snarling, and lunging...when everything was fine before.

 

[Hector]

I HATE that video of the toddler bouncing on the rottie! Every time the dog goes from panting to the tense closed mouth, I'm thinking, "here we go, any second now...."

And it's going to be the dog's fault.

 

[Mag-Pie]

I really HATE that video too, and yes, sadly it will be always the dog's fault because generally people will say the dog attacked for no reason, one minute he was fine and the next it just happened... while they missed all the calming signals that dog was giving... ignorance.

In case someone who might be reading this thread in the future missed it... this is the video.

[video=youtube;yaxCYgqh2ao]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaxCYgqh2ao[/video]

 

[Penelope's Mom]

OMG! And the idiot parents kept egging him on. Poor dog.

 

[Hector]

Here's a great video demonstrating how the dog's stress level elevates when they cannot get away. He did really well holding back on biting her.


[video=youtube;IRAnhTfGsgw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRAnhTfGsgw[/video]

 

[Hector]

Here's another great set of videos. In my opinion, this dog is not ready to go home. Judging from his reaction in last video, he is not ready.

Before: Watch in slow motion at .5 speed. Go to settings on the youtube video and choose the speed you like to watch it in.

[video=youtube;RRhUO2_tJrk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRhUO2_tJrk[/video]

I can still see signs of guarding. It may not be obvious, but it is there.

After: Watch at .5 speed or .25 speed.

[video=youtube;dYqgH70SJZE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYqgH70SJZE[/video]

A few seconds before the lady reaches down to pet him, watch the position of his tail. It starts out as a low wag and then he moves it closer to his body and the wag disappears. I know this low, close to the body type of wag, it's a sign of nervousness and fear. Watch as she reaches down to pet him, his wagging completely stops and his body tenses and he pins his tail close to his body.

When the lady reaches down to pet him at 40 secs, he puts his right paw forward to guard the object.

Then at 1:06 when the man approaches, the dog reorients towards the bone because he knows the man is approaching the bone. At 1:07, dog goes for bone as man goes for bone.

At 1:12 man drops bone, but dog quickly goes after it.

At 1:15 I see a whale eye. The seconds after the man gives the dog the bone back the second time, the dog looked like he froze again.

 

[Mag-Pie]

Thank you Hector for posting more great videos.

Wow, was that nail trimming video to show how to deal with a "difficult" dog, as in what you should do? That dog did great in spite of being so stressed, however if this was done with Luther it would have not ended very nicely... he has to wear a muzzle when he gets his nails done, while standing up on a table, and 2 people are needed to get the job done. Maybe one day I will be able to do it myself, just sit him down, grab his paw and trim, BUT I won't hold my breath till then.

Great progress has been made with the food aggressive dog, maybe he's going home because owners will continue working with him, to get him even better.

I've learned so much from watching all the videos you post, knowing what a dog is showing via his body language is so helpful. Please keep posting, and thanks again.

 

[Hector]

Thank you Hector for posting more great videos.

Wow, was that nail trimming video to show how to deal with a "difficult" dog, as in what you should do? That dog did great in spite of being so stressed, however if this was done with Luther it would have not ended very nicely... he has to wear a muzzle when he gets his nails done, while standing up on a table, and 2 people are needed to get the job done. Maybe one day I will be able to do it myself, just sit him down, grab his paw and trim, BUT I won't hold my breath till then.

Great progress has been made with the food aggressive dog, maybe he's going home because owners will continue working with him, to get him even better.

I've learned so much from watching all the videos you post, knowing what a dog is showing via his body language is so helpful. Please keep posting, and thanks again.

I've tried to pin a dog down to get their nails done, but it really isn't ideal. A lot of stress and you keep feeling pressed for time. I went to a lady's house this week to help her EM cut his nails because she was physically unable to. The boy was 230 lbs and I've never seen a dog that massive in real life. It was quite intimidating and she kept telling me he was nice and I believed her. His paw and leg bone was bigger than my arm. I mean there was no way anyone could have held him down.

Counter conditioning takes time and knowing when to back up when you've moved too fast and all this has to do with how well you can read your dog. Mag-Pie, you will get there one day .

As for the resource guarder, that's what I hope too.

 

[Hector]

...where can I hire a professional submitter...?

[video=youtube;pKNthujBNBg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKNthujBNBg[/video]

 

[TWW]

No not about your dogs hector.

Originally Posted by TWW
OMG Hector, you have created 2 monster wife and Ex are picking on Rottie Boy.
Good lord it is the end of the world when those 2 agree on something.



Are you referring to my 3 dogs? I'm not sure what you mean.​

No, my wife and ex-girlfriend went on a complete tirade. On youtube with the guy how thought it was cool to use his 2 rotties to upset other dog and there owners.
he ended up disabling comments on his vid they where insulting him so bad and pointing out every issue he had and how poor a dog owner he was. they where back and fourth with him for about 4 hrs that night.

 

[Hector]

No, my wife and ex-girlfriend went on a complete tirade. On youtube with the guy how thought it was cool to use his 2 rotties to upset other dog and there owners.
he ended up disabling comments on his vid they where insulting him so bad and pointing out every issue he had and how poor a dog owner he was. they where back and fourth with him for about 4 hrs that night.

Oh...makes sense now! That is funny. Good job ladies!

 

[Hector]

Time for some real life.....and sometimes real life can get pretty ugly.

Here's first part of the video at normal speed. How many cues can you pick up on or name?

[video=youtube_share;XTZVcr15ozU]http://youtu.be/XTZVcr15ozU[/video]

Now here's the video in slow motion 2x and another video added on from a later date. You can read the details in the description, but I'd rather you just watch it first.

[video=youtube_share;ByKTqbtcxj8]http://youtu.be/ByKTqbtcxj8[/video]

 

[sjdavenport]

The first time, he's really tense, gives you some sideways looks, lip licking, whale eye, lowering his head over the trachea, the really hard stare, and of course the growling and moving the chew further away from you.

The second time looks much better. Not as tense, he looks at you normally (not hard stare), still some lip licking.

Do you find that calming treats work for you? I've never tried any of them before.

 

[Hector]

The first time, he's really tense, gives you some sideways looks, lip licking, whale eye, lowering his head over the trachea, the really hard stare, and of course the growling and moving the chew further away from you.

The second time looks much better. Not as tense, he looks at you normally (not hard stare), still some lip licking.

Do you find that calming treats work for you? I've never tried any of them before.

Yep...you pretty much summed it up! He's almost always like that in the second video. He rarely is calmer than that. He's like a worry wort.

Calming treats - they did not in the past. Rescue remedy and calming sprays didn't work. I don't know if the pheromone collar works. I did not use it on Hector, but I did use it on Bud. In the beginning yes for like a week and then Bud was back to normal lol. The collar was suppose to last a month, but it didn't. Someone on this forum recommended Composure brand treats (sorry can't remember the member) so I decided to get some and it really freaking works on my dogs. Hector takes 3 (recommended dose) and it really calms him down and he takes a nap and stays quiet. Before he would sleep, but would be very jumpy and uneasy, BUT I have noticed it gives him a really good nap and sometimes he'll wake up like he doesn't know where he is or who we are and do the really defensive growling (not that this is new behavior). He definitely has episodes, but I have noticed a difference in his anxiety using the treats. It seems to last him maybe 4-6 hrs.

So for the video, here is my breakdown (warning - very long):

[video=youtube_share;ByKTqbtcxj8]http://youtu.be/ByKTqbtcxj8[/video]

First part of video was in 2x slow motion.

00:13 - 00:14 lip lick & side glare

00:22 side glare and turns head my direction. At this point I have the camera pointed at him, but I am not looking or facing him. I'm pretending to ignore him.

00:35 lowers his head towards item as I approach closer

00:36 glare

00:39 glare

00:41 - 00:45 turns head to watch me

00:46 lip lick as I move closer

00:47 side stare & lip lick

00:50 - 00:53 direct stare - notice the eyes are different - it's a hard stare - notice eyes are large and round with whites showing at the bottom - body is very tense, pretty much frozen.

00:54 whale eye & lip lick when I move closer

00:56 growl & lowered head

00:57 guards item with sustained growl

1:00 picks up item, continues to growl

1:03 moves item away from me

1:05 side glare & whale eye (eyes softened a bit after command, but still very tense) I rewarded him for compliance and nothing more. I need a dog like this to comply without anymore pressure than I am already giving as this can become a very dangerous situation.

1:08 lip lick

Fast forward to 12/5/14

1:20 I am approaching from his back side. I wanted to test his response. In the beginning of the video, I approached him from an angle and he didn't handle that well.

1:28 nervous, but nothing serious. I accidentally showed him my handful of cut up chicken hearts and that's what he was looking at.

1:28 - 1:39 he did about 10 lip licks, eye contact was normal, no hard stares, tail wag - arousal or stress

I then moved away to give him a break and visited the other dogs

2:05 I approach from the back again. He didn't care to turn his head (good sign). From 2:05 - 2:15: 4 lip licks.

2:11 quick side glance

2:15 voluntarily dropped his chew and offers eye contact

2:19 lip lick as I approach, no intense behavior to guard the chew

2 more tongue flicks up to 2:33: eye contact was normal, no whale eye or hard stare. Responded to command and moved away from chew to get food offered

2:36 being a very good boy and waited for release cue.

Lots of stress.


NOW for comparison a video from today, no calming treats and I had just gotten home and fed them all.

This has to be the calmest I've seen him eat this chew. It looks like he's enjoying it a lot. There were NONE of those signs he exhibited in the other videos. That is why he is bipolar.

Sorry the video is dark - lighting is bad lol and he's black so it's even harder to see.

http://youtu.be/cYewfApcBrI

and here I'm poking and prodding at my other dogs (I don't like to do this and don't, but did for the purpose of the video) to show that they don't act like him although Ginger intensified her grip on the chew, but there is no aggression and Buddy - he doesn't even care lol.

http://youtu.be/T7Dqudik9mg

 

[dpenning]

I really HATE that video too, and yes, sadly it will be always the dog's fault because generally people will say the dog attacked for no reason, one minute he was fine and the next it just happened... while they missed all the calming signals that dog was giving... ignorance.

In case someone who might be reading this thread in the future missed it... this is the video.

[video=youtube;yaxCYgqh2ao]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaxCYgqh2ao[/video]

I hope someone called child protective services and animal control. The mother and the dog owner are both too ignorant to be in custody!

 

[Hector]

Um...hopefully the owners get a brain before anything tragic happens.