My dog doesn't speak dog.
December 6, 2010 5:10 PM Subscribe
How can I tell if my dog is having fun?
Backstory: we adopted a 3 year old shepherd/lab mix, background unknown. She is friendly if a little shy around people, but barks at big/tall men.
She doesn't seem to have been well socialized with other dogs well. She barks/growls upon meeting them and is very tense until lots of butt-sniffing has gone by (as in way more than between most other dogs in our neighborhood).
Also, it seems like she doesn't get other dog body language. She plays fine with people and responds how you'd expect to playful people body language, but when other dogs do the head down/butt up "let's play" move, she just barks and attempts to pin them. When other dogs wrestle, she circles them, barking.
A final example - today we met another medium sized, high energy dog. This dog loves to be chased, so he swatted ours and then ran away. The other dog was pretty clearly playing - but ours was barking and growling for literally the entire 10 minutes that they raced around in circles. In spite of this, the other dog never really got upset, he seemed totally at ease and relaxed. I feel like our dog isn't "in on the joke," or whatever. Could it be that this is just how she plays? How do I tell?
Backstory: we adopted a 3 year old shepherd/lab mix, background unknown. She is friendly if a little shy around people, but barks at big/tall men.
She doesn't seem to have been well socialized with other dogs well. She barks/growls upon meeting them and is very tense until lots of butt-sniffing has gone by (as in way more than between most other dogs in our neighborhood).
Also, it seems like she doesn't get other dog body language. She plays fine with people and responds how you'd expect to playful people body language, but when other dogs do the head down/butt up "let's play" move, she just barks and attempts to pin them. When other dogs wrestle, she circles them, barking.
A final example - today we met another medium sized, high energy dog. This dog loves to be chased, so he swatted ours and then ran away. The other dog was pretty clearly playing - but ours was barking and growling for literally the entire 10 minutes that they raced around in circles. In spite of this, the other dog never really got upset, he seemed totally at ease and relaxed. I feel like our dog isn't "in on the joke," or whatever. Could it be that this is just how she plays? How do I tell?
In the short-term, you can tell what dogs are doing by their body language. It's also a good idea to learn it, especially since her behavior seems a bit erratic. If she's looking like she's actually going to attack, as opposed to playing weirdly, you want to be able to get her out of that situation.
In the long-term, keep socializing her and she'll probably come around.
posted by zug at 5:22 PM on December 6, 2010
In the long-term, keep socializing her and she'll probably come around.
posted by zug at 5:22 PM on December 6, 2010
Best answer: She's afraid of other dogs. She's showing pretty classic fear aggression. I am sure her history before you would explain this, but you need to ease up on introducing her to other dogs not to mention big/tall men.
I have traveled this road for the past couple of years with my rescue Australian shepherd. (see my profile for his picture.) You'll want to do a few things here:
1. Counter condition . . . gradually. The things that scare her should become sources of joy. Whatever her favorite food is, she should get little tidbits of it as soon as she sees the thing that normally scares her (big/tall men, other dogs) for as long as the scary thing is in sight.
2. Don't push her into encounters at all. Take her on walks, but keep her away from the scary things until she acts calm on seeing them. See if the nice big/tall men in your life will work with you by tossing her her favorite treats at that point, so that eventually she feels big/tall men are a good thing. (I still ask any young tall man in a baseball cap I meet to feed my Aussie treats. That's because I am now positive my dog will never bite.)
3. Stay away from dog parks entirely. They are just too hard on scared dogs. And you don't want to see your dog attack another.
Finally, to answer your question, happy dogs have a language all their own: smiling, wagging tails, relaxed demeanor. If you haven't already, I'd suggest you take a look at some of Patricia McConnell's books and also her DVDs, which really show you the difference between aroused/scared dogs and relaxed ones.
posted by bearwife at 5:23 PM on December 6, 2010 [8 favorites]
I have traveled this road for the past couple of years with my rescue Australian shepherd. (see my profile for his picture.) You'll want to do a few things here:
1. Counter condition . . . gradually. The things that scare her should become sources of joy. Whatever her favorite food is, she should get little tidbits of it as soon as she sees the thing that normally scares her (big/tall men, other dogs) for as long as the scary thing is in sight.
2. Don't push her into encounters at all. Take her on walks, but keep her away from the scary things until she acts calm on seeing them. See if the nice big/tall men in your life will work with you by tossing her her favorite treats at that point, so that eventually she feels big/tall men are a good thing. (I still ask any young tall man in a baseball cap I meet to feed my Aussie treats. That's because I am now positive my dog will never bite.)
3. Stay away from dog parks entirely. They are just too hard on scared dogs. And you don't want to see your dog attack another.
Finally, to answer your question, happy dogs have a language all their own: smiling, wagging tails, relaxed demeanor. If you haven't already, I'd suggest you take a look at some of Patricia McConnell's books and also her DVDs, which really show you the difference between aroused/scared dogs and relaxed ones.
posted by bearwife at 5:23 PM on December 6, 2010 [8 favorites]
Some dogs vocalize more than others. Our dog doesn't growl when she plays and seems surprised when others do, it throws her for a moment and then she picks up on their other cues of Friendly and doesn't worry about it. It seems like a personality thing, not so much like pulling out a handgun or anything.*
The key things I watch for are play ears (floppy ears) and play bows (crouching down in front), and wasteful energy in general. If you are ready to fight someone, you don't dick around running circles around them for yucks.
Our dog was bitten severely a few years ago and the one thing I noticed about the dog that did it was that he was silent the whole time. We thought he was playing, both his owners and I, until he cut a big gash in our girl's side while chasing her. When I remember it now, I can see how she ducked and swerved and wagged her tail, feinted, bowed, etc., but he was silent and single-minded the whole time. He wasn't having fun.
*I anthropomorphize and I'm cool with it.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:27 PM on December 6, 2010
The key things I watch for are play ears (floppy ears) and play bows (crouching down in front), and wasteful energy in general. If you are ready to fight someone, you don't dick around running circles around them for yucks.
Our dog was bitten severely a few years ago and the one thing I noticed about the dog that did it was that he was silent the whole time. We thought he was playing, both his owners and I, until he cut a big gash in our girl's side while chasing her. When I remember it now, I can see how she ducked and swerved and wagged her tail, feinted, bowed, etc., but he was silent and single-minded the whole time. He wasn't having fun.
*I anthropomorphize and I'm cool with it.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:27 PM on December 6, 2010
Response by poster: I forgot to mention she definitely gets the "back mohawk"; at least for a minute or two. Thanks for the answer bearwife, I thought it might be a fear thing since she is shy (but no aggression and eventually friendly) even around women and small children and normal sized dudes.
posted by r_nebblesworthII at 5:33 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by r_nebblesworthII at 5:33 PM on December 6, 2010
My pleasure. Here are a couple more links for you from the Karen Pryor website (which is free on registration): Emma Parsons' book on clicking to calm, and some additional info.
posted by bearwife at 5:43 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by bearwife at 5:43 PM on December 6, 2010
I came hear to say the same things as bearwife. In addition to the training bearwife describes, Prozac may also help accelerate the process. But training is the main thing, while in some cases Prozac can help to reduce the fear so that your dog can have more positive encounters.
posted by zippy at 5:51 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by zippy at 5:51 PM on December 6, 2010
For what it's worth, our smallish terrier is incredibly vocal. Snarling, growling, barking, etc, even in play. Alone, this doesn't necessarily mean anything. Alas, it doesn't sound like this is the case for you.
posted by joshu at 6:09 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by joshu at 6:09 PM on December 6, 2010
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It could also be that, as you said, she's not socialized well. She might get better at responding to other dogs with more exposure, she might not. But do keep an eye on her body language, you don't want her to get too aggressive at the dog park (or wherever).
posted by torisaur at 5:22 PM on December 6, 2010