14th September

Greeting A Dog – And What We Are Actually Saying To Them

By David Egan  http://www.livingwithwolves.co.uk/

You’re walking down the street and you see someone you know out walking their dog.  You stop to say hello to that person for we are social creatures and besides, not to say hello would be or could be construed as bad manners.  It is therefore only right that you want to greet the dog also, after all, how many of us can resist those big brown eyes and the chance to show just how good and friendly we are with dogs.

So firstly we greet the person standing face to face, chest to chest, direct eye contact, we smile (bearing teeth), we reach out to shake hands or we lean in close to kiss on the cheek.  All perfectly normal behaviour for us, after all we are descended from apes and that is the way they greet each other.

We then turn our attention to the dog and greet him in the same manner.  We look straight into his eyes smiling, we stand square on and lean over the dog whilst telling him he’s a good boy and isn’t he beautiful.  We then reach out to pet him on the top of the head and to rub his ears and neck.  All perfectly natural to us and meant only to be a sign of friendship.

But whilst we are descended from apes, dogs aren’t.  The way we have just greeted him, in his eyes is the cardinal sin of doggy etiquette.  We have just demonstrated to the dog through our unintended ignorance, virtually every aggressive signal there is that we are about to attack him.  For example, looking directly into a dog’s eyes, unless you know the dog is a signal of aggression.  To stand over a dog square on and to then touch the top of his head or neck is a signal of aggression.  To smile at a dog (bearing teeth) is a signal of aggression, to make noise (talking) whilst doing all of this is a signal of aggression.  Ask yourself this………….how intimidated would you feel if a strange, huge creature who towered above you stared you in the eye, showed its teeth then patted you on the head?

Whilst we may get away with this behaviour with a dog that we know, it could be a totally different story with a dog we don’t.  The best we could hope for in this kind of situation is a well behaved, tolerant dog that suffers this kind of ‘attack’ gracefully but how many times have we seen a dog back away or to ‘freeze’ and stare back at us.

So how do dogs typically greet each other to avoid conflict?  Well the first thing is they never approach face to face (unless they mean business) as we do but from the sides, no eye contact and no fast movements.  It’s like a slow dance with calming signals being sent out all the time.  The dogs remain fluid in movement for to tense up at this stage and show stiffness of movement denotes aggression.  Once all the formalities have been acknowledged by both dogs they either turn away from each other or one or both will initiate a play bow.

So how can we as humans talk ‘doggy’ when greeting one.  Well the first thing is to ask permission giving the owner the chance to tell you how the dog likes to be greeted or to tell you it’s not a good idea.  Whilst you are doing this ignore the dog, if the dog wants to be greeted by you then he will let you know by coming to investigate you.  Always let the dog make the first move, if he doesn’t instigate the greeting do not push one on him.  Do not stick the back of your hand directly up to his nose (typical ape greeting) as that can be another signal of aggression.

 

Look at the above picture.  I am greeting my dog only after he has greeted me by crouching down from the side, no eye contact and by rubbing his chest, all of which is none threatening and meant to put him at ease. It is me respecting him as a dog and acknowledging his boundaries.  If you don’t want to crouch down either through embarrassment or age (I know from personal experience how difficult it is to get back up from that position) lower your hand as far down as possible with the palm showing and let the dog come to you.  This is a non threatening gesture because sometimes treats are delivered this way and treats are always a good thing. 

 

Always remember, dogs, just like us, have their very own language and if we take the time to learn what our dogs are telling us, just imagine how much better our relationship with our best friend would be.