Calming Signals

[Renee Premaza]

Hi All,

If you want to get a bit more educated on how dogs communicate with each other, and how they TRY to communicate with us, click on this link:

http://www.canis.no/rugaas/gallery.php

Each picture can be clicked on to see a larger image for better clarity. Take note of how subtle some of these signals can be. I was at a shelter birthday party today where many dogs were socializing onleash. I was so impressed with how much "talking" was going on with these dogs. Once you get familiar with how they do communicate, you'll have a greater appreciation for their social skills, when they have them.

[Summer Magic]

Thanks Renee that was really awsome

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Judy,

One of the most educational references about calming signals is Turid Rugaas' video called, ON TALKING TERMS WITH DOGS: Calming Signals. You can watch dogs talk to each other, and then you'll have a much better idea of what your own dog is trying to tell YOU :-) If you go to www.dogwise.com you can purchase the video.

I'm glad you enjoyed seeing those pictures.

Thanks Renee that was really awsome

[Daniela Jantzen]

Additionally, some more pictures on calming signals.
Unfortunately, this page is only in German. But as you probably all clicked on the link provided by Renee, you should be familiar with what is shown on the pics. ;)
http://www.bordermix.de/calmingsignals.html
If you click on the blue links between the "click here" signs, you will find more pictures showing even whole interactions between two dogs.

When observing dogs and their communication, keep in mind that you can join in as well - dogs understand it even if we use calming signals towards them.
Knowing them and using them can be a huge benefit when working with anxious or aggressive dogs.

Danny

[Peggy Jensen]

I have a question about dogs using calmng signals - if you see them using the signals with you, does that mean they think you need calming down? My dog will turn his head away from me when he doesn't want to come when I call him, or he will come up to mee if I am sitting on the floor and turn his back to me, he likes to have his back scratched so I was thinking that is what he wanted. I'm just wondering why they think you need calmed down if you don't feel that you need to be.

[Mario Niepel]

Peggy, facing you with their backend to get a butt-scratch I think has nothing to do with calming signals. Some dogs like their ears scratched, some like their chest scratched and some just like their butt scratched. And all of them position their bodies in a way that makes the favored area most accessible.

However, using calming signals when "he doesn't want to come when I call him" is a very common occurrence, which actually often leads to angry owners and a rapidly deteriorating recall. Just out of curiosity, what are these situations when your dog "does not want to come". Did he do something he was not supposed to do, like run off, dig in the flowers, ... ? Have you, at that time, been calling your dog already multiple times and you are getting frustrated that he is not coming? Is your dog taking his sweet old time by sniffing the ground, walking slowly, not coming directly to you, ... ?

Most likely what is happening (and I have seen this in action at dog runs so many times) is that you start off with a dog whose recall is a little sloppy (for example not well proofed against interesting distractions). So, recall is not working immediately, so your "COME" gets a little more insistent. Now the dog takes notice, but realizes that you are upset. So, out come the calming signals: snuffeling the ground while still 30-50 feet away. Maybe even freezing and looking over to you. Now you think your dog is just teasing you... so you call again "COME". The dog realizes you are still upset, so he uses more calming signals like walking slowly over to you, not walking in a straight line, stopping to sniff the ground every now and then, looking away, ... And the slower the recall gets, the more annoyed the owner gets, the more extreme the calming signals get which slows the recall down even more.

If this mis-communication wasn't so common, it would be rather comical. But most often it ends up with an angry owner and a dog who will be reprimanded (often not even on purpuse) for a slow recall. Of course this will not lead to a faster recall next time around but for even more calming signals and an even slower recall. :(

[Renee]

when reading calming signals, you also have to look at the context of the situation....

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Peggy!

"I'm just wondering why they think you need calmed down if you don't feel that you need to be"

I loved this sentence! This to me expresses the whole problem with why we humans have poor communications with our dogs. It's because we humans are under the impression that dogs think like we do (or rather, why we can't stop expecting them to think like we do about things). Keep in mind that dogs read each other's body language very well. That's basically how dogs communicate. They also are experts at reading OUR body language, and even though we might not actually realize when we're starting to appear nervous or angry about something, dogs pick that up almost immediately.

One day a few years ago, my nephew called me about his Lab Murphy. He was sooo mad at his dog that day. His remarks to me were, "do you believe that while I was training him today, he sat down and turned his back to me and ignored me?!" Knowing my hot-headed nephew as well as I do, I asked him if he was getting impatient with his dog during the training, and he said, "yes, he just isn't getting it today." Murphy was trying to calm his owner down by turning his back. He was NOT trying to ignore my nephew, as my nephew thought he was doing. WE would probably turn our backs to one another if we were wanting to ignore someone else, but that's human body language - NOT DOGGY BEHAVIOR.

So Peggy, at any given time, you might think you're not behaving excitedly, but your dog might think you are. Learn these calming signals and you'll be able to understand an entire conversation your dog is having with you :-)

Mario's post to you was excellent. He gave you invaluable information here.

Good luck!

I have a question about dogs using calmng signals - if you see them using the signals with you, does that mean they think you need calming down? My dog will turn his head away from me when he doesn't want to come when I call him, or he will come up to mee if I am sitting on the floor and turn his back to me, he likes to have his back scratched so I was thinking that is what he wanted. I'm just wondering why they think you need calmed down if you don't feel that you need to be.

[Monique Shimm]

Great photos. I have the calming signals video but this has even more examples. Can you explain the "turning the back" calming signal. My dog Franny is showing aggression to puppies (growling). In one situation, a puppy was leashed and straining towards Franny, who was also on leash. I proceeded to try to use the "look" command. Anyways, seeing that she was forced to remain in close proximity of the puppy, Franny turned her back to the puppy. I had her sit, but she insisted in keeping her back to the puppy during the sit. Was she sending a signal to the puppy to calm down - or was that signal for me to read as "get me out of here"? What do you think?

[Renee Premaza]

>>seeing that she was forced to remain in close proximity of the puppy, Franny turned her back to the puppy. I had her sit, but she insisted in keeping her back to the puppy during the sit. Was she sending a signal to the puppy to calm down - or was that signal for me to read as "get me out of here"? What do you think?<<

It could have been a signal for all who were involved. She may have signalled the puppy to either calm down or that she wasn't going to be a threat to it, she may have been trying to calm herself down in this situation, and she may have been trying to get you to calm down if you seemed to be getting more stressed when telling her to sit. Actually, I think turning her back on that puppy was an extremely rewardable behavior in that scenario.

[Rebekah Hartman]

This is making a lot of sense to me now. I was trying to understand why it was so hard for me to get my pup to work at Rally-O class last night (we just picked it to help strengthen our bond and work around distractions). He is very excitable around other dogs because he loves to play, play, play. Thus, he isn't always eager to perform an obedience task because he's busy looking at or trying to get to other dogs.

When he realized he wasn't getting to go to the other dogs (or perhaps also that I was getting a little more "on edge"), he would sniff around and/or plop himself flat on the ground (head between paws). I had a really hard time getting him to sit or stand back up to keep working. Occasionally, he would just move to where he could still at least watch the other dogs, but I'll pay closer attention next time to how he's positioning his body.

Anyone have ideas on how I can get him to where he can work in an environment like that or should I just keep trying knowing that he'll get better around distractions? The motto of the school is "No Force, Just Fun", so they are great about not making me feel stressed about the fact that he's not doing what I want him to. I'm just looking at it as a fun time and if we just get a little better at working around distraction we'll have met my goal - this way I don't add to what, for him, is an already stressful situation. As an aside, he is not fearful or aggressive - just very, very playful. The other two times we've been to the facility was for puppy play group where he just pretty much did what he wanted with the other pups for an hour. It's a big adjustment to not even get to meet the other dogs there.

[Mario Niepel]

Rebekah, the best way to deal with that distraction is to give your dog a 'play fix' before training starts. Maybe you can meet up with some of the members of your class 30 minutes earlier. Let the pups say hello, play, run, ... THey'll be calmer, happier and less distracted.

[Rebekah Hartman]

I'll see if we can meet with some of the neighbor doggies before we leave for class next week. I'm not sure the other class members would be receptive - one woman told me that one of her dogs is kind of a snob and only likes other purebred dogs after she growled at Samson (he tried to get in her face). At first I was slightly offended because I'm proud of the fact that Samson would not be alive today if we hadn't rescued him, but later she elaborated a little and I realized she probably came off sounding like a snob herself although she really wasn't.

I think since it's a class helping them to prepare for possible obedience competition in the future (Rally-O), they take it a little more seriously. I just wanted to find something to help us bond and really don't have an interest in competing. I agree that playtime ahead of time would help a lot, though. Unfortunately, even if we play before leaving, we have a 30-minute drive and he'll be ready to play again by the time we get there. :shrug:

[RubysMom]

Renee -
Thanks so much for posting the calming pictures..I'm starting to see some of the subtle talking that is going on now when watching my dog approaching others at the off-leash park. I can see now that Ruby tends to approach others with a slow walk, tail up and straight on gaze - (she never seems to be the one to turn her head) so when I see this happening, I immediately call her over with some other distraction. This does seem to deter any further confrontation.

Im having less success with the dog who approaches her from behind. As soon as they get closer she freezes, hackles up, then the teeth, snarl and snap. Now that I know this is going to happen, I immediately call her over to me or throw a stick or her ball to take her away from the 'sniffer' . We're having some successes here, and I am learning to see the timing of all this and to watch carefully when others approach.

What I DO need to work on though is getting back to that solid recall I once had. I see exactly what Mario is talking about in an earlier post - I call Ruby, she comes a few steps and stops to sniff, I call again...she looks away and snuffles the ground...things get louder and slower etc etc. This is the most pronounced when it comes time to go back to the car (of course!), she's quite a bit better when I'm calling her away from another dog or dogs.

Any ideas on how to get back to coming every time I call - and just once!

[Jill Ramsey]

Donna,
One thing that you might remember-is, don't call her to you when its time to leave. Or if you can't go get her, call her to you and put the leash on and play for a few minutes. How would you like it if you went somewhere really fun and was having a great time and you got called and had to leave? It would make you dread the call, or ignore it. She needs to relearn that recall is great. Treats or play or something besides leaving.
I don't even call my dogs to go into the house. IT's" let's go, or over here". And even for my older dog, I treat quite often after he comes to me. It's really helped the 2 times (so far) that he was going to run over to the neighbors to play with other dogs or kids. When I called, he stopped in an instant, turned around and came right back to me.

[Grace Erick]

I read somewhere that a dog will yawn as a signal. I think it's meant to show they are in a stressful situation or are uneasy. I see Capri do it. She is very close to me, and not as much to my husband, so she does not like him being too close to her or being touched by him too much and she yawns. I've seen her do this over and over.

If he persists in petting her or being too close or looking directly at her which animals percieve as a threat and/or feel uncomfortable about, she will walk away from him and sit by me.

Bye, Grace

[Jody Hayes]

Wow! Grace that is right on with my dog. Whenever I tell him it's time for a walk he gets so overly excited and starts making very loud shrieking noises and yawns a lot! He may be over stimulated...what do you think. I wonder what I can do to settle him down?

[Grace Erick]

Hi,

I was looking up yawning and dogs to see if I can find where I read why I was saying Capri does that. I found a link to the trainer, Turid's page, where she gives you signals that dogs give you, other dogs and signals you can give back.

I found the "yawning" signal mentioned, plus I was not surprised to find the "turning the head away" signal which my dog does also to my husband to avoid his presence, and probably in hope that he will go away and not be there when she turns her head back:)

http://www.neholistic.com/articles/0099.htm

Bye, Grace

[Grace Erick]

Hi Jody,

I just saw your post after I had posted. I know very, very little about dog's and their behavior. I am just very intune to my dog's signals to me, and to see what's going on around her when she gives them to me.

Boy are you asking the wrong person for their ideas about behavior, lol:) I have not really trained my dog, maybe because she is a chi and so small, she does not have the big dog issues. She can't pull me down the street when I walk her, she can't put her paws up on tables or get into garbage and doesn't jump up on people, etc. I know I can still teach her things, like to sit or lay down, but they don't seem worthwhile with her being so small. She's very well behaved too just on her own with no real guidence.

Your dog's excitement about going out does not seem like a problem to me though. He is just showing how happy he is about going for walks and maybe the getting ready to go out is a little stressful since he is so excited, so he yawns. The cure for that would be the walk itself. But what do I know, lol:)

Bye, Grace

[RubysMom]

Hi Jill -
Thanks for giving me an "aha" moment! :embarasse Of course she doesnt come when its time to go home (stupid me!!)

The more I read on the calming signals, the more its easier to see and all starts to make some sense! I tried saying "lets go" or "time to go home" when the play at the park was over, and also a bit of hide and seek in the tall grass - it was a lot faster and easier to get her to the car.

I also noticed when she was approached by a larger dog today, Ruby did the sideways look and a quick lick of her nose. Amazing to see - its just like Turid R describes!!

Ive also noticed Ruby yawns a lot when she is excited but also when we're down on the floor playing with her or in other situations. How do you tell if/when she is trying to calm herself vs trying to calm down others ?

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Donna,

>>How do you tell if/when she is trying to calm herself vs trying to calm down others <<

You've got to know what the entire situation is at the time the dog uses calming and/or stress signals. Dogs can yawn when we're playing with them. Playing is exciting and produces a good kind of stress. Just get to know your dog and you'll be able to kind of tell how she's feeling and who she's trying to communicate to. Nothing is certain though, when it comes to figuring out what a dog is thinking or feeling. We can only surmise, but the more familiar we become with how our dogs behave, the better able we'll be to understand what they're trying to tell us.

Hi Jill -
Thanks for giving me an "aha" moment! :embarasse Of course she doesnt come when its time to go home (stupid me!!)

The more I read on the calming signals, the more its easier to see and all starts to make some sense! I tried saying "lets go" or "time to go home" when the play at the park was over, and also a bit of hide and seek in the tall grass - it was a lot faster and easier to get her to the car.

I also noticed when she was approached by a larger dog today, Ruby did the sideways look and a quick lick of her nose. Amazing to see - its just like Turid R describes!!

Ive also noticed Ruby yawns a lot when she is excited but also when we're down on the floor playing with her or in other situations. How do you tell if/when she is trying to calm herself vs trying to calm down others ?

[Daniela Jantzen]

Wow! Grace that is right on with my dog. Whenever I tell him it's time for a walk he gets so overly excited and starts making very loud shrieking noises and yawns a lot! He may be over stimulated...what do you think. I wonder what I can do to settle him down?

Don't tell him it's time for a walk.... ;)
No, seriously, if your dog seems overly excited when you take him out, it could be for two reasons:
1. He was deeply bored beforehand. In this case, most of the day's action happens on your daily walks - change that! There are a lot of games and nosework training you can do at home to keep your dog busy and entertained. 20 minutes of nose- and brainworks is about as exhausting as 1 hour of walking.
2. He is simply a happy camper and LOVES action. In this case, change your routine up to a point where, before you step out of the house, lots of calming exercises are included in your preparation. Help your dog settle down a bit by having him sit for a few seconds, lie down or whatever else. Have him go and search for his favourite toy to keep him busy until you are dressed and ready to go. Then have him sit before you open the door, attach the leash, take him out, ask him to sit again outside for you to close the door and walk heel the first few hundred metres.

However, a little bit of stress won't kill your dog - it can actually be healthy!
Only when you get the feeling it might be too much for him it is time to intervene and change a few things in your daily routine.

Danny

[Lesly Stevens]

Learning about calming signals through reading Turid Rugaas was a real turning point for me in working with rescues while I fostered, AND in changing behavior in my rescue boy, who had dog-to-dog aggression issues and was a window terrorist. By using calming signals I was able to turn that boy around, and can take him anywhere (no more window terrorist activities, either!). For a long while I had to give him calming signals (yawning, turning my head, slow movement in an arc) while out with him when we'd come upon other dogs. It's amazing how quickly he responded, and how well this works!

Lesly, Maddy, & Bo

[RubysMom]

Thanks Lesley -
Im feeling (at times) like its starting to come together. I watch a lot closer for the signals that Ruby is stressed, as I well notice that she looks to me in certain situations and at that time I can show her either the leadership or calming signals in some way.

I wonder if the best I can hope for is to get her to avoid other dogs or will the day ever come again when she can play nicely with other dogs? I seem to be getting towards the former, but last night had a situation where she was playing with her old time buddy GSD in the cul-de-sac and it turned into a teeth barred, snarling take-down by the (older, bigger) dog. They used to have a great time chasing each other around - now last night it just came to a head and became not something I think either dog was happy about.

What should I be hoping to ultimately achieve here?

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Donna!

You may be way to early in your training with Ruby to allow her to play for any length of time with another dog. I'm not sure but it sounds like the other dog caused a fight to occur yesterday? That sets your training back seriously.

You need to allow her to interact with other dogs very slowly and gradually. Reward her for having success at short interactions with other dogs and then end the interaction while things are going well. If she's playing that long that a fight breaks out, that's allowing the interaction to continue much past anytime they'd be throwing calming signals or stress signals.

End things on a good note when the dog wants more! Keep us updated on how things progress from here on out.

Thanks Lesley -
Im feeling (at times) like its starting to come together. I watch a lot closer for the signals that Ruby is stressed, as I well notice that she looks to me in certain situations and at that time I can show her either the leadership or calming signals in some way.

I wonder if the best I can hope for is to get her to avoid other dogs or will the day ever come again when she can play nicely with other dogs? I seem to be getting towards the former, but last night had a situation where she was playing with her old time buddy GSD in the cul-de-sac and it turned into a teeth barred, snarling take-down by the (older, bigger) dog. They used to have a great time chasing each other around - now last night it just came to a head and became not something I think either dog was happy about.

What should I be hoping to ultimately achieve here?

[RubysMom]

Hi there..
It certainly was too long for a happy play-time. Things started fine, they ran and chased and wrestled a wee bit. Then Ruby decided she wanted to take a break and the GSD came and sniffed her backside a bit and then Ruby had the freeze, snarl and snap. The difference being here the other dog was stronger and took her down in an instant.

I guess we hoped that she would play with this dog as she had in past and so perhaps didnt keep such a close eye on things. When we stepped in sent Ruby home of course we chastised her "bad girl - why are you such a grouch? Whats wrong with you??!!" which maybe wasnt the right reaction?

We've definately had successes with shorter interractions with unknown dogs lately so Im hopeful, and yes will keep you posted.. many thanks!

[Grace Erick]

When my husband looks at or pets Capri, she looks over at me. I think she wants me to be aware she is not happy and maybe would like me to change the situation or just be aware of what's going on since I'm her mama and she likes me best. She is definitely looking over to make eye contact with me, maybe as a cry for help.

Bye, Grace

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Donna!

Okay, here's a bit of psychology for everyone to learn:

You said, "When we stepped in sent Ruby home of course we chastised her "bad girl - why are you such a grouch? Whats wrong with you??!!" which maybe wasnt the right reaction?"

It wasn't a good reaction, because you punished Ruby for wanting to take a break. You recognized that she was getting tired, and she tried walking away. That was *your* cue to get her out of the situation then and there, especially since they'd been playing quite a while. Maybe earlier in the game Ruby might have allowed a butt sniff from the GSD, but when anyone is tired, they're likely to become cranky. The problem is that you punished her in front of the GSD. She may blame that dog because you reprimanded her. Dogs learn by association! She may be less willing to play with her or interact with her the next time.

Keep in mind that Ruby is learning new behavior. If you were learning how to fly a plane after having a phobia for flying in anything, your initial experiences as a future pilot would send you home exahusted and wanting a nap.

When my rescue dog Jack (Border Collie) was learning how to tolerate humans in his space, we had to work very slowly. After a couple of *years*, he allowed a little neighbor boy to pet him. That was a huge achievement for Jack! But... when he looked directly at me, I knew he wanted me to help him get away from the child, which I did immediately.

Ruby needs you to take on a good leadership role with her. You've made some nice strides but now have had a setback. Learn from it, and now go forward again. Here are some suggestions for you to include in your training with Ruby; you can find many of these training handouts in our articles here at Doggy Bag Online:

1. Teach Attention exercises, as outlined in my article. Get Ruby used to giving you full eye contact. Teach her that making eye contact with you is where safety happens.

2. Teach her to have a very good recall. That way, if you see trouble brewing, whether she's getting into it or someone is about to start trouble with Ruby, you should be able to recall her back to you no matter what is going on at the time. Read the instructions on how to teach a dog to have a good recall.

3. Learn to recognize calming signals! Study other dogs behaviors when they're interacting with each other and then study Ruby. Reward her heavily when she shows calming signals either to another dog or to you.

4. Keep your dog-dog interactions short. If Ruby behaves well all the time for 5 minutes, begin to expose her to other dogs ONLY for 5 minutes. When you see that she is ready to have criteria raised, extend her playtime to 7 or 10 minutes only! Let her play for that amount of time for a week or two before you raise the criteria again. You always want your training sessions, no matter what you're working on, to end on a good note where she's done really well.

5. If Ruby should make a mistake in her behavior, remove her from the situation and have her do some very basic obedience behaviors that she always does well. Reward her for doing those well before you take her home. That way, she'll see that day as having ended well and not disastrously where she's been reprimanded.

6. Lower your expectations. If you do that, when she exceeds them, you'll appreciate more where you've been with her and how far you've come. Keep a diary of your progress as you work with her. That way you can check back periodically to refresh your memory about the problems that may no longer be presenting themselves.

I hope this information is useful for you. Keep us posted on how things are going, okay?

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Grace!

Wanna talk about this? I'm not familiar with you or your dog and would like to help you work this out.


When my husband looks at or pets Capri, she looks over at me. I think she wants me to be aware she is not happy and maybe would like me to change the situation or just be aware of what's going on since I'm her mama and she likes me best. She is definitely looking over to make eye contact with me, maybe as a cry for help.

Bye, Grace

[RubysMom]

Hi there..
Im 'cautiously optimistic' as they say, with the events at the dog park today. Ruby and I were doing our usual thing and being a Saturday were quite a lot of dogs at the place. We were playing with a stick a bit when a walker came along with 8 dogs all shapes and sizes and they were all running and jumping and barking.
My first instinct was to take Ruby away from the approaching pack, but she seemed so interested in them and was all perky and attentive in watching them, and less and less interested in her stick. So I let her get in amongst them but stood close at the ready with a stick, a treat (all my distraction tools!) at the ready.
Ruby romped and played and jumped around with them - everyone sniffed and played and roughoused on the same level. At one point she was completely bowled over by 2 racing labs and I thought 'here we go' but she got herself up and was still tail up and running around with the 'gang'
I did notice a couple of times that she looked at me to see either where I was or if I was going to call her off but I just said 'go play' and let her have some fun. After about 5 min the "herd" seemed to move on in the other direction and I called Ruby to come with me which she did willingly and it all ended on a good note.
With that many dogs I honestly didnt see any calming signals though - either it was all just too much going on or maybe nobody wanted any calming?
Further towards the end of the walk a younger lab tried to give her the sniff and she sprinted away which he took to mean 'pls chase me' and I could see the hackles starting to rise - BUT she didnt freeze and she didnt snap and I called her over to me as soon as I saw the hair on her back move!! We played a bit more and it all ended well.
I even remembered not to use "come" when it was time to get in the car, but rather 'lets go for a ride' or 'time to go' and even tho I had to wait it out a bit, it wasnt the same as before.
Ahh, a good day in doggie-interpretation and I hope many more to follow! :p

[Stefie C]

Congratulations Donna & Way To Go Ruby!!!

[Jill Ramsey]

That's great, Donna. It's so much more fun for you and Ruby when there are no problems. Good job both of you!! :yourock: