Uncivilized Behavior - Who's Really the Animal Here?

Having owned dogs my whole life, and learning so much about their behavior, I was bound to notice that there are people who truely do not understand how a dog is feeling by its behavior. I've seen people scare the life out of their dogs, and all the while, the dog is performing appeasement gestures left and right out of fear, all of which are completely ignored by said owner. There have been times when I've told people, "The dog is scared," and they've denied it, because they were completely unaware of the signs.

The most recent instance of uncivilized behavior toward dogs has been toward my own dogs, which finally inspired this article. A person close to me has lately been acting unpredictably toward my dogs, which finally made me uncomfortable enough to let them know - probably not in the best way - by snapping at them, "Don't DO that!" They don't seem to understand that dogs do NOT like having random objects mock-thrown or swung at them out of jest. Dogs do NOT like being randomly jumped at or barked loudly at, and especially not a combination of the two! They do NOT like being randomly tapped roughly on the hindquarters when they're not expecting it, even if it was meant to be playful. Do these things to the wrong dog, and you're likely to have your face bitten off. In order to put this into perspective, I am going to offer a scenario, from my corgi's point of view:

You are a dog and you're a foot tall, and have grown up with giant, two-legged creatures who speak a gibberish you cannot comprehend. You are staying at a strange house with some giants you don't know very well. Suddenly, one of those giants starts swinging objects at you, tapping you roughly on your hindquarters (which to you is one of your most vulnerable spots), or jumping at you, making loud noises that you don't understand. This giant gives you NO WARNING what is about to happen. You see this as an attack. Frightened out of your mind, you run and hide under the coffee table so the giant will stop attacking you.

For the rest of the day, you are very cautious around this particular giant, walking low to the floor, holding your ears down, and giving appeasement gestures (turning your head to look away, yawning, licking your nose) in an attempt to calm this giant so maybe they will not attack you again. Suddenly, one of the times you have to walk past this giant, they randomly throw a huge shoe at you! Frightened, you duck out of the way and immediately run to hide under the coffee table, since that thwarted this giant during the last attack.

Today, at this strange giant's house, you have learned that the giant who lives here is completely unpredictable, that you should be extremely cautious at all times at this house, and that you should hide from and avoid this giant any time you can. Since your guard has been raised at this house from the stress of being attacked constantly, if you cannot escape the next attack, biting might be your best option.

If you were a dog, with such a different language and behavior setup, wouldn't you be scared to be around that particular giant if you never knew how they'd act toward you next? I sure would be! So I am writing this article in an attempt to get people to understand better that dogs view the world differently than we do. What we may think is funny or playful toward each other might scare the daylights out of a dog.

Dogs are scared by things that fly unexpectedly toward them, sudden loud noises, or people or other animals who are seemingly lunging toward them. The best way to handle a dog is GENTLY, using a normal voice. If you are holding something in your hand, it is best to refrain from suddenly swinging it toward the dog, as this scares many dogs. Even if you are playing, the dog may not think so. Suddenly tapping a dog roughly on the hindquarters is not only rude and unacceptable from the dog's point of view, but it can also be dangerous when done to a dog with a low bite threshold. It's best to call the dog to you and pet it GENTLY, when the dog is expecting it, rather than be unpredictable.

I know many people simply don't realize how rough they are being, so I hope others will read this and pass it on, for the sake of all the dogs who are being inadvertently treated in an uncivilized manner.

All articles on this blog are written by Victoria Steen unless otherwise stated. They are NOT to be redistributed.