This is so helpful, I've been reading about appeasement behavior and was comfused because I typically interpreted many of these as signs of a positive interaction but was concerned i was wrong. Im glad to know appeasement is not necessarily a bad thing
Dog Liaison I was wondering if you could do a video about behavioural changes when females in heat. I’ve got a GSD/ American Stafford mix 10 days ago and she’s driving me crazy and I’m really frustrated of how sensitive she is, running away, not eating any kind of dogs’ food, anxious or hyper.. etc
Thank you for explaining dog behavior and body language! Are you planning on making a video on how to help train a dog displaying some of these behaviors? Just curious, my dog displays a few of these and I would love to know what I could do to help him!
Hi Emmali, great question. Yes, in the future, I will be creating a couple how-to videos on how to troubleshoot. But in the meantime, would you like to tell me a little about the circumstances under which your dog demonstrates these behaviors? Do you have any specific questions that I can answer now?
@@getacalmdog he growls intermittently whenever someone walks inside it's not always, but its fairly often. He shows signs of the codependency with me always pawing at me for affection and stuff if we didnt do a lot of training that day. He has nipped at people before once I was not around and did not see what had happe6the other time a friend was following another one of our dogs around trying to pet him and she reached down to quickly in his general direction and he nipped her knee and quickly ran away. I straight up told her that was her fault and had told her while she was trying to pet the other dog that Charlie was skittish and to be easy around him, but she didnt listen. He didnt draw blood or even leave a mark on her skin, she said it even took her a second to realize what he had done. Since that incident I have worked a lot on his down and his touch with things other than my hand. I usually dont make him interact with anyone unless he shows interest or unless I know they will eventually have to share a close space with them, for example a car ride or being in the same room where he does not have a hide away. Mostly I would like to work on his growling when members of my family walk in the house, there are small children in the same house and while he usually gets up and leaves the room when he is uncomfortable I dont want him to ever feel the need to cross that line.
So much of your goal of stopping the growl is relied upon altering his perspective of the people walking into the home. Yes, having him walk away to another room is a reasonable coping mechanism to stress. And it's important that it stays in play. However, ideally we are augmenting his opinion of the people in the home so that he WANTS to be in their space. This is done through counter conditioning methods. I recommend checking out some of Jean Donaldson's books as well as doing a simple Google search of counter conditioning practices for dogs (until I can get a viable video to you). You must alter his emotional response to people in order to prevent the growl. Hiring a positive dog trainer (through video call or in person) will streamline the learning process for you. But there are MANY resources available that are cheaper than a private trainer if that's the route you take. The key is to not get to wrapped up in the "obedience" part of the training. Yes, he needs to have those skills. But those come secondary to actually worrying about his emotional state and how he perceives his safety.
My dog flops to the floor on her belly when she's greeting small dogs, especially if they look nervous. Is she intentionally making herself look less threatening to them? People have suggested she's nervous herself but she only does it to small dogs and cats (she grew up with cats and isn't afraid of them), not dogs larger than herself.
I mean, to be fair, I know too little about your individual dog to give a firm answer here. But I would say that it makes sense for a larger dog to make herself smaller when engaging with another small animal. It's quite courteous and it seems to be a more extroverted behavior. It doesn't sound so much "nervous" of an impending threat as much as it is nervous or concerned that the other animal might misunderstand her intentions. So "nervous" can take on many contexts and forms.
My dog also does this, however not exclusively to small dogs, but in my interpretation to dogs she really wants to say ‘hi’ to. Sometimes she drops to the ground from a block away if a dog she knows shows up. She often does it to new dogs as well if they seem friendly or hesitant, but never to dogs that are barking or displaying “get out of my face” signals, then she usually just keeps on walking. I have gotten comments from strangers that “oh that is strange, my dog don’t usually like other dogs” while passing very undramatically so I think it may be a strategy in her part to calm the other dog and make them not feel threatened. This is only anecdotal though so this may not be true for all dogs and it is possible I am also reading my dog wrong, however since she likes doing it to her dog friends I don’t think it’s a display of nervousness on her part.
I agree. It sounds like a relatively normal behavior for your dog. But it seems like you know her very well. You're able to describe her very well. So I think you're probably on to something!
My dog gives whale eyes while lying on the ground or on her bed when she is taking a rest and her head is resting, is this bad too? Is she giving signals that she is about to escalate the situation? I have never really heard or seen her give any indication that she will but am a little worried
my dog does this too and it seems like he is just monitoring the situation to see if me or my family is going to do something interesting, while trying to act chill
I just watched Zak George’s video in the city. If your dog is unsure of people, should you let the dog come up to them rather than have strangers reach out? I used to have a Lab that was nervous around tall men, but once they squatted down and just sat there, then my dog sniffed and was totally fine. My current Lab puppy thinks everyone wants to be friends 😊.
Hi there! Excellent question. So as a very blanket rule, nobody should ever touch a dog without the dog's consent and willingness to be touched. However, you're right that there are individuals who feel more at ease when a person offers a palm or has more open body language. This lets the individual know, "hey, I'm interested in being your friend." But on the other hand, there are MANY individuals who would feel a social pressure if someone did this to them. It is not uncommon for a dog to read an extended hand as offensive or too forward. So this comes down to the individual dog's perspective. That's why I find it incredibly useful to teach dogs "Touch" (I have a video on this if you're interested) because then the dog sees the palm and doesn't misinterpret it. But it also still keeps the ball in the dog's court. The dog knows he is in control of his own body, and no one will touch him unless he puts his nose to their palm first.
@@getacalmdog yep my dog views an outstretched hand from a stranger as threatening, she used to snap at the hand and growl. With slow introductions where the human ignores her completely and lets her sniff them eventually she will warm up and relax and later she might go up and seek attention from them of her own volition. To avoid problems I just don't let strangers pet her ever unless they're going to be in the dog's life (ie my friends, family etc) and then we do a very slow introduction - but certainly random strangers on the street have no business petting my dog. Get your own dog!
@luculencia Yes, it's actually very common for dogs to perceive an open hand as too bold or offensive. It can be confusing because of course there are many dogs that love this exact same gesture. I agree that just not letting people touch her and being an advocate for her voice is so important. I'd be curious to see how your dog would feel about nose targeting a wooden spoon (like an extension of an arm) so she's not touching a hand per se; but she is sort of doing the act in a round about way.
So have you heard that dogs lower blood pressure (reduce stress) . Well not exactly , see dog owners have chronic high blood pressure when they are seperated from dogs. They are worried about the dog all the time.24/7, 365.They are so worried that they have nanny cams for dogs *Did my couch get chewed *Is fluffy hungry *What is the dog doing at any given second? *Did the dog get away? *Did the dog piss on the new rug? *Will the doggy day care charge me more I am running late So when the dog owner gets home they get a little shot of relief, but that only relief from issues caused by dog ownership. So really what dog do is raise your stress and anxiety and cause chronic stress and raise baseline stress th-cam.com/video/e6p-dJU8GXU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=M9ubNb4di2_ljYJz
canine social psychology, neurology, emotion and behavior...summed up in 13 minutes!, brilliant every dog owner needs to see this...
Thank you so much for the support! I agree that it's very useful to all dog owners.
I never knew there was so much to dogs’ body language. Thanks for these videos. Big help with my soon to be one year old puppy.
Yay!!!! And believe it or not, these videos are only PART of dog behavior! Haha. I'm so glad you're enjoying this content. Thank you for being here.
This is so helpful, I've been reading about appeasement behavior and was comfused because I typically interpreted many of these as signs of a positive interaction but was concerned i was wrong. Im glad to know appeasement is not necessarily a bad thing
Wonderful video as always!! Keep pumping out quality content!
Thank you for watching, Tyler. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Do you have a video talking about the correct way to react to those behaviors ?
The first video talking about the banana curve. Now I understand why my dog does it! Thank you so much
Yes! I'm so glad you found my video helpful! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Dog Liaison I was wondering if you could do a video about behavioural changes when females in heat. I’ve got a GSD/ American Stafford mix 10 days ago and she’s driving me crazy and I’m really frustrated of how sensitive she is, running away, not eating any kind of dogs’ food, anxious or hyper.. etc
Always learning something new from you! Thank you!!
Awwww Caley, thank YOU for always being one of my first viewers. 😘
Thank you for explaining dog behavior and body language! Are you planning on making a video on how to help train a dog displaying some of these behaviors? Just curious, my dog displays a few of these and I would love to know what I could do to help him!
Hi Emmali, great question. Yes, in the future, I will be creating a couple how-to videos on how to troubleshoot. But in the meantime, would you like to tell me a little about the circumstances under which your dog demonstrates these behaviors? Do you have any specific questions that I can answer now?
@@getacalmdog he growls intermittently whenever someone walks inside it's not always, but its fairly often. He shows signs of the codependency with me always pawing at me for affection and stuff if we didnt do a lot of training that day. He has nipped at people before once I was not around and did not see what had happe6the other time a friend was following another one of our dogs around trying to pet him and she reached down to quickly in his general direction and he nipped her knee and quickly ran away. I straight up told her that was her fault and had told her while she was trying to pet the other dog that Charlie was skittish and to be easy around him, but she didnt listen. He didnt draw blood or even leave a mark on her skin, she said it even took her a second to realize what he had done. Since that incident I have worked a lot on his down and his touch with things other than my hand. I usually dont make him interact with anyone unless he shows interest or unless I know they will eventually have to share a close space with them, for example a car ride or being in the same room where he does not have a hide away. Mostly I would like to work on his growling when members of my family walk in the house, there are small children in the same house and while he usually gets up and leaves the room when he is uncomfortable I dont want him to ever feel the need to cross that line.
So much of your goal of stopping the growl is relied upon altering his perspective of the people walking into the home. Yes, having him walk away to another room is a reasonable coping mechanism to stress. And it's important that it stays in play. However, ideally we are augmenting his opinion of the people in the home so that he WANTS to be in their space. This is done through counter conditioning methods. I recommend checking out some of Jean Donaldson's books as well as doing a simple Google search of counter conditioning practices for dogs (until I can get a viable video to you). You must alter his emotional response to people in order to prevent the growl. Hiring a positive dog trainer (through video call or in person) will streamline the learning process for you. But there are MANY resources available that are cheaper than a private trainer if that's the route you take. The key is to not get to wrapped up in the "obedience" part of the training. Yes, he needs to have those skills. But those come secondary to actually worrying about his emotional state and how he perceives his safety.
@@getacalmdog I will look into those books and see what I can learn! Thank you so much for taking the time to help my dog and me!!
It's my pleasure, Emmali. I look forward to helping you more in the future. 🙂
My dog flops to the floor on her belly when she's greeting small dogs, especially if they look nervous. Is she intentionally making herself look less threatening to them? People have suggested she's nervous herself but she only does it to small dogs and cats (she grew up with cats and isn't afraid of them), not dogs larger than herself.
I mean, to be fair, I know too little about your individual dog to give a firm answer here. But I would say that it makes sense for a larger dog to make herself smaller when engaging with another small animal. It's quite courteous and it seems to be a more extroverted behavior. It doesn't sound so much "nervous" of an impending threat as much as it is nervous or concerned that the other animal might misunderstand her intentions. So "nervous" can take on many contexts and forms.
My dog also does this, however not exclusively to small dogs, but in my interpretation to dogs she really wants to say ‘hi’ to. Sometimes she drops to the ground from a block away if a dog she knows shows up. She often does it to new dogs as well if they seem friendly or hesitant, but never to dogs that are barking or displaying “get out of my face” signals, then she usually just keeps on walking. I have gotten comments from strangers that “oh that is strange, my dog don’t usually like other dogs” while passing very undramatically so I think it may be a strategy in her part to calm the other dog and make them not feel threatened. This is only anecdotal though so this may not be true for all dogs and it is possible I am also reading my dog wrong, however since she likes doing it to her dog friends I don’t think it’s a display of nervousness on her part.
I agree. It sounds like a relatively normal behavior for your dog. But it seems like you know her very well. You're able to describe her very well. So I think you're probably on to something!
When my dog use appeasement or calming signals on me it actually does the opposite and makes me more mad how do you handle that. ?
Im not a threat look how tiny I am 🤣 sounded funny grrat video!!
My dog gives whale eyes while lying on the ground or on her bed when she is taking a rest and her head is resting, is this bad too? Is she giving signals that she is about to escalate the situation? I have never really heard or seen her give any indication that she will but am a little worried
my dog does this too and it seems like he is just monitoring the situation to see if me or my family is going to do something interesting, while trying to act chill
I just watched Zak George’s video in the city. If your dog is unsure of people, should you let the dog come up to them rather than have strangers reach out? I used to have a Lab that was nervous around tall men, but once they squatted down and just sat there, then my dog sniffed and was totally fine. My current Lab puppy thinks everyone wants to be friends 😊.
Hi there! Excellent question. So as a very blanket rule, nobody should ever touch a dog without the dog's consent and willingness to be touched. However, you're right that there are individuals who feel more at ease when a person offers a palm or has more open body language. This lets the individual know, "hey, I'm interested in being your friend." But on the other hand, there are MANY individuals who would feel a social pressure if someone did this to them. It is not uncommon for a dog to read an extended hand as offensive or too forward. So this comes down to the individual dog's perspective. That's why I find it incredibly useful to teach dogs "Touch" (I have a video on this if you're interested) because then the dog sees the palm and doesn't misinterpret it. But it also still keeps the ball in the dog's court. The dog knows he is in control of his own body, and no one will touch him unless he puts his nose to their palm first.
Thanks for the info! I will definitely watch the “touch” video. These videos are the most informative out there.
Thank you, my friend. I'm so, so happy that I could help you.
@@getacalmdog yep my dog views an outstretched hand from a stranger as threatening, she used to snap at the hand and growl. With slow introductions where the human ignores her completely and lets her sniff them eventually she will warm up and relax and later she might go up and seek attention from them of her own volition.
To avoid problems I just don't let strangers pet her ever unless they're going to be in the dog's life (ie my friends, family etc) and then we do a very slow introduction - but certainly random strangers on the street have no business petting my dog. Get your own dog!
@luculencia Yes, it's actually very common for dogs to perceive an open hand as too bold or offensive. It can be confusing because of course there are many dogs that love this exact same gesture. I agree that just not letting people touch her and being an advocate for her voice is so important. I'd be curious to see how your dog would feel about nose targeting a wooden spoon (like an extension of an arm) so she's not touching a hand per se; but she is sort of doing the act in a round about way.
7:40 voice crack~thanks for the vid
Heehee! Glad you liked it.
@@getacalmdog ʅʕ•ᴥ•ʔʃ it helped ♡
My giant male Newfie banana curves in the morning when I wake up and pet him
So have you heard that dogs lower blood pressure (reduce stress) . Well not exactly , see dog owners have chronic high blood pressure when they are seperated from dogs. They are worried about the dog all the time.24/7, 365.They are so worried that they have nanny cams for dogs
*Did my couch get chewed
*Is fluffy hungry
*What is the dog doing at any given second?
*Did the dog get away?
*Did the dog piss on the new rug?
*Will the doggy day care charge me more I am running late
So when the dog owner gets home they get a little shot of relief, but that only relief from issues caused by dog ownership. So really what dog do is raise your stress and anxiety and cause chronic stress and raise baseline stress th-cam.com/video/e6p-dJU8GXU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=M9ubNb4di2_ljYJz