- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I wrote this article in September '17, which explains the references to Luna being a puppy.
Humans are verbose creatures, communicating almost exclusively with the spoken word. English is a vivid and rich language, to be sure, and the nuances in tone and emphasis, not to mention punctuation in the written word, can completely alter the meaning of a sentence. Because of this very human preference for verbal communication, it is easy to assume that dogs are only “talking” to us and each other when they are vocalising. More than that, owners often completely disregard the possibility that the dog is trying to communicate with them even when the dog is vocalising, viewing it as simply a problem behaviour that must be corrected. Yet, if we are to stop and observe our dogs, it is astounding to see the conversations they are having with each other, and with us. When was the last time you had a two-way conversation with your dog? It seems like the stuff of the imagination, with Dr Doolittle in the title role, but it is very possible, if we take a little time to learn the language of dogs.
Willow, Shadow, and Luna are three Labradors, living in a family environment. Willow and Shadow are litter mates, three years of age, and Luna is a ten-month puppy. Having grown up together, the two older dogs are completely confident with one another. They understand each other and sometimes seem almost telepathic in their interactions. I am often asked which is “top dog”, and my answer is always the same: neither. Maybe I would more accurately say “neither and both”, as it depends entirely on the situation. They can both be pushy when it comes to certain resources, such as my attention, but they generally respect one another’s space. They have been taught to take turns and not steal from one another, and they accept that entirely. Sometimes, though, one simply wants something more than the other. Training means that they will honour each other when retrieving, and they won’t “run in” after another’s ball or dummy, but when given a little more freedom of choice, they will race each other to the prize. Willow is the faster dog, but often gives up and lets Shadow win; is this a sign that Willow is deferring to Shadow’s dominance, or simply that she doesn’t care as much? I believe it’s the latter.
When considering bringing a new puppy into the family, I researched long and hard. By this point, I had gained extensive experience of training and managing problem behaviours; having two anxious dogs, I was adamant I would do everything in my power to ensure my third dog was better adjusted. I decided to choose a puppy from proven show stock, as dogs who perform well in the show ring have to be confident, and that appears to be a heritable trait. Would this make her more likely to bully my older, anxious dogs, or would it give her the confidence to rise above it?
Introductions didn’t go well. The two adults hated the puppy on sight. Their normally subtle communication was now unmistakable, with lips drawn back to show the teeth, hard eyes, tight ear carriage and snarling. Occasionally, they would snap towards the wall of the puppy pen which was keeping her safe. They were very clearly and obviously expressing that they were not happy with this interloper arriving into their comfortable home environment.
Luna, for her part, a tiny eight-week-old puppy, couldn’t have been more transparent in her part of the conversation. Even from the safety of her pen, she would turn away, licking her lips, and avoiding all eye contact. What Turid Rugaas calls “calming signals” were being shouted as loudly as this little puppy could muster – I mean no harm, please don’t hurt me.
The puppy was the epitome of respect towards the older dogs. In the garden, where the older dogs managed to tolerate her, she never jumped on them, would give them a wide berth, but wasn’t scared, and maintained soft body language. I employed a canine behaviourist to observe the three dogs, and to ensure I was handling the situation in the best possible way, and she echoed what I could see; Willow, although standoffish, was clear and confident with her body language. She didn’t want the puppy around, had no interest in interacting with her, and made that obvious. When given enough space, in the garden or, later, on the beach, there was no need for any escalation to aggression, because Willow was so straightforward with her communication. Shadow, on the other hand, the behaviourist observed, had far weaker communication skills. Because of this, situations could escalate very quickly without me observing any antecedent signals.
Over the course of three months, I gradually worked on integrating Luna into the family, and helping the adults to accept her. Several months ago, we reached the stage of the three of them being able to be in the same living space without fear of snapping, and we now exist as a happy family unit with no hint of aggression towards one another. When playing together, they can look and sound quite ferocious, but watching them closely as they interact shows that they are taking it in turns to “win”. One minute, Willow is pinning Shadow to the ground, the next it’s her who is on the floor. You can watch them voluntarily putting themselves into weaker positions to allow the other to grab them. Most obviously with these two adults, though, is that they constantly sneeze throughout the game. According to Canine University, this indicates that they are just playing, however rough and vocal it gets, and prevents the play from escalating.
Outside of play, Willow’s body language is still the most expressive of the adults. She will very deliberately turn her head and look away if she feels uncomfortable, often by proximity in a highly-charged environment. These dogs are perfectly happy to eat with their bowls side by side with no hint of resource guarding, but if there is, for example, a raw chicken carcass, or something with similar high value at stake, Willow will express calming signals towards Shadow while they are waiting for their meal. On the other hand, when the dogs all have stuffed and frozen Kongs, Luna and Shadow will invariably finish theirs first, as Willow likes to hold onto hers until it has started to defrost. If either of the other two so much as glances at her at this time, Willow will growl and snarl in their direction. All of us are aware it is bluster and nothing ever comes of it, but it does sound quite intimidating and many would take it to be the sign of a dominant dog, when it is actually the sign of a dog who simply doesn’t want to lose her prize to either of the others.
Luna remains utterly respectful of the other two, although she does sometimes push the boundaries when it comes to initiating play. At ten months, she is a pushy adolescent, but the adults take it in good humour and generally cave in to her requests to play. Sometimes, she will get a hard look from Willow to tell her to back off, at which, she will move away and turn her head for a few seconds, before giving it another try.
Is there a clear leader? No. Willow would certainly hold the position of the most confident communicator, but these signals are often appeasement signals to calm a potentially volatile situation. Similarly with Luna; she communicates very well, but couldn’t possibly be seen as a leader, as she is still very much a puppy. I haven’t observed a single instance where either adult looked in the slightest bit intimidated by her. Shadow might be the casual observer’s obvious choice as leader, as he would always be the one to snap at one of the girls in a highly-charged environment, but that sort of behaviour isn’t something that lends to leadership. I would conclude, after careful observation, that there is no “leader” between the three dogs. They are all comfortable in the knowledge that I am the one who controls the resources, and ensures they are distributed fairly. There is very occasional bickering, and regular boisterous play-fighting, but none of this is to vie for position in a hierarchy, it is just the natural order of dogs living in a family environment.
Humans are verbose creatures, communicating almost exclusively with the spoken word. English is a vivid and rich language, to be sure, and the nuances in tone and emphasis, not to mention punctuation in the written word, can completely alter the meaning of a sentence. Because of this very human preference for verbal communication, it is easy to assume that dogs are only “talking” to us and each other when they are vocalising. More than that, owners often completely disregard the possibility that the dog is trying to communicate with them even when the dog is vocalising, viewing it as simply a problem behaviour that must be corrected. Yet, if we are to stop and observe our dogs, it is astounding to see the conversations they are having with each other, and with us. When was the last time you had a two-way conversation with your dog? It seems like the stuff of the imagination, with Dr Doolittle in the title role, but it is very possible, if we take a little time to learn the language of dogs.
Willow, Shadow, and Luna are three Labradors, living in a family environment. Willow and Shadow are litter mates, three years of age, and Luna is a ten-month puppy. Having grown up together, the two older dogs are completely confident with one another. They understand each other and sometimes seem almost telepathic in their interactions. I am often asked which is “top dog”, and my answer is always the same: neither. Maybe I would more accurately say “neither and both”, as it depends entirely on the situation. They can both be pushy when it comes to certain resources, such as my attention, but they generally respect one another’s space. They have been taught to take turns and not steal from one another, and they accept that entirely. Sometimes, though, one simply wants something more than the other. Training means that they will honour each other when retrieving, and they won’t “run in” after another’s ball or dummy, but when given a little more freedom of choice, they will race each other to the prize. Willow is the faster dog, but often gives up and lets Shadow win; is this a sign that Willow is deferring to Shadow’s dominance, or simply that she doesn’t care as much? I believe it’s the latter.
When considering bringing a new puppy into the family, I researched long and hard. By this point, I had gained extensive experience of training and managing problem behaviours; having two anxious dogs, I was adamant I would do everything in my power to ensure my third dog was better adjusted. I decided to choose a puppy from proven show stock, as dogs who perform well in the show ring have to be confident, and that appears to be a heritable trait. Would this make her more likely to bully my older, anxious dogs, or would it give her the confidence to rise above it?
Introductions didn’t go well. The two adults hated the puppy on sight. Their normally subtle communication was now unmistakable, with lips drawn back to show the teeth, hard eyes, tight ear carriage and snarling. Occasionally, they would snap towards the wall of the puppy pen which was keeping her safe. They were very clearly and obviously expressing that they were not happy with this interloper arriving into their comfortable home environment.
Luna, for her part, a tiny eight-week-old puppy, couldn’t have been more transparent in her part of the conversation. Even from the safety of her pen, she would turn away, licking her lips, and avoiding all eye contact. What Turid Rugaas calls “calming signals” were being shouted as loudly as this little puppy could muster – I mean no harm, please don’t hurt me.
The puppy was the epitome of respect towards the older dogs. In the garden, where the older dogs managed to tolerate her, she never jumped on them, would give them a wide berth, but wasn’t scared, and maintained soft body language. I employed a canine behaviourist to observe the three dogs, and to ensure I was handling the situation in the best possible way, and she echoed what I could see; Willow, although standoffish, was clear and confident with her body language. She didn’t want the puppy around, had no interest in interacting with her, and made that obvious. When given enough space, in the garden or, later, on the beach, there was no need for any escalation to aggression, because Willow was so straightforward with her communication. Shadow, on the other hand, the behaviourist observed, had far weaker communication skills. Because of this, situations could escalate very quickly without me observing any antecedent signals.
Over the course of three months, I gradually worked on integrating Luna into the family, and helping the adults to accept her. Several months ago, we reached the stage of the three of them being able to be in the same living space without fear of snapping, and we now exist as a happy family unit with no hint of aggression towards one another. When playing together, they can look and sound quite ferocious, but watching them closely as they interact shows that they are taking it in turns to “win”. One minute, Willow is pinning Shadow to the ground, the next it’s her who is on the floor. You can watch them voluntarily putting themselves into weaker positions to allow the other to grab them. Most obviously with these two adults, though, is that they constantly sneeze throughout the game. According to Canine University, this indicates that they are just playing, however rough and vocal it gets, and prevents the play from escalating.
Outside of play, Willow’s body language is still the most expressive of the adults. She will very deliberately turn her head and look away if she feels uncomfortable, often by proximity in a highly-charged environment. These dogs are perfectly happy to eat with their bowls side by side with no hint of resource guarding, but if there is, for example, a raw chicken carcass, or something with similar high value at stake, Willow will express calming signals towards Shadow while they are waiting for their meal. On the other hand, when the dogs all have stuffed and frozen Kongs, Luna and Shadow will invariably finish theirs first, as Willow likes to hold onto hers until it has started to defrost. If either of the other two so much as glances at her at this time, Willow will growl and snarl in their direction. All of us are aware it is bluster and nothing ever comes of it, but it does sound quite intimidating and many would take it to be the sign of a dominant dog, when it is actually the sign of a dog who simply doesn’t want to lose her prize to either of the others.
Luna remains utterly respectful of the other two, although she does sometimes push the boundaries when it comes to initiating play. At ten months, she is a pushy adolescent, but the adults take it in good humour and generally cave in to her requests to play. Sometimes, she will get a hard look from Willow to tell her to back off, at which, she will move away and turn her head for a few seconds, before giving it another try.
Is there a clear leader? No. Willow would certainly hold the position of the most confident communicator, but these signals are often appeasement signals to calm a potentially volatile situation. Similarly with Luna; she communicates very well, but couldn’t possibly be seen as a leader, as she is still very much a puppy. I haven’t observed a single instance where either adult looked in the slightest bit intimidated by her. Shadow might be the casual observer’s obvious choice as leader, as he would always be the one to snap at one of the girls in a highly-charged environment, but that sort of behaviour isn’t something that lends to leadership. I would conclude, after careful observation, that there is no “leader” between the three dogs. They are all comfortable in the knowledge that I am the one who controls the resources, and ensures they are distributed fairly. There is very occasional bickering, and regular boisterous play-fighting, but none of this is to vie for position in a hierarchy, it is just the natural order of dogs living in a family environment.
