Doggone Etiquette —

Dog Talk

By Bardi McLennan

A Word to the Dog:

You dogs don’t talk much among yourselves, do you? Of course, you do use brief physical action-signals, just not endless people talk. A shoulder-bump could mean “watch me” or “follow me” or even “get out of my way.” Going down on your front legs with tail wagging up in the air is a very obvious invitation to play. There are loads of other things you do that are all part of your body language. Oh sure, there are also barks, growls, howls and whines that are vocal, but nothing that comes even close to the endless verbal barrage that you dogs have to put up with from some people. There’s a mighty big difference between dog talk and people talk and we’ll try to figure out how you manage to survive it.

A Word to the Dog’s Owner:

Dogs are pretty amazing when it comes to communication, but I’ll bet most dog owners don’t begin to realize just how good they are. True, they can’t talk, other than responding with a bark to a command of “Rufus, speak!” But when you stop to think about it, they respond morning, noon, and night to our spoken language, no matter what we’re talking about or saying. We don’t even attempt to teach most of these specific words, but smart dogs that they are, they put the 2-and-2 of word and meaning together very quickly.

How many times have you said to another person in the room, “I’m just going out for a minute” only to have Rufus jump up, fully alert to – yes, that phrase, “going out.” Or maybe just the one word, “out.” How many of you have dogs that anticipate being taken out, but first glance at your feet to check if you are wearing shoes, bare feet, or just plain bedroom slippers. There are dozens of words we use in different ways that our dogs connect with only one meaning. The one that affects them, natch!

It is truly amazing how intelligent dogs can be at picking up on what we mean by our quantity of spoken words and our numerous physical actions. Research into the puzzle has determined that the average dog can learn up to 165 words and numbers, with some hitting a vocabulary of 250! Now there’s a fun game for everyone in the family – being aware of all the different words your dog picks up on. Write them down so everyone can check the list to see how close Rufus gets to that 165. Be sure to include the routine obedience words and all the playtime words you use (fetch, find it, go get it, etc.) You may have a genius!

All this just goes to prove how clever our dogs are at using their hidden knowledge to outwit us. Rufus has probably figured out the shortest route to the door where you routinely let him out and is sitting waiting for you at your mere thought of a walk. When you say, “I’m going to watch TV” Rufus will no doubt beat you to your favorite chair. That one may annoy you, but before you show any sign of anger, stop and think how smart a dog he is.

Say what you mean, and mean what you say. The next time Rufus doesn’t sit when told, or come when called, or is what you consider being disobedient to routine commands, give him credit for taking a moment to see what’s in it for him. How many times have you offered him some other alternative, or tried to push your commands with excessive treats? (Oh, I know, we did the pros and cons of treats last week, but the incorrect use of them bears repeating.)

In addition to all of this, we cannot ignore the dog’s sensitivity to our emotions and our health. Whether we’re happy, sad, ill, or robust, dogs read us sometimes better than we do ourselves. No wonder we appreciate our dogs as true friends. They have done a good job of domesticating themselves over the centuries. I’m not so sure we humans have had all that much to do with it.

Until next time – BE GOOD!

- Bardi

Bardi McLennan bred, trained, and showed Welsh terriers for 30 years, during which time she wrote a monthly column on canine behavior in Dog Fancy Magazine. In addition to contributing to numerous dog publications, she has written 15 books on dogs; Rescue Me! received the ASPCA Humane Issues Award in 2008.