Every time I take my dog Dune for a hike in the hills, I’ve got to keep my eyes peeled. In his case it’s not for horses, deer, or other dogs. He’s actually a perfect gentleman in the presence of all creatures we encounter on the trail. What I have to look out for is wild animal scat. Dune adores it. And in a dog’s world, adoration often means immersion. Yes, Dune desires to become one with scat, the stinkier and mushier the better. He loves it dabbed behind his ears and smeared across his cheeks. He loves it saturating every crevice of his collar.
I, as you might imagine, am decidedly less fond of scat than Dune is. In case you didn’t know, it’s pretty difficult to get scat out of dog collars.
My point? There are a lot of differences between us and our dogs. They sniff each other’s bums (and sometimes ours) as a form of greeting and recognition. They are naturally most active at dawn and dusk and sleep an average of 14 hours per day. They have extraordinary noses and ears and are more reliant on them than humans are. Most of them find chasing things to be exhilarating. They communicate with each other primarily via body language, urine-marking, and proximity and do not seek eye contact as a form of friendly connection.
I say all of this to remind us that dogs are not honorary humans. It’s good to keep this in mind when living with and training our dogs because if we understand their inclinations and desires we can better communicate with and motivate them. Also, by actually thinking about dogs as dogs and respecting them for what they are, we might adjust our expectations for their behavior as well as our strategies for training.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t insist on well-mannered, civilized behavior, not at all. If anything, I believe we should instill better habits by raising the bar and taking the time to train our dogs thoroughly, but we must allow them some room to actually be dogs, as well. For example, many people get upset with their dog for growling or snapping at another dog. I see this all the time at our Bay Area off-leash dog parks and on city streets as dogs pass each other by. To me these are two different scenarios. One is entirely acceptable and the other should be addressed through training.
At the dog park, the dogs are in a (primarily) species-specific social environment and, as long as they’ve been properly socialized in early life and do no actual harm, should be allowed to behave in species-specific ways with each other. This is not the place for us to project our human-centric expectations for etiquette upon them. Indeed, who are we to even know what exactly is going on between two creatures of another kind?
As I mentioned above, dogs communicate by proximity and body language, as well as with occasional growls or snaps. In an off-leash dog area, dogs have the space they need to instinctively adjust their proximity to other dogs. If one dog is getting too pushy for another dog’s comfort, it’s entirely reasonable for that dog to try to increase the distance between them by moving away or by using other forms of canine communication.
If we get offended or angry at a dog for communicating in a socially and species appropriate way, we are robbing him of his autonomy and dignity. This can lead to either a reactive, anxious dog, or one who shuts down in the presence of other dogs. In both cases, this means they won’t enjoy the dog park very much, and aren’t you bringing them there for their benefit and enjoyment?
The city streets scenario is a bit different. I believe it’s appropriate to have the expectation – taught, clarified, and practiced consistently through training – that your dog can walk politely and quietly down a sidewalk by your side, ignoring other passersby by, be they human or canine, without barking or lunging. However, please understand that most dogs feel compelled to acknowledge one another when they cross paths so may well feel somewhat handicapped and vulnerable because their leashes impede their proximity control and their freedom. Since in this scenario we’re expecting our dogs to squelch their natural inclinations, it’s only fair to reward success readily, heartily, and frequently.
As usual it all comes down to training and communication. And as clever and adaptive as dogs are, we can greatly improve their lives and ours by respecting them as beasts quite different from ourselves – rather than imposing our human values and expecting them to simply understand and behave accordingly. This puts the responsibility for our dogs’ behavior squarely back on our shoulders, where it should be, always.
Kelly Gorman Dunbar is Director of the Center for Applied Animal Behavior, where she recruits and trains the instructors for the Dunbar family business, SIRIUS® Puppy & Dog Training. She is the creator of the SIRIUS Sniffers scent-detection program, and is in the process of bringing the French sport of cavage (truffle hunting) to the US. Kelly is also Founder and President of Open Paw and consults on various matters.
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