Babies have a natural grasp of canine body language!

Although many of us like to think that somehow man is above the other aniamls on this planet,  the truth is "...that he's just another animal on the plain. A smart one, but just another animal.", to quote Michael Chichton.

The major form of communication for most mammals is body language. Some will use basic (to us anyway) vocalisations  and also scent to communicate with each other, but primarily it is body language that allows them to communicate.. Us humans on the other hand, can communicate in a more intricate way. Our ability to speak allows us to share feelings and complex ideas with each other.

But what about reading body language? Most of us do it without realising so every time we have interactions with other people. It is something that comes natural to us, but pushed to the background because of complex communication allowed by human speech. The reading of body language has taken a back seat to the prevalent forms of communication, written and oral.

Recent research shows just how we are hardwired to read body language and that we do instinctively understand the body language of our best friend, the domestic dog.

Shut up!

You talk too much
You worry me to death
You talk too much
You even worry my pet
You just talk Talk too much

("You Talk Too Much" - Joe Jones and Reginald Hall")

In my real job, the one that pays the bills, I am constantly visiting people houses and many of these have dogs. Today, as I was walking out the back to inspect the job site, there was a dog tied to the porch. Naturally this dog barked at the intruder on his turf. From inside the house I then hear the all too common call, albeit more quiet than usual, of "shut up".

The Eyes Have it.

Eye contact is such an important aspect of how we deal with our dogs. Unfortunately most of us make the mistake of putting too much pressure on our dogs with excessive eye contact.