Your dog disapproves

Disapproval

I can pretty much guarantee that your dog does things that you disapprove of.

You wouldn’t be here trying to find ways to calm your canine if you didn't disapprove of the current chaos!

But have you stopped to wonder if *you* do things that your dog disapproves of? How does your dog let you know?

There are some obvious clues - maybe they bark at you when you sit down to watch TV. Or grumble when you brush their ears.

It’s annoying, for sure, and working out what’s behind the disapproval is a post for another day.

Today, I want to focus on *how* your dog communicates disapproval.

It can be really subtle, and we need to hone our observation skills to be able to read it.

This week in the shouty-barky dog group over on facebook I asked the question “Is your dog able to communicate their disapproval to you?”, and these were some of the answers:

one person noticed that her dog lies down or turns her head away when she disapproves.

another noticed that her dog also turns her head away, averts her eyes, and sometimes turns her back on her.

someone said that her dog is very subtle with his body language, and she's learned to pick up on even a slight withdrawal of his head.

yet another said that it depends on how strongly her dog disapproves - it may be just avoidance, or it might be whining or barking at her.

another commenter summed her dogs’ disapproval behaviour up brilliantly with one word: disconnection. And that is the most common method of a dog indicating disapproval: disconnection.

one dog has growled a couple of times in disapproval when his caregiver was trying to look at a hurt paw - and this is common when we’re trying to care for a dog that is sore.

someone else also noted that holding sore body parts can result in disconnection.

and one person found that her dog tries to disconnect first, and then moves to a growl if disconnection hasn’t worked.

The big theme here is that communication of disapproval:

starts with subtle disconnection,

which is followed by not-so-subtle disconnection,

and then followed by growling and barking if the thing that our dogs disapprove of hasn’t stopped happening.

Next time you need to do something that your dog disapproves of, try this:

Tell them what’s about to happen.

Explain in words that a 2-year-old child could understand.

If the thing doesn’t involve your dog, give them an escape route and something to occupy them whilst they’re out of the room.

If the thing does involve your dog, allow them to take regular breaks and ask permission before touching.

And let me know how you get on.

Stephie

The Shouty-Barky Dog Lady™

https://www.facebook.com/groups/theshoutybarkydoglady

TheShoutyBarkyDogLady@gmail.com