We use the term body language when we discuss physical communication. But what is the difference between communication and language. Language is the transfer of thoughts and ideas. Whereas communication is the transfer of emotion and tone. The contention is that animals have communication but not language. The term "body language" then is a misnomer. "Body communication" is probably a more accurate term.

When dogs bark they are not transferring specific ideas or thoughts. They are actually using pitch and volume to communicate emotion. Dogs unlike humans do not have a language.

Humans communicate mostly by verbal means. We give our thoughts and ideas very succinctly and sometime sloppily. We also have body communication. Some of us are adept at reading these cues but most of us just react rather than respond. We have direct eye-contact, square shoulders and open palms for example to show honesty. When we meet a new dog we like to pat them on the top of the head. With dogs, they have soft, indirect eye-contact with look-aways. The pups use soft angles and stay off-center to show they are calm. And when we greet them, they prefer we pet them with low contact under their nose.

Dogs are constantly watching our body movements to be able to react to us and figure out our world. Like a hearing-impaired person watching their world for cues, the dogs are watching us our next move. Our center-of-gravity gives the biggest hint as to our movements. Because of this, dogs are watching our hips and waist. Subtle hip movements forward and backward will cause our pups to respond. And the next cue is the chest and shoulders. Dogs will move forward and backwards based on hips, but up and down based on shoulders. If we bend over the pups too far, the pups will jump up to match our height. We can use our arms to help direct or redirect eye-contact or focus. Lastly eye-contact can help communicate emotion.

If I want a dog to sit using simply body contact, I want to stand in a "fight" stance. Instead of standing square and parallel to the pup, put one foot back and stand perpendicular. This allows you to rock forward and backward easily. It also keeps our body weight softer. I keep my hands in at my chest and point at my nose. This draws attention to my eyes. By looking up, the dog, who is normally horizontal becomes more diagonal. If we rock the pup back on their hips by moving forward into our hips, then ask the pup to look up with eye contact. After this a slight lean will guide the pup into their hips and to a sit. If we bend over too far, the dog will jump. If we are square to the dogs, it will be a confrontation and they will jump. This is very nuanced. Your back foot is where all the movement comes from. Push off and turn the foot. This will cause the hips to rock forward and twist. The twist will be just enough forward movement to guide the pup down to a sit.

The next behavior is a down. Once the pup is in a sit. We need to bring the dog forward and down. So hips back for the forward motion and bring your chest down to guide the dog down. In the beginning, it's like a big lunge. But later, its move of a subtle rocking of the hips back and forth.

Eventually, we add physical cues and verbal cues. The body language is always available because it's a reaction. If the cues ever diminish then go back to this communication and bring the cues back. This will help reinforce your cues to stimulation control. Karen Pryor in Don't Shoot the Dog! calls "Stimulus Control". (Find more info on page 73)

1. The pup responds to the cue when given
2. The pup doesn't "throw" the behavior in when you haven't said the cue
3. The pup doesn't mix up cues and behavior - You say A and get B
4. The pup doesn't mix up cues and behavior - You say A and get ANY thing else or nothing.

Body communication is just reacting to the movement of the other. Cues are reinforced behaviors. These are not always going to work. Just like humans don't all communicate very clearly. Some people are rude and oblivious. Some dogs were not socialized and some dogs are dealing with fears and anxieties. Some dogs were conditioned not to respond. So this is not fool-proof, however, when working with a puppy or a dog for the first time - it's worth a shot. I

f the dog does not respond to typical dog communication, then it's time to go to shaping and other techniques. It might be worth considering why the pup is not responding as well. While you might be interested in training your pup yourself, you might consider going to a trainer or behavior specialist to get a behavior assessment done on your pup. Abnormal body communication could be the result of some other issues and it might be something you can tackle but getting it diagnosis would be good to know as early as possible.

It's very important to learn more about how dogs communicate. Understanding their communication will be very beneficial to your relationship. Say you met a new friend and you didn't speak the same language. Wouldn't you learn a little bit more of their language before forcing your language upon them? So let's have some empathy for our pups and try to learn a little bit more about them! There are some great resources! Turid Rugaas is a great author and has DVD's available about dog body language. And also Sarah Kalnajs has a good DVD based on a series of lectures she presented Here is a link to here DVD: https://amzn.to/3hrac1m

If you have any questions about specifics please post videos and ask! If you want to know more, stay tuned! I am always happy to respond to questions. I understand there is a lot that is misunderstood. We are all learning more gaining wisdom together!!