There are many examples of communication between dog and owner. In fact the term ‘owner’ doesn’t really do justice to the teamwork on display at any sheepdog trials where man and dog seem to be thinking as one. There are guide dogs, rescue dogs and therapy dogs bred and trained for their communication and empathy skills with humans and even dogs that seem to be able to alert their partners to the possible sites of cancer in patients.
Much of dogs communication is done through body language and postures. In the following video, Pedro the young German Shepherd is clearly communicating his discomfort with the situation and if the handler had been paying more attention to what the dog was ’saying’, the bite would most likely not have happened.
Police dogs receive intensive training to prepare them for a life of interactivity with their handlers. Perhaps It seems that the onus is mostly on the dog to learn the language of his human partner but a dog handler needs to be able to read his partner’s body language too.
In the clip the handler, Jon Best, has only recently been put together with the young 15-month old German Shepherd, Pedro. Even though they make a new team the handler should not have needed to be familiar with the dog’s personality to avoid the bite which nearly blinded the reporter, John Gordon.
Was the dog handler so dazzled by the thought of appearing on local television that he was paying too much attention to the reporter and not enough to his dog? Even if the officer who is sitting behind the dog cannot see Pedro licking his lips - a classic calming and avoidance gesture - the dog’s ears and eyes are telegraphing that he is extremely uncomfortable in the situation. The dog is feeling crowded and sees the reporter’s heavy handed patting as aggressive. The last straw is when the reporter puts both hands round the dog’s neck and proceeds to loom even further over his head. At that point Pedro, whose body language could not have been clearer finally lunges at the reporter’s face.
The reporter was lucky that Pedro missed his eye and in the end he needed only five stitches but the ‘attack’ was a defensive and not an aggressive one. If Pedro had been ‘attacking’ the reporter from an aggressive frame of mind then the damage would have been much worse. If Pedro were an aggressive dog instead of the pacifying and avoidance signals he was frantically trying to communicate his aggressive signals would have been much clearer and the reporter would have backed off long before the situation escalated as it did.
He’s Never Done That Before!
Many dog bite cases involve children who unintentionally invade a dog’s comfort zone. Pressing on the dog’s back or on the top of his head, leaning over him as the reporter did to Pedro, staring directly in the dog’s eyes, these can all seem gestures of dominance and aggression. However confident an adult might be in leaving a child unattended for a moment in the same room as the family dog, the parent must be aware that there is always the potential for a disasterous misunderstanding between the two.
Over-friendly strangers can have the same effect, appearing out of nowhere and looming over a dog, looking him too directly in the eye, pushing themselves into his space. While the dog-loving stranger may just seem to another human to be a little over-enthusiastic, to the dog, this attention can be overwhelming.
Understanding the signs of an anxious and uncomfortable dog can enable a dog owner to quickly offer distraction and calm the situation. Had the handler spoken to Pedro or asked the reporter to sit back the tension in the situation would have been eased.
Pedro’s Distress Signals
In the clip, between 0.30 and 0.35 seconds, Pedro drops his head, licks his lips and eyes the reporter. He continues to lick his lips, his ears are laying back and he drops eye contact. The reporter continues to stare at Pedro. By 0.50, both ears are flat and Pedro is pulling his head down into his shoulders. By the time the reporter puts both hands on Pedro’s neck and pushes forward, Pedro’s ears are back, he has lifted his muzzle and is giving the reporter a ‘hard stare’.
Preventing Dog Bites
John Gordon was lucky and his lesson in dog’s body language was learned the hard way. Learning to read when a dog is anxious, uncomfortable, fearful or unsure would help many dog owners avoid this kind of situation and be one way of preventing many dog bites
