Body language

[Mirg]

I was just wondering who all believes in body language as a training aid?

I do. I have ever since i got A.j. He understands body language the best out of all types of commands. To make him back off and lay down, all i have to do is puff out my chest, lean towards him, and stare at him. Simetra doesnt do as good with body language, probably because of her being abused. If i try any with her, she will just freak out and try to hide. So i guess it depends on the dog.

I dont think its mean because A.j. doesnt really seemed scared when i do that, he just seems to respect me. Plus, its what dogs use with each other, so why cant the humans use it?

I know there are probably a lot of people in the world that think body language can be mean, so i was just wondering what all the GP people thought about it.

Just keep in mind that if you dont like it, i still do, so it can hurt my feelings if you start being rude about it (saying this from expirience on other forums).

[oc_spirit]

Everybody uses body language when training whether they mean to or not I was watching this show on tv where a trainer had a row of dog handlers with their dogs and everyone did the same sequence (sit, down, stand, stay, come, sit i believe it was) in their normal way. Then the trainer had the handlers lie down on their back and do the shut out the same sequence of commands. Only a couple dogs were actually successful. All the others were confused and didnt respond to any of the commands. After watching this show I have taken the time to make sure that OC knows the commands verbally without having to watch my body language. The host of the show was saying that it can be as subtle as when you ask for a sit you lean forward ever so slightly or maybe when you ask for a down your eyebrows come together a little bit more than usual. It was very interesting!

When I give the dogs a command and they dont listen I will stand up and face them full front, and make them follow through with the command. I dont need to give them a verbal correction then, my body language already tells them that they messed up. If a dog challenges me I will do the same thing - stand up and face them full front and then go from there depending on who the dog is and why they felt the need to challenge me. If I am dealing with an overly shy or submissive dog, I will sit or crouch low and display my side or back to the dog in a very non-confrontational way.

People often say that because we are not dogs we can not communicate with them via body language. I disagree with this. yes we may not be dogs so we may not be able to use the exact same body language BUT dogs are very smart and can certainly learn our body language Just like we learn theirs.

[Kona]

Absolutely use body language! Social anthropologist Edward T. Hall claims that in humans 60 percent of all our communication is nonverbal, so imagine how much more important it is to animals that don't have words? It isn't "mean" to use body language. It's an important part of communication between you and your dog. I recommend the book On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas to anyone interested in how to use body language to help with your relationship with your dog. It's really only a pamphlet, about 30 pages, and it's less than ten bucks on Amazon.

[Mirg]

OC - Oh, thats good to know! I will have to start working on verbal comands! Thanks for the information!

Kona - Thank you for telling me about that book! I will have to get it, i love reading dog training books.

[Rivsky]

I'm about half way through reading "The Other End of the Leash" and it's definitely cementing my belief in body language and it's place in training.

Without me even realising it River picks up on signals that I don't even know I'm giving him during training - he'll often come before I've given what I think the signal is and the word is out of my mouth and also knows by slight changes in my pace when we are going to do an about turn or circles - it's really bizaare but also pretty awesome at the same time.

I too have found that to get a dog to listen when it's a bit hyper it's best to stand up to full height - that way they know you mean business and don't really seem to second guess what you're telling them.

[Mirg]

A.j. does that, too. Sometimes while walking on a leash, he will pull ahead a little bit, and i usually just gently jerk on the leash and he will come back, but hes getting so used to me doing that, that i just have to think about it and he comes back next to me. Like you said, its strange but awesome at the same time.

Thats how i get A.j. to calm down and listen to me. I stand up really tall and puff out my chest and he will usually stop what hes doing and pay attention.

[kiska]

i love watching animals and over the years i`ve noticed the same thing! my cats and dogs all figured out in no time that when i`m mad and point to their spot they have to stop whatever they are doing and run to it and lay down. no words. standing up and facing the dog, yes that has worked to my advantage few times that i had to do it. in my opinion dogs not only can read body language, they can sence our moods and feelings too. i`ve had a lot of people say to me, they are just dumb animals, but i havent seen one dumb one yet!

[Ritz459]

Body language is a huge thing in training dogs. My dogs can tell by my body language if they've done something right or wrong. I can't remember what Blackie did, all I remember was that I was steaming mad at him. All that I did was walk up to him and he flopped down and showed me his belly. I didn't even say anything. I told him to get up to the house and he did without a second thought.
And today, for instance. My neighbor called yesterday while we were gone and said that they were making an unexpected trip to Chicago, would I be able to feed their dogs in the morning? If not, they'd live, if so great.
They just got a new dog because Cody passed away. I have never met the dog before, and I was going to be walking into this dogs house. Needless to say, I was thinking, "Great, I'm going to be eaten by a dog."
I do believe the dog's name is Buster, or something of the sort. I can't remember. He looks to be a Border Collie/ACD/Boxer mix or something like that. IDK. Anyways, I walked up to the garage door and out comes Buster, barking and snarling, his hackles were raised, and he was not a happy camper. Beila, their Beagle, also came outside, but she recognized me and was doing a happy Beagle dance and was jumping on me.
I started talking in a happy voice, squatted down, and avoided eye contact with Buser while I was petting Beila. He came up and sniffed me, and then let me into the garage, even though he was still barking. I just made sure I never made eye contact and I moved slowly. As soon as he figured out I was going to give him a bone he became my best friend. lol I believe that if I had just charged in there and was assertive I would have suffered a bite.

Dogs can read body langauge better than they can understand words, so it is actually very important in training.

[Mirg]

Kiska - Thats exactly what i like to do. I love to watch videos of dogs in the wild or even just watch my dogs play. You learn a lot just from watching.

Ritz - Oh, yeah, thats exactly what i was meaning as in body language. Just the stances, like a dominant stance or a submissive stance.



I like how Ceasar Millan uses stances like that. (Anyone, please dont start complaining about Ceasar's techniques, im just using him as an example, ive never seen another dog trainer that uses body language like he does). It really helps a lot to do what he does. Just too stay calm and non-tense and go into a dominant stance to show that you arent messing around.

[Sugardog]

Body language is deffinitly an important part of training.

Ask anybody who does sports like agility or obedience and they won't be able to stress enough how important it is. In those sports, something as subtle as the turn of your shoulder and placement of your foot can make a huge difference in the dog's performance.

We all also use body language to express displeasure of a behavior wether we like it or not too. You know that glare you can give a child when she's about to do something naughty kind of as a signal not to do it? It works on dogs too.

[Mirg]

Yeah, i use that glare on my dogs. Its so funny to see their faces when they know they arent supposed to do something.