APPEASING SIGNALS IN DOGS

LIVS Behavior Medicine Clinician

Dogs communicate with us 24/7 mostly by using their facial expressions and body postures as much as we use words to communicate with another person. They do not understand language even if they are able to learn and recognize some specific words. They are more attuned to body language, even to ours. As we cannot expect dogs to learn our particular language, we should make an effort to learn how to interpret theirs.

The “appeasing signals”, are signals that dogs send to us or to other living beings in order to diffuse whatever they perceive as a threat. These are usually implemented to prevent useless escalation to frank aggression. Aggression is never a dog’s first choice; if a dog resorts to the use of aggression it is mainly because he/she has learned to be ignored when using appeasing signals. This would be the classic case of the dog that bites “unprovoked” or without giving warning signals anymore.

Imagine an owner who comes home and finds that her precious couch has been pulled to pieces while she was at work. As the only possible culprit, she starts yelling at the dog that just joined her in the living room to greet her. The dog responds to her anger by blinking its eyes, turning its head and/or body away from her, pulling its ears back, and raising one of its front paws. As she gets even closer to the dog and points her finger at the dog’s nose it rolls on its back showing its belly and licks its lips. Since dogs do not have any sense of guilt, what the dog is desperately trying to convey to the owner is “Please, do not hurt me and stop being so angry at me”. The dog does not realize that it did something wrong, as it may have damaged the couch hours before the owner’s return. It learns that the owner may be upset in the presence of destroyed furniture, but it does not learn that what it did was wrong and unacceptable. This is why the dog may repeat the same error in the future, and show the same response at the “crime scene”. Other appeasing signals dogs can use are: yawning, shaking or scratching their bodies (even if there is no evident reason for doing so), sniffing at the ground (when there is nothing worthy to sniff at), showing the white portion of their eye balls (also known as the “whale eye”), and offering play-bows. Their goal is to redirect the focus from them onto something or someone else.  

It is our job to pay more attention and start asking ourselves what has triggered these signals specifically. The source of our dog’s distress may be multiple among which we should consider ourselves, other pets in the household, specific situations or environments. By observing our dogs’ facial expressions and body postures with diligence, we can learn how to prevent or manage stressful events and strengthen our bond with them. It is important to avoid reprimanding the dog while it is showing these signals as they are a consequence of a stressful event; they do not understand our negative reaction to the appeasing signals, thus, making them feel even more threatened and more prone to use aggression toward us. Our aggressive response would be seen out of context and misunderstood. We do not have to wait for our dogs to snarl, growl, and bite to understand that they do not feel comfortable in given situations.

If your pet is showing signs of aggression your owe it to yourself and your love ones to meet with Sabrina Poggiagliolmi, DVM, MS and correct the problem asap. 

  Contact Dr. Sabrina Poggiagliolmi Today!