HE DOESN’T LISTEN!

By Maggi – Lead and Love K9

Communication: For us humans, the primary way that we communicate is through a verbal language. It works great if the other humans we are trying to communicate with speak our language. If you were trying to communicate with another person that didn’t speak your language, you would have to work a little harder, and likely resort to different methods such as hand signals and maybe even pantomime, to get and exchange the information that you needed. For dogs, their primary form of communication is nonverbal.

Dogs and humans do not speak the same language.

People often think that their dogs understand what they’re saying, but in reality they don’t so much understand the words, but rather our energy. When you come home from work and find that your dog has gotten into the trash…again…is he or she connecting your angry words of disappointment to his act of getting into the trash, or is he cowering and acting guilty because in that moment he feels the energy of your anger and disappointment?

While dogs can learn to understand certain verbal sounds and tones in our language, it’s difficult for them. A dogs primary way of communicating is through body language and energy. To live well with our dogs and be successful at communicating with them, we have to find a way to bridge the communication gap, or as I often say, “ build a language.”

I often hear my clients speaking to their dogs in full sentences, or even paragraphs, and I watch them and their dogs struggle. When they minimize their words, and instead use a language…or better yet…teach the dog a language that’s easy for them, is when I always see the breakthroughs.

It’s a very special thing to watch humans and dogs truly communicating. The best way to start building a language with your dog is to start observing them, and then start being mindful of your own effort to communicate with them.

Speak less. Observe more. Relax. Do less.