People are generally good at reading people. But the other animal we traffic with most often, dogs, frequently have their communication signals misunderstood by us humans and sometimes by other dogs who have developed inappropriate social skills. When communication breaks down or the dog or human does not understand how to communicate well, all kinds of behavior problems can arise in the dog. But when we humans are learning how to fix the problem of bad communication habits in our dogs, it can be hard to figure out what we are working towards. It is hard to know what effective communication should look like. To help out, in this article I will be analyzing some photos I took of some puppies playing. These photos tell a great story of how good dogs can be at communicating, even from a young age, when they have the right learning tools. Hopefully these photos and this article will help owners out there get a better understanding for what dog-on-dog communication looks like when it is functioning properly.
Dog's are Natural Communicators
Before we get into the meat of this article, I want to point out something important about the photos we will be focusing on in this article. The photos you will see in this article are of Australian Labradoodle littermates. These puppies were about eight weeks old and had been socialized to other labradoodles of various ages and to people, but they had not yet been taken to their new homes where they would get more socialization. The important thing to take from this information is that these puppies have had only limited experience in life at this young age, yet they display a beautiful ability to communicate with each other. Though many dogs seem to be natural communicators, often times these communication skills are lost when puppies meet other dogs who do not have good communication skills (this can happen when a dog did not have an adequate social learning environment at a young age or because of bad quality socialization throughout their life). When puppies encounter other dogs and people, they learn what behaviors keep them safe and get them access to reinforcement. But sadly, many puppies and dogs run into situations where their good communication skills do not help in the face of people or dogs who do not respond when the dog asks them to or do not pay attention. As a result, dogs develop what we would call "bad" or sometimes "odd" behaviors in order to protect themselves or make themselves feel safe in social situations (e.g. barking, snapping, growling, ignoring people and other dogs, superstitious behaviors, pacing, hiding, peeing in the house, etc.). It is important that dogs learn from other dogs that their "good" communication skills will be heard and responded to throughout their life. Keep in mind that this also applies to people. Though this article will focus on dog-on-dog interactions, it is important that dogs learn that people will communicate and listen to them as well.
Dialogue of A Polite Play Session:
The following photos were taken in succession over the span of about three minutes of play (a few "between" photos were omitted so this article would not be extremely long). So keep that in mind as you look at these photos and read about what is going on. This dialogue took place all within a very short amount of time and I was lucky enough to have a camera in my hands at the time to capture it in photos so we can see it broken down.
Dominant Versus Submissive and Self-Handicapping
Take a moment to look at the photos below before moving on. Look at the puppies, how they move, how they stand, how they hold themselves. These are all important parts of understanding dog communication.
Now that you have taken a moment to look at the photos, let's break them down and look at each photo. These first ten photos (more later on in the article) are part of one play session between two littermates. In the above collection, the first photo you see shows the darker puppy start by asking the lighter colored puppy to play. Their bodies are soft and the darker puppy is coming towards the other at an angle, demonstrating that it has good, fun intentions. If you look closely, you can see that the lighter puppy is sitting, but leaning forwards. This communicates a desire to play, but the sit could be taken as a request that the energy level stay on the calm side (sitting is one of many calming signals used by dogs).
In the second photo you can see the two puppies have engaged in play, but the darker puppy is on top. Something important about this photo is that the darker colored puppy who is on top has a more "dominant" play style. This does not mean that it is trying to "dominate" the puppy on the bottom. I like to explain it like this: a dominant personality in dogs could be described as similar to a "driver" personality in people (a submissive personality in dogs could be described as similar to an amiable personality in people). The driver personality in people is often manifested in a "get from point A to point B as fast and efficiently as I can" sort of mentality. In dogs, I have noticed that dominant puppies and dogs can often be the leader in the interaction, many times having a more rough play style and acting as the one who moves the play session along by instigating certain interactions and making certain decision's to keep the play going forward.
However, puppies and dogs with dominant play styles who are good communicators might be on top more often, but they will still allow the other individual to influence the interaction and make its own decisions, rather than forcing the more submissive individual to play in a certain way. When it comes to submissive puppies, I have observed that things seem to be less about instigation and movement forward and more about keeping high energy conflict as low as possible, while still having fun. In the photos above, the lighter colored puppy on the bottom has a naturally more "submissive" personality and consistently chose to come in from the bottom (true submissive behavior is a choice; it is not something that is forced onto the puppy or dog). But, the darker puppy did get a bit rough at one point and the lighter puppy on the bottom communicated that it wanted to stand and "break" (separate and take a moment to calm down and relax before reengaging in play), as you can see they have done in the third photo.
The important thing to notice here is that the darker puppy on top allowed the other puppy to stand up in response to the lighter puppy expressing displeasure when it was stuck under the darker puppy as they have both done in the third photo (it is heard to see in the photo, but the lighter puppy got clearly tense and struggled to escape the position, communicating it didn't like that the other puppy was being that rough). The darker puppy responds by giving the lighter puppy space and "self-handicapping" which means that it brings its own energy level down to match the more submissive puppy and plays the way the more submissive puppy wishes to play. As the puppy who is more "dominant" this is an important skill. As the dominant personality, the darker puppy will be the one who moves the play session along. But it is important that the dominant puppy takes cues from the more submissive puppy well and responds to them to keep the play session moving in a way that is fun for everyone. As you can see in the last photo both puppies are playing, still from an angle and with relaxed posture, but the dominant puppy has decided to respect the submissive puppy's discomfort with playing rough and is laying on the ground, stay engaged but giving the lighter colored puppy more space.
Roll Reversals
In these next four photos, you can see the the dominant, darker colored puppy is actually giving the submissive, lighter colored puppy an opportunity to be "on top" (in the first photo the lighter puppy is now standing and the darker puppy is on its back). The lighter puppy then responds in kind by laying down so the darker puppy can be on top again. This is called "roll reversal" and is a great skill that can help keep the play session fun for everyone involved. Roll reversal gives each puppy an opportunity to have the upper hand in the play session, creating an equality that adds to the fun and flow of the play session. Not all puppies and dogs will do this, and that is not always a bad thing. It depends on the dogs' personalities. Some submissive individuals are okay with being on the bottom the whole time as long as the dominant individual does not get too rough and "breaks" when the submissive dog asks it to do so. But in this case, roll reversal was something the darker colored puppy integrated into the play session to help keep play fun for both puppies.
Dialogue of A Well-Managed Conflict
Again, take a moment to look at the following group of photos. These next photos took place immediately after the previous photos when a third puppy interrupted the first two puppies' play session. What do you see in these puppies? How did the first two puppies respond to the third puppy's behavior? Now that you have taken a moment to look over and think about the photos, let's take a deeper look at what is happening.
Calming Signals
These photos display a great example of how puppies and dogs use calming signals to communicate. The third puppy is not responding the way the first two are asking it to respond. But they show an incredible amount of patience for such young puppies.
In the first photo the third puppy has interrupted the other two puppies' play session. This new puppy had been playing really rough with some of the other puppies who had ended play with it because it was not playing nicely. The puppy had then moved on to these two puppies to try to get them to play. However, the first two puppies do not want to play with the third, and they handle the situation wonderfully. The first two puppies immediately "break" their play, face each other (making sure not to signal tension towards each other by keeping their eyes soft not angled directly at each other and their tails down) and definitively ignore the third puppy as it approaches them. In dog world, this could be translated as something like, "Please don't interrupt us. You play too rough, please calm down".
In the second photo, the third puppy does not take their cue to leave them alone or calm down and instead leaps at them to try to instigate a play session. Both of the original puppies respond very clearly. The lighter puppy walks away from the third puppy and the darker puppy sits down and relaxes its eyes, closing them slightly. Both of these responses are what are called "calming signals". Both puppies are telling the third puppy "calm down, we don't want to play rough".
The third photo shows the third puppy responding by momentarily stopping its approach, but its body language is still very forward and intense, something the other puppies respond to by once again looking away and focusing on each other, ignoring the third puppy. They seem to be saying "we just want to play with each other, you are still being too intense."
The bottom three photos of this collage display puppies whose communication is getting more intense and expressive because the third puppy is not responding as well as it they would like it to respond. Looking at the bottom line of photos, the first photo shows the first two puppies attempt to start playing with each other in a calm way (the darker puppy playfully nips at the lighter puppy.) However, this triggers a responce from the third puppy who ignores their signals again and leaps at them. The first two puppies respond immediately by displaying more intense calming signals. The lighter puppy relaxes its entire body and turns away, facing the fence. The darker puppy lays down (the first time it sat, laying down is a stronger calming signal than sitting) and even lays its chin on the ground. Both puppies are tying to tell the third puppy to calm down because they are still uncomfortable with its level of intensity. However, though the third puppy stops its advance again, it continues to push the matter and offers a play bow to try to get them to engage.
Conflict Resolution
Now take a look at these new photos. The next stage of communication for these puppies is resolving the conflict of having the third puppy ignoring the first two puppies polite refusals. Faced with this third puppy who is not respecting their needs and desires, the first two puppies change tactics.
This first photo shows the original puppies' most intense calming signals. The lighter puppy has shoved its face in the fence and gone mostly limp in an attempt to get the other puppy to leave it be. The darker puppy is plastered to the ground in an attempt to tell the puppy that it still needs to bring down its level of intensity. Yet, the third puppy still ignores them and goes in for another intense attempt to instigate play.
At this point, the lighter puppy moves away, trying to defuse the situation by creating more space between itself and the intruding puppy. Having seen that the lighter puppy has moved away and the darker puppy is closer, the third puppy abandons its attempts to get the lighter puppy to play and focuses its attention on the darker puppy, as shown in the third photo. The lighter puppy still wants to play and tries to stick around for a bit longer. The darker puppy attempts to move away, but is blocked by the third puppy and attempts to use a partial play bow to calm the third puppy.
In the bottom line of photos you can see this conflict finally gets resolved. The lighter puppy decides it has had enough and exits the situation, headed for the nearest playmate to see if that puppy will play in a way that it enjoys (note its new playmate seems to match its energy level well. They played well for a few minutes before taking a break from play all together). The darker puppy holds its ground in front of the third puppy, but keeps its bottom on the ground, its eyes soft, and its posture relaxed but pulled away from the third puppy. This communicates that it still wants the third puppy to calm down and it is uncomfortable with the third puppy's proximity.
Between the lighter puppy's diffusion by removing itself from the situation and the darker puppy's patience and continued use of calming signals, the third puppy finally gets the point. In the first photo on the bottom, the third puppy sniffs the darker puppy face-to-face. This is normally a very confrontational interaction, and in this case still is confrontational. However, there are some important things to note. The third puppy has finally relaxed a bit. There is a slight curve its spine and it is shifted slightly backwards while it sniffs the other puppy. The third puppy's tail is also slightly more relaxed, which you can see because the tip of the tail is touching the puppy's back, where as before it was not (the tail touching the back is normal for these puppies' tail carriage, the stiffer the tail, the more straight up it would point). Though these are small changes, they are a good sign that the puppy has started thinking differently about the situation.
In the last two photos, you can see that the third puppy finally gives in and responds to the other puppy's calming signals with some calming signals of its own (turning and walking away and sniffing the ground). This response tells the first puppy that the third puppy gets it and is now going to calm down and walk away, giving the other puppy space. When dogs and puppies "respond in kind" to calming signals, meaning when calming signals are given by one dog and mimicked or other calming signals are returned by the other dog, this is a good sign that the dog who was originally receiving the calming signals is saying something along the lines of "okay, I get it. I am calming down."
When to Run Interference
Some dogs do not respond to other dogs at all or enough. One dog will ask for the other to calm down and the second dog will completely disregard the first dog's cues. Some dogs will respond initially, but then ignore those cues later on. These dogs are the kind of dogs who tend to start or get involved in tense situations that need outside assistance when it comes to resolving the conflict. Dogs who do not listen and continue to escalate or completely ignore other dogs do not have adequate social skills and many times need some help from their people. When dogs do not pay attention and/or choose not to respond to to other dogs, we need to interfere. If dogs continue to escalate and are not behaving appropriately, we should not "let them work it out". This is a recipe for emotional scarring and the development of defensive behaviors towards other dogs and even people. When dogs get to the point where they are escalating to high-level calming signals (these puppies were all using relaxed, low to midlevel calming signals) and communication strategies like tense bodies, whale eye, glaring, deliberately creating space by walking away, or when intrusive dogs are ignoring these signals by not stopping to look and listen to the other dog, following a dog who is trying walk away, displaying confrontational behavior, and more, then I would definitely interfere. We want to avoid a situation where either dog feels the need to growl or snap.
So why did I not interfere with these puppies? I didn't interfere because they were demonstrating that they knew how to have a conversation even when things got uncomfortable. Something really important to note about the conversation or "dialogue" between these three puppies in the photos is that they were responding to each other in a way that allowed them to continue conversing in a civil manner and showed an incredible amount of patience. Even though the third puppy was not responding the way the other two puppies wanted it to, it was responding at least enough to keep things from escalating too far. It was stopping and observing (those moments where it would stop its approach before it leapt at the others), but it was not bringing its intensity level down enough that the other puppies felt comfortable playing with it. The facts that the first two puppies responded so clearly and the third puppy was responding, all be it not as much as the others wanted, kept this dialogue civil and under control. All three of these puppies were having an effective conversation. They were communicating and responding to each other. This communication and responce, this "dialogue", is what allowed these puppies to resolve this issue on their own. That is why I let them continue on their own without interfering. That is also why this is such a great example of good dog-on-dog communication on the first two puppies' parts (the third puppy has some things to learn, but it did well thanks to the other two puppies' patience and communication skills). It is not that dogs should never disagree or express that they don't like how another dog is acting. The important thing is that a dialogue takes place between all dogs involved, each continuing to ask and answer each other without escalating to a point where one individual feels the need to lash out. Though there was some tension and disagreement in this dialogue, I sat back and let them take care of things because these puppies were navigating this conflict and the ensuing conversation phenomenally well!
If you liked this article, please take a moment to like and share it with a friend! To get the blog posts sent directly to you, sign up for our email list by filling out the pop-up form on our main blog page here! Make sure to check your email for your welcome email with a thank you discount code for the H.A.T.S. Store! Thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: I may earn from qualifying purchases through links you find in this post and on other pages on this website.
Comments