By Mary Jane Anderson

Recently, a woman called me about a problem she was having with her dog. During the conversation the woman commented, “I don’t want any children but I thought I’d like a dog, but now, I wonder if I should even have a dog!”

Owning a dog can be a very frustrating experience and most dog owners at one time or another wonders whether or not they also should have a dog. The problem is that we all need to have a better understanding of our dogs.

The way to understand your dog better is through communication. Too often we assume our dog understands our verbal language. Unfortunately, that is our first mistake. How often have we said, “My dog sits and listens intently to our conversations just as it he knows what we are talking about.” But, in reality, he is sitting very confused trying to understand, especially when you look at him and mention his name and a few familiar words.

For an example, you are telling your friend about the wonderful day you had yesterday. “The weather was perfect, so we went out for a walk in the park. Skippy ran around sniffing and playing ball with the children. He is a very good companion.” Out of the thirty words used, only four words could be comprehended by Skippy. The words might have suggested to Skippy that he would be going out to play ball. However, he is interrupting your pleasant visit. Of course, Skippy doesn’t care about the weather. Your voice played a critical part in conveying to Skippy it is playtime. To a dog, a high tone voice is play and fun. Thus, both you and your dog were confused; both misunderstood because you were on a different level of communication.

The tone of your voice communicates a message to your dog. If you always keep the same tone as you communicate with your dog, you will only confuse him. Also, your facial expressions along with the tone of your voice is an effective way to communicate with your dog. A smile along with a high pitched voice means pleasure to your dog; while, the deeper voice, with a frown communicates displeasure and that you mean business. Commands must be used in conjunction with tone of voice and the expression of your face. For an example, in training your dog, a smile and appropriate tone of voice will bring your dog to you on the command “COME”, while a frown with a deep voice, will confuse your dog and he will likely not want to come to you.

Another consideration is your posture. It is critical in your dog’s assessment of you. Consider a new puppy. He runs to greet you and you bend over to pet him, but oops, the puppy wets! Your posture, bending over a puppy or a dog is threatening. That is their way of communicating that he is submissive. Wetting and rolling over is the lowest form an animal can take to show his submissiveness. On the other hand, if you stooped down to the same level as the puppy, he would feel safe and secure, happily coming to greet you.

Our emotions also play a role in your dog’s reaction to you. Dogs are very sensitive to our emotions. Our happiness, sorrow and anger can be picked up quickly by our dog. When we are mad, it can be a dangerous time to punish our dog. Punishment must be with a firm voice and controlled emotions. Otherwise, you lose the point of correction and confuse the communications that can have ever lasting consequences.

As you can see, there are a great deal of things we should know about our dogs and how they interpret us. Now, reverse the situation, using the same system of communications — vocal utterances, facial expressions, and stance — you can develop a mutual understanding between you and your dog. dogs require a certain amount of time and understanding and if you neglect this, you are inviting problems.