KNOWING YOUR DOG AND HOW THEY COMMUNICATE

While understanding dogs body language may come difficult to some, at the very least understanding our own dogs should be a priority.

We should know our dogs general behaviour and what we consider NORMAL for them. Some dogs have different displays that they may do to express certain feelings, this is just what they may do to communicate with us. For example Woody likes to do a 'awo woo' noise if he is hungry, he isn't generally a very vocal dog. So when this noise is made i know its either time for dinner or a snack. With Bucky, hes still only 5 months old so we are learning his behaviours, he is alot more vocal than Woody but he will generally be telling us he wants something when he is vocal. He doesn't just bark for the sake of barking. Generally dogs don't, if they're vocal they're trying to tell you something.

A dalmatian in a field

Some dogs may shake more than others, this could be because they're cold or because they're scared. At a bare minimum we should know how our own dogs portray what they need and are feeling.

As pet professionals we have to learn what all of our clients dogs display, its a hard task because every single dog is different. However when you have long standing regular clients, it is a minimum thing again we should learn and its just part of the dog. We should know if our clients dogs are uncomfortable with us taking off their harness, or washing their feet, toweling them down. While some clients may tell us these things, others may not so its important we figure those things out in order to make sure the dogs are comfortable in our presence, and to make sure that we keep ourselves safe while working with them.

Different professions mean different knowledge, a normal dog walker may not know as much about dog body language and behaviour as i do as a hybrid walker and trainer. But all of us should be striving to learn the individual dogs quirks.

Take a look at your dog at feeding time and see what they do. Do they sit by the cupboard, do they whine or go over to their bowl.

Are they antsy when they haven't been for a walk yet? Do they hang around by the lead.

We also always need to take into consideration a dogs breed, certain breeds will display behaviours due to their genetic. Collies who are attracted to fast movement, more likely to herd and nip. When dealing with dogs with certain genetics we need to be mindful of what could be considered 'normal' for that breed.