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HMWTC what do you all think of these two dogs’ play style and body language?
Hi everyone. I am working with these two dogs , June and Nori, on a variety of behavior mod issues including reactivity, lots of jumping, and some other behaviors to me that point to signs of stress and high arousal levels. The guardians sent me this video of them playing and I’m having a hard time figuring out the body language and was hoping for you alls insight. I have a history of working with dogs who have aggression issues and so for me this video shows too much potential for resource guarding and possible escalation. However I sometimes feel I am over protective due to bad experiences I have had. Would love any of you alls feedback thank you
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12 Replies
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Hi @AnnaBee I love that you are bringing this here! Your instincts are good – there’s definitely a tense moment here… but they seem to be good at “working it out”… do the two have a history of fighting?
I wish I had time to break this down second by second; crossing my fingers a few of our body language breakdown folks can jump in!
Meanwhile, there’s no reason to have chews available when these dogs are together -that’s an easy management solution: Chews only when separated – that could avoid potential conflict. FWIW I never give chews to my dogs together, even though (and maybe because we) have never had conflict.
I’ll tag a few body language “junkies”… ya’ll have time to pick this apart?
@jenz @bmacwatt @abbie @tondabenge @wagswithwarren @Atticus @gina @jan @LisaOMy @sandy @annteak9 @virginiad @walkswithalex @z
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I 100% agree with this. This kind of play is always nerve-wracking, and it’s understandable to want to micromanage it. But from what I see in the video it seems like they are both good at problem-solving during play. Taking away triggers like toys, and food, (maybe even human attention, such as petting one of the dogs during a play session) would seem to me like a good strategy to help keep the peace.
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I agree with Catherine as well. They both give really good signals to one another. Black and white one standing tall obviously the pivotal moment but like everyone else says, I would separate with any type of high value chew toy
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Hi! I do see tension over the toy. I agree with @catherine – I give high value toys to my pups separately to avoid conflict. In this video see stiff postures, head turning/avoidance, alertness/high tail, and lip licking, though the pups held it together in this case and didn’t escalate. For what it’s worth (I don’t know if you want my opinion lol), I would recommend the owner separate the pups when playing with these kinds of toys, uing x-pens, gates, etc. Visual barriers like blankets can be draped over these barriers, too, so they don’t get nosey ????
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I agree with everyone so far! I would not have those high values down like that. My dogs get separated so they can really enjoy a treat. Good instincts of what you saw!
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Thank you everyone for your help with this! I feel much better equipped to talk to the guardians tomorrow!
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Hi @AnnaBee … I also agree with the others! You can see right away when the dogs begin to engage in ‘play’ that the pure black dog is concerned about where that bone is. The black/white dog does some look-aways to try and keep the peace but is clearly wanting that bone. Then they both have moments of closed mouths, but I also noticed a lip lick. Then a freeze and stand-over by the black/white dog before she took the resource. This is definitely something that could spill over into a heated argument if the black dog challenged that resource stealing.
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Without knowing any info on these dogs , my thoughts on this moment in time these dogs have great communication skills between them I love the deferment behavior and the amount of space the dogs have available to use .
( would be likely to question
the hind end soundness of the black dog )
Not knowing any history, I would not limit these toys , perhaps real bones if concerned, but my dogs have conversations over toys all the time . I found everything in this brief video
Quite normal . If anything I would add more of the same toys so there are choices . Again
My family take turns harvesting resources all the time
I would ask for more information , such a wonderful display of natural body language in a specific conversation of two dogs , but too little for me to jump to conclusions .
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I absolutely agree with Catherine and everyone else! The dogs have great communication and conflict avoidance skills. But the danger is visible, keep the treats to individual time.
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Thanks everyone for chiming in! @AnnaBee let us know how the clients receive your advice, and whether you need any more ideas. The video was really helpful.
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Thank you all!!!
My consult went really well with the dog guardians. I was able to point out what was a little concerning in the video as well as how well their dogs communicate. I suggested having higher value items etc given separately just to avoid any potential issues.
I see some of you saying that this is all perfectly normal and not concerning—-totally see that perspective. I think given that these dogs have some other tense behavior in other areas and with each other AND because my own dogs started out like this and then one day escalated to a full blown fight that took years for their relationship to recover from I want to err on the side of caution.
Thank you all so much!
Anna
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Sound thinking and advice, @AnnaBee – your clients are lucky to have you in their corner.
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