science

Now You See Me: Trusting Your Gut on Interactions

Instincts. Some people trust them, some think that without cold hard facts, trusting a ‘feeling’ is a bad idea. I am on the side of ‘trust your gut’, so to speak. Instincts are nothing more than your mind acting as a computer, processing things that you have seen or experienced before, to make split second decisions. Think of them as notifications. I have written about instincts in other contexts before. This context is about interactions.

If you haven’t read the book Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, I strongly encourage you to do so. Blink very succinctly explains instincts far better than I can, in great detail. So I will leave much of the detail to Mr. Gladwell and give you the high points.

How quickly will you be able to figure out just from glancing at this picture of two dogs if this is play or a problem.

How quickly will you be able to figure out if this is play or a problem.

Successful multiple dog household interactions sometimes require split second decisions on the part of the humans overseeing the crew. You must often trust what you see instantly, whether your brain has time to process it into complex thoughts or not. Multiple dog interactions can go badly in a nanosecond. I sometimes get clients saying that they felt uncomfortable about a certain situation but had no facts to go on. And then something bad happened because they ignored that feeling. It doesn’t matter if you have what you think are facts. Listen to your gut.

You will learn what is and isn’t good, much of the time, by what some people call a gut feeling. That gut feeling is nothing more than a slice in time. That slice gives you information. That information travels through your brain and accesses information that has previously been processed from other scenarios. So that slice is processed by your unconscious mind far faster than your conscious mind. Your unconscious mind is giving you a nudge about what may have happened when this slice in time was similar to another slice in time. Trust that nudge.

I can almost hear some people talking about double blind studies and what not. I love science. Really, I do. Science gives us so much validation in so many areas that we already knew were accurate. But I equally love experiences and knowledge that cannot in any way be validated by science. While now it’s possible for quality dog behavior professionals to point out individual actions of body language and explain why such and such is good or bad or somewhere in between, it’s often not something that the average dog parent has an extensive education on. But they do have eyes. Multiple dog parents and households with only (perish the thought!) one dog in their charge owe it to themselves to learn as much as they can about canine body language and the many subtle contexts that can influence it. In the multiple dog household, having such knowledge will prevent issues. In any household that loves and parents a dog, having such knowledge will enhance your relationship and communications and understanding with your dog to such an extent that you cannot even put a price on it. It’s that important. You will see such relief on the faces of your crew that you ‘get’them. It’s a priceless look.

So back to slices in time. If you know what you are looking at, based on such previous slices in time, you can act in time to make sure that all interactions in your household run as smoothly as possible. This is what we all want, right? Happy crews? Learn to really see your crew in action. Read about body language in dogs. Watch videos about body language. Hire a qualified professional to interpret things for you so that you can learn to do it yourself. Feel free to share your story about any of the above if you feel so inclined.

Can You Feel the Love? Dogs and Emotion

Updated February 14, 2022. This was originally written in 2012. We know better now. Dogs clearly love!

Do dogs love? I was recently very startled to hear someone I thought of as pretty dog savvy, say that dogs don’t think nor feel. They only act out of instinct. I don’t think a statement exists that I disagree with more than this one. This statement was made in reference to dog/dog relations, but either way it is inaccurate.

Do these dogs have feelings for each other or does it only appear that way?

I could fill another book with the whole “do dogs think” part of this statement but since solid information supporting thinking in dogs is not only prevalent anywhere you care you look including science, I will simply address the feeling part of this equation.

Several brilliant minds well known in the behavior world, with far more initials following their names than I have, have already addressed the matter of dogs and emotions before. This information is also available in print. They have come to the same conclusion that I have.

Of course they feel emotions! One only has to live with and observe them with any regularity, to fully grasp this fact. Personally, I think it’s especially obvious when dealing with multiple dog households. If at least two of them get along, that is.

Dog/dog interactions aside, whether a dog feels emotions or not, also applies to their interactions with humans as well. To be blunt, why have a dog or any pet for that matter, if there is no mutual bond to share? The thought baffles me.

Of course, all of the “evidence” I will be discussing here, is anecdotal. For science, see Patricia McConnell, Marc Bekoff and Vilmos Cysani for starters. But I am not a scientist; I am a dog behavior consultant. I don’t conduct double blind studies in sterile labs. I do, however, make my living observing dog behavior. This observation that I do, gives me the information that I need to successfully modify the behavior for the better, of my client’s dogs. I have to assume that my observations have thus far been pretty accurate since my clients are pretty happy with the results.

My observations so far are too numerous to catalog in entirety on this subject. But my knowledge of this subject is not limited to my observations alone. Plenty of dog caretakers have the same stories to tell. My story that doesn’t come from my own experience, is from a friend who I asked to let my dogs out while I was gone too long one day. My friend commented that Trent was very protective of Kera, who is suffering from not only canine dementia but also kidney failure. She said that he stuck very close to her in my yard when she let them out to potty.

Siri declined a potty break that day, so clearly she had no qualms about Kera’s safety with my friend, who is by the way very well known to my dogs. I told my friend that Trent had never done that when I was there, not in the yard any way. Both Siri and Trent are attentive to her needs including indicating that they are waiting for her when need be. Trent is also very mannerly about letting Kera enter doorways first, when mannerly is not necessarily his foremost trait. So this story was interesting to me.

I have too many stories of my own observation to list. Trent took great care of Merlin in his last months. He was very focused on cleaning his ears frequently as well as circling him when he was walking with him to seemingly ensure his safety when he was tired. Siri stood sentry by the truck the day Merlin wasn’t up for getting out at our favorite spot until he finally did venture out. Then she followed him while he walked slowly. She does the same thing with Kera now.

Siri’s brother, Xander was almost inconsolable at first when his “big sister” Mona passed away. He wasn’t present the loss so he only knew that she left one day and never came back.

When Merlin spent the day and an overnight at the vet’s for an operation, the other dogs were visibly ruffled. The joy that they greeted him with when we picked him up the next day was undeniable. They were very gentle and careful with him.

They shared the loss when we had to say goodbye to him. I made sure that they were present so that they would know what transpired. I wanted them to understand and the transition was much easier for them than it was for Xander and his Mona.

Trent adores Siri. He fawns over her as often as she allows him to do so. He would be lost without her. He would lay on her if she would let him.

Almost every multiple dog guardian I know has stories like this. Many include other species in the bond, in addition to a dog/dog one. Feel free to add your story in the spaces below. Let’s dispel the old fashioned myth together.

Tags: adore, behavior, consultant, dogs, emotion, feeling, gentle, happy, household, many, minds, modify, multiple, myth, puppy, relations, respect, safety, science, train

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