About dog communication

Dog communication refers to body movements and sounds dogs use to send signals to other dogs, animals and humans.

Dog communication comes in a variety of forms, and is taught as part of the foundation of dog social behavior. Dogs use certain movements of their bodies and body parts and different vocalizations to express their emotions. There are a number of basic ways a dog can communicate its feelings. These are movements of the ears, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, head, tail, and entire body, as well as barks, growls, whines and whimpers, and howls.

Humans however communicate differently. Our main form of communication is the voice. The timbre, tone and volume the voice conveys many different messages to the dogs. This has to be managed with great care and used in the minimum. Our body language is our strongest form of communication.  Our eyes can be used to praise or halt an action and the body to signal your requirements or to block undesired behaviour. Our voice should be used as little as possible and when used it should be low pitched and quiet.
Dogs watch us constantly for the small subtle movements which signal their next move. We have to train ourselves to use our bodies, eyes and hands to communicate, rather than our voice. The gentle brush of one’s hand on the dog’s head should be regarded as a reward. As well as training the dog, Sarah also helps owners to carry on the good work themselves and to understand their dog’s needs.

The domesticated dog has evolved over many years and, of all animals, is the only one that wants to be of service to humans. Indeed there are numerous occasions on record of dogs saving humans, using their own initiative.  No other animal has the will – or wish – to help and serve us.

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