Learning to "read" your dog

Training your dog is an art, not just something mechanical you do in order to get them to behave. And the most overlooked part of dog training knowledge is understanding that dogs speak eloquently to human beings in a language of their own. In order to effectively train your dog in a positive manner then you are going to have to learn to "read" your dog's body language.

Having proper two-way communication with your dog can only be a result of you properly understanding your dog's "language", which is a non-nonverbal language of body and facial movements. A very good way to start learning about your dog's body language is to take time to observe him and other dogs communicate with each other. This makes it very important to have your dog socialize with other pet dogs on a regular basis.

Watch how they interact with each other. Take stock on what body language is being used and how he reacts to certain movements from another dog. Check out how your dog greets familiar dogs in comparison to how he treats strange dogs. What is the difference? What was the reaction? Did the dogs play chase games with each other? How did they start the game and with what body language?

These are all questions that you can ask yourself as you are learning about how your dog communicates with other beings, both people and other dogs. In addition, you can also absorb an enormous amount of information by reading and studying books on dog and wolf behavior.

You may be asking "why study wolf behavior?" Well the fact is that wolf behavior and dog behavior are very similar. And since they are both very similar, the interactions of wolves in the wild give scientists a chance to observe communication in a pure form, as it exists without human interference.

For example, most dogs, if not all of them, have a habit of licking people's faces, especially their mouths. Now although the origin of this face licking behavior is rarely seen in dogs, but observations of wolves have shown that wolf puppies are fed by regurgitated food by the older wolves. This regurgitation is triggered by the wolf pups as the jump up and lick the older wolf's mouth. So the licking of the mouths persists as they get older as a way of greeting another animal.