In the News: Tails of Marin
By Trish King
Greetings and play go beyond a few sniffs
Dogs are are social beings - they love to be part of a pack, and if it includes other dogs, so much the better. However, all dogs do not get along with all other dogs any more than people get along with all other people. The more you understand about dog language, the better you will be at predicting behavior and setting our canine friends up for success.
Most puppies tend to want to meet other dogs and to play with them. Some dogs, especially certain breeds of dogs, will continue to like pretty much any dogs their whole lives; however, that's not true of all dogs.
As dogs get older, they become more discriminating about their friends, just as humans do. This begins to happen at social maturity, around the age of 2 or so. As they mature, dogs tend to interact primarily with their own social group and sometimes see other dogs as a potential threat. Many would prefer a slow introduction, and some don't want any new relationships at all.
The process of canine greeting is quite complex. Dogs communicate primarily with their bodies. Left with their canine mom, they'd learn how to approach strange dogs with respect. Often, our dogs lack those skills because they weren't exposed to knowledgeable adult dogs at the right time.
As a result, some dogs greet other dogs by racing toward them pell-mell, possibly leaping all over them, or they bark and act afraid. It's our job to protect our dogs from inappropriate play behavior, and to help teach them who is safe and who isn't.
People greet each other in a fairly straightforward manner, looking directly into each other's eyes. Dogs, on the other hand, don't do that. Direct eye contact from dog to dog is likely to get one or both of them into trouble, and straightforward movement is likely to be interpreted as a challenge. Instead, a polite dog will approach another dog indirectly, shifting its eyes away from the oncoming dog. They will sniff the side of each other's face, then head around to the back end where they'll get more information.
Recognizing dog play can be difficult at times. In a perfect world, one dog would approach another and go through some invitation movements. These can include play bows, where one or both dogs will stretch out its forelegs, drop its front end and raise its hind end. Also, sidling up to one another, scraping the ground with a paw, twisting the ears sideways and putting them back, smiling and dropping the head, light body slamming or hip checking.
During play, dogs tend to change their "roles" quite often, and their play is fairly jerky, with short freezes. Thus, one dog might be on top of another, and then, suddenly, the second dog is on top. One dog might be chasing another dog, quickly turn and be chased.
Some dogs play very noisily, while others are quiet. Some breeds or breed types play very differently from one another (for instance, German Shepherds often tend to play growl a lot; boxers tend to want to jump on top of other dogs; Labs often run into other dogs, sometimes accidentally, sometimes not). Problems can arise if two dogs have incompatible play styles and have trouble communicating with each other, or if they get so excited and aroused that the play turns serious. Human monitors should always be on the lookout for arousal and be ready to interrupt the play for a few minutes.
Trish King is the director of behavior and training at the Marin Humane Society.
Tails of Marin appears every Saturday in the Home & Garden section of the Marin Independent Journal
