Are our dogs always happy to see us
There is a popular believe that a dog is a man’s best friend. Although this is very true, we accompany this saying that a dog is always happy to see us…
This is not true.
When you start to really get to know your dog and read his body language you will soon find that what he is showing you is not always that he adores you. Yes, I know my dogs love and adore me. But just like humans we sometimes are irritated, angry or bored with the ones we love.
If you think about it your dog’s tail is not always wagging away and his face expression does not always look the same. Even the way they stand, walk and run changes. Our dogs are desperately trying to communicate with us.
I have experienced with my own dogs many emotions, some of sadness and loneliness, other of pure joy and excitement, some of fear and anger and then just being in the moment pure dog. But I have caught my self that I am thinking in the mind of a human and then only later realizing how wrong I read the whole situation. I read in a great book called: The other end of the leash By Patricia B. McConnell about dogs not wanting to be petted the whole time. She says just like we as humans like to have a massage dogs like having a good belly rub. In the same instance you would not want your massage during a meeting. But what I think is that we compensate with a lack of understanding with giving our dogs belly rubs and pets on the head. Instead the dog is interested in dinner that you are preparing or the cat on the lawn. I have caught myself doing that exact same thing, that when I don’t know how to change my dog’s expression on his face I rub him. What does that solve? I think it says to them, oh you must be overreacting and your emotion is not true. Yes, sometimes it works, but other times our dogs want us to really interact with them.
What is the use for going on a walk with your dog if your attention is totally focused on what to make for dinner tonight or what ever else occupies our minds? They need us to be in the moment. Sometimes we realize this and try to rectify it with a pat on the head instead of being with our dogs on the walk.
The thing is it’s not that hard to understand them, we must just be open to their emotions shown through body language. This ranges from eyes, mouth, tail, legs, ears and sounds.
