Dog Body Language How to Tell if a Dog is Happy Frustrated Scared Annoyed

By Laurie Luck
This is reposted with permission from the blog http://smartdog.typepad.com/ by one of our favorite dog trainers, Laurie Luck of Smart Dog University

I dont have the luxury of watching "feel good" segments or programs that contain dogs. Because I "do dogs" for a living, I see all the little signs, the communication signals a dog is sending, and nothing is ever cute anymore, but rather just filled with warning and distress signals from dogs.

Take this mornings "feel good" segment on The Today Show for example. It piqued my interest because it was about a service dog for a little girl who is connected to an oxygen tank 24 hours a day. The family procured a service dog to carry the oxygen tank for the three-year old girl.

The anchors on the show, the parents, and the little girl were oblivious to the many signs from the dog that he wasnt a happy camper. Based on all the publicity Kyle Dyer, NBC anchor in Denver, received when she was bitten on the face by a dog live on the air, I was hopeful that people had started to pay attention to dog body language.

Sadly, I was wrong. Below is the segment. Watch it once without reading the warning signals Ive listed below. Then watch it again, looking at the specific minute and second spots.

Some things to know before you take a look at the video. The red bandana is used to cover a prong collar on Mr. Gibbs, the service dog. A prong collar is a collar fitted with special barbs or prongs, that lie against the dogs neck. When pressure is put on the collar by pulling on the leash, those prongs dig into the dogs flesh around his neck. The pain from the prongs are supposed to be a correction to the dog so he wont do whatever it was again.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

1:24 - Mr. Gibbs ignores the girl. Girl pulls hard on the leash. Those prongs are now digging into the dogs neck.

2:39 - Girl is pulling Mr. Gibbs with the prong. Pause the video here and you can really see the pulling.

2:42 - Mr. Gibbs tries to go with the trainer (instead of the girl) and he gets a BIG yank from the girl. Do you wonder why the dog doesnt want to be with the girl?

2:56 - The first sign of stress from the dog: a lip lick and a look-away. These are both classic stress signals from a dog.

3:13 - "He gets beat in the head," the little girl says. Apparently she likes to swing a lot, and Mr. Gibbs cannot get out of her way. The father repeats the little girls sentiment and laughs a little sheepishly.

3:30 - "What do you say to him," the anchor asks. The girl answers "Down!" and "At ease." Both are dog training cues -- not "I love you!" or "Good boy!"

3:32 - Hit pause here. Is this dog looking to interact with the girl? Does he even acknowledge her?

3:34 - Slight "whale eye" from Mr. Gibbs. The whale eye is another sign of stress. This happens when the girl is laying on the dog. The dog has no escape, no say in whether or not he can get out of the situation. This is a recipe for disaster.

4:11 - Were now in the live interview with the anchor, parents, child and Mr. Gibbs. Pause the video at this spot. See the girl tugging on the prong collar? Every tug on the collar brings discomfort to Mr. Gibbs.

4:14 - The girl gives a double-tug on the prong collar, hard.

4:18 Another tug from the girl. The father finally rescues Mr. Gibbs from the daughters tugs by placing the dog back onto the couch. I wonder why the dog was trying to get down in the first place?

4:54 - Mr. Gibbs looks to the father for help out of the situation.

5:01 - Theres a big lip lick and a yawn. Two classic signals that the dog is stressed and would like to leave. He keeps trying to get down off the couch.

5:15 - Another lip lick from Mr. Gibbs. The signals this dog is throwing are increasing.

5:17 - Mr. Gibbs turns his head away from the girl to try to break off contact, but she just gets closer to Mr. Gibbs. Hes trying very hard and his patience is admirable.

5:57 - Mr. Gibbs is resigned to his fate.

6:15 - Girl squeals, maybe theres a little bit of a squeeze by her, Mr. Gibbs tries again to get up and leave.

6:20 - Another head turn by Mr. Gibbs -- another attempt to break off contact with the girl, but again she follows.

6:35 - Girl grabs Mr. Gibbs head, pulls it down, and grabs his eyebrows.

6:41 - Girl grabs Mr. Gibbs prong collar and pulls off the bandana covering the prong collar.

6:45 - Pause it here and just look at the picture. Is the dog happy about his circumstances?

6:53 - The girl is now pulling the bandana back onto Mr. Gibbs, getting it caught in his mouth.

7:01 - Mr. Gibbs is nearing the end of his attempts to get out of the situation and/or get some relief from this girl from the other people in the room. Finally he lies on the girl as a last ditch effort.

It looks very cute, but in reality, Mr. Gibbs lays on her in resignation -- not enjoyment.

There are reasons why most service dog agencies wont let a young child have a service dog. Unfortunately, this segment highlights the many reasons why. The child is far to young to have the responsibility of caring for a dog, her parents havent taught her how to kindly interact with a dog, and everyone is ignoring (or doesnt recognize) the dogs many pleas to be removed from the situation.

For more insights from Laurie, read Part 2 of this post.

Read more

What can a DNA test tell you about your mixed breed dog

The results are IN!
Rudys DNA test results have come back.

Lets see what a DNA test can tell us about this mixed breed dog.

What you thought he was
We asked you all to place your bets on what mix of breeds he might contains, and boy did you come to the party! Heres what the poll results say YOU think he is:

The Other category included suggestions of: Collie, English Foxhound, Irish Setter, Galgo, Super cute curly tail hound (!), Glamour dog(!), Borzoi, Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, Pomeranian and German Shepherd.

What the DNA test says he is

Not surprisingly, Rudy has been identified as having come from a line of mixed breed dogs. 

We know that he was picked up as a stray in a very rural/bush area as a four month old puppy. In that location, its likely he was bred to be a hunting dog, and was bred from a line of dogs very similar to him. Both of Rudys parent have been identified as being mixed breeds. This has meant the DNA test is not just a clear cut simple cross between two breeds, but a bit murkier to decipher. 

What we expected

We always knew there would be sighthound in the mix! Fortunately, one grandparent on each side (e.g. his mothers mother and his fathers father) have been identified as being a single breed. So the test says that Rudy is identified as one-quarter Scottish Deerhound and one-quarter Greyhound. This makes sense and fits with his physical appearance.

(Photo: source)

(Photo: Sue Muir)

Part of Rudys DNA test results report

What we werent expecting

Because of Rudys muddled up mixed breed lineage, the DNA test results offer us a further five breeds that have been identified as "the 5 next best breed matches which appeared in the analysis of your dogs DNA. One or more of these breeds could have contributed to the genetic makeup of the ancestors indicated by the mixed breed icon. The breeds are listed by the relative strength of each result in our analysis with the most likely at the top of the list". This is definitely where the fun starts!

*Drumroll*

With the highest relative strength (undefined and unclear if this is supposed to be % of total dog, or % of the 50% unaccounted for, or some other strength) of 10.86 (again, 10.86 units of what, or out to a total available number of ##, is unclear) - is... 

The Dobermann! I find this plausible. Dobermanns are certainly not unusual in Australia and I can see inclusion in a line of hunting-purpose dogs making sense to someone at some point, way back when. Rudy also has a wonderful mate whos a Dobe, so now theyre totes cousins.

Dobermann reportedly represented in Rudy with strength of 10.86

Now, our first surprise... coming in with strength of 10.55 - the Shetland Sheepdog! Ha! I would have been more convinced by a Rough Collie I think, but who knows, maybe Rudys great great grandma was a house dog sheltie? It would explain those neck flares... This is nothing compared to the next couple!

Shetland sheepdog reportedly in Rudy with a strength of 10.55

Oh hi there Puli, with a strength of 6.64. In a million blue moons, I would never have picked you in this line up! There are not that many Puli breeders in Australia, and to think that one was used to contribute to a farmers hunting line seems... odd. But then, my personal favourite is still to come....

Puli reportedly in Rudy with strength of 6.64

...but well save it for last. Coming in with the second lowest strength of the five mixed breed contributors identified, we have the Irish Wolfhound. I know most of you thought this was going to be a leading contributor to Rudys make up, but whatever strength represents, 3.28 doesnt seem like much of it. So now my favourite....

Irish Wolfhound identified in Rudy with a strength of 3.28

Basset Hound. I guess Rudy gets his leg from the other side of the family, right?! With a strength of 1.63, its the final and lowest reported strength identified in Rudys report.

Basset Hound reportedly in Rudy with a strength of 1.63

Part of Rudys DNA test results report

The science behind mixed breed DNA tests

So how did the results end up like this? DNA tests for mixed breed dogs vary between providers. We used the Australian Advance/Waltham test which is powered by Wisdom Panel, validated against Australian dog populations. This test examines the 321 markers from the DNA against a database of DNA markers for over 200 representative (NB: not comprehensive!) breeds of dogs and a computer program evaluates and returns a probable pedigree tree reaching back three generations. Every possible combination the computer program arrives at is scored and the tree with the highest score is deemed most probable and presented in the report.

An important note about this kind of test is that 321 markers are not that many. Other canine research (genotyping for whole genome analysis) can use 170,000 markers. Human ethinicity testing relies on 20,000 (to determine caucasian/non-caucasian) -700,000 markers. 

321 markers provide a reduced scope of DNA marker testing, and they are comparing an unknown dog against a bank of typical groups of alleles that representatives for breeds, so the robustness of the test results should definitely be considered as a suggestion, more than an absolute truth. 

Another way to think of it

The best analogy (that may be over simplified, but I think is still useful) that I have been able to come up with to help explain this test in relation to mixed breed dogs is to think of dogs as colours. 

By this, I mean there is a broad spectrum and range, all able to be mixed together in various combinations, over time. Weve applied some values to the range (such as when blue becomes green, or orange moves into red) which we can think of as breeds. 

Image: Dean Russo

So consider Rudy as being a light brown colour. The DNA test is essentially trying to determine the combination of colours that arrived at that shade of light brown. Its pretty sure theres some red and green in there, perhaps some yellow too. But because hes such a mixed up colour, its harder to work out if theres also been orange  (or was it a certain shade of red with a different shade of yellow?), white, a darker brown or even some bright blue included, and when they might have been mixed into him. 

The computer program has presented his report with one possible combination of colours that arrived at his shade of light brown, but its not the only possible combination to get there. And when I consider where he came from and the likely uses and sources of his forebears, I can be fairly sceptical about some of the results (Im looking at YOU mop dog!).

For example, I would probably have believed fox hound over basset hound. Or rough collie over sheltie, and Im not confident how well 321 markers can discriminate between low levels of these breeds in comparison to each other by using the database of typical representatives. As time goes by and the databases are expanded, these tests become more reliable. For example, the test conducted this year is likely more correct than one done five years ago. If they extend the number of markers examined to 1,000 in the future, this would improve the accuracy again.

So - what is Rudy?

He is our dog. Much-loved family member, silly goose, and constant source of delight to our family. His breed heritage is not so important to us. We knew he was sighthound mix type of dog when we adopted him, and he still is. When I next get asked (as I always do!) "What IS HE?", I can now reply with a slightly more informed "Hes a mix, mostly deerhound and greyhound, with little bits of a few other things in there too". He is certainly a dog.

Look forward to any comments and questions you might have,

Mia

Further reading:

van Rooy, D., Arnott, E. R., Early, J. B., McGreevy, P., & Wade, C. M. (2014). Holding back the genes: limitations of research into canine behavioural genetics. Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, 1(1), 7.

Hedrick, P. W., & Andersson, L. (2011). Are dogs genetically special?.Heredity, 106(5), 712.

McPhee, C. G. (2011). Advances in canine genetic testing—And what these tests mean for you. Veterinary Medicine, 106(12), 608.

© 2015 Mia Cobb | Do You Believe in Dog?

Read more

Doggone Safe Nominated for Classy Award

Doggone Safe has been nominated for a CLASSY Award in recognition of its efforts in the running the International Dog Bite Prevention Challenge. The CLASSY Awards recognize the top philanthropic achievements by charities, businesses, fundraisers and volunteers from across the country. The winners receive national exposure and more than $150,000 in cash & prizes for their cause.

Please visit this link to read our story and click the Like button. We need 100 likes by June 29 in order to advance into the next stage of the competition.

Read more