Nancy Freedman-Smith, dog trainer and owner of Gooddogz Training, provides a place for dog owners to find positive training tips, canine-activities and places to visit along with the latest information on keeping your dog healthy and active. Nancy lives with her three young kids, Charlee and Finney the dogs, Yellow the parakeet and Tater-Tot the Hamster. Staying current, keeping fresh, and always learning new things is a must for Nancy and her profession because one thing that animals surely teach you is "the more you know, the more you know you don't know."
Space-Charlee's frontier
Recently I posted about how dogs have a big thing about space. Space is an important resource to a dog. "Top dogs", older dogs and dogs who understand doggie etiquette well, don't as a general rule appreciate their space being invaded. That pretty much sums up what Charlee is all about.
When Sadie the wonderful puppy was here, Muttlover asked to see pictures of Sadie with my two other dogs. I snapped a lot of photos, and mostly captured big blurs. I got plenty pictures of Finn and my kids and the puppy, but Charlee was not very interested in hanging around with her. Don't get me wrong, Charlee tolerated the puppy, but like an irritable aunt who gives the diapering chore to a younger cousin, it really wasn't her thing.
I don't think Charlee's idea of the pup is more clear than in these two photographs. Can you see the force field?
In the photos you can clearly see Charlee using her "energy" to keep the puppy away. In the first photo Sadie seems to be saying "Hey wanna play"? But in the second, taken only seconds later, she seems to be saying "yes maam, I meant you no disrespect maam."
Puppies can learn a lot from what is often referred to as a "seasoned bitch". A seasoned bitch is a dog who is good with pups, won't hurt them, yet teaches them all the rules. Guess we got that one covered.
Quite a few readers asked me to write about how we humans can use our own need for personal space in training dogs and asked for help especially in dealing with unruly dogs. That was a great question and one that I will write an in depth article about just as soon as I work on my summer a little bit first.
Here it looks like Finney is about to eat the puppy, but he is clearly smiling and enjoying their play time. She is letting him know that he getting too rough and Sadie used her body language to chill him out a bit.
Comments
Great post, Nancy. The photos of Charlee and her force field describe my 10-year-old female lab mix, Pippin, exactly. I call it giving the "hairy eyeball" and the dogs in Pippin's world have learned to give her space. That second photo with Sadie averting her eyes says it all. I look forward to reading more.
Posted by HollyJuly 6, 2007 08:26 AM
Don't you love how dogs can communicate? Better than people, and without a single word. And it doesn't matter their age. Young or old, they know the etiquette out of pure instinct. One more reason why I love dogs.
Posted by Pet FriendlyJuly 6, 2007 10:41 AM
Great example of subtle canine body language! I sent this to my kennel staff for their enjoyment too!
Susan Britt
Director of Operations
Animal Refuge League
July 6, 2007 11:07 AM
Hi all,
Thanks for the kind words. I love that there are other dog geeks out there to appreciate my photos. I added this post to my favorites. I love those pics!
Nancy
July 6, 2007 12:31 PM
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