Sabtu, 09 April 2016

Please dont stare

Dogs and people.  Two species I work with on a daily basis.  Thats right.  Two DIFFERENT species.  Sometimes these differences can get us into trouble if we dont recognize them.  Today I want to talk about eye contact.

Please dont stare
I did a quick Google search "how to politely greet a person" and here is the first site that came up.  It came from Wikihow.  The first tip:  Walk straight up to the person confidently.  If you recall in my last post-How to approach or not approach a person & their dog, you might remember that isnt the recommended way to greet a dog.  But back to eye contact.  The second tip in the article how to greet a person:  Make eye contact before greeting.

So how does eye contact relate to our dogs?  Eye contact can be a threatening gesture to a dog.  If someone is staring at a dog he can feel challenged or threatened.  In either instance you are likely to make the dog uncomfortable.  Direct, sustained eye contact can be very rude in a dogs mind.

What kind of eye contact should you make with a dog?  Keep your eyes light, relaxed, casually blink & dont have extended eye contact.  Look at the dogs check area & then away.

What can you do to help your dog adjust to eye contact?  Teach your dog a watch cue.  Here is a sample on how I start this behavior.  Dont forget to have a soft face, eyes & smile when teaching this to your dog.  Remember, you want to be non-threatening.
·         Put a yummy treat to your dog’s nose, and slowly lure the treat to between your eyes.  As soon as your dog looks at it/you say "yes!" followed by the treat.
·         Repeat for various repetitions & a variety of locations.
·         Start to add time (one second at a time) before saying "yes!". 
·         Continue with this level until you have 10 seconds of  your dog looking at you before "yes!" and treating. 

So remember, staring at a dog is not something a dog enjoys.

Need some extra help?  I offer both in person & online, web, video instruction!
Please feel free to contact me for details.


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