On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals

I have 4 dogs and while I work on training, things are far from perfect more often than not. I am always looking into ways to keep improving and stumbled upon this book by accident (or AI interference lol). I have so much less time in life that to be honest, I scroll straight to the page count of a book before I even consider it. Like a dog, I need to set myself up for success :) This fit the bill, seemed to address an issue I have going on, so I bought the print version over the digital version. Glossy pages (my favorite), enough photos, and short enough I could get through. So I jumped right in. WOW. Simplified. This is perfectly simplified, you aren’t getting lost in deep explanations and then forgetting what the lesson was, and the examples are helpful enough to give you just that: an example. I learned or gained more insight out of this book than I have the mountains of dog books I own, which is not because those books aren’t any good, but information is only helpful if a person has time to read that many pages and absorb it. I have immediately started applying this “to the point” guidance in trying to communicate calmness with my dogs, but more importantly, I have suddenly woke up up to being better at observing them communicating. Mind blown! As soon as I finished this book, I immediately ordered the other 2 by Turid Rugaas that were relevant to me and I am looking forward to diving into her insights!

Strongly recommend this book for better understanding of your dogs. Especially helpful if like me, you don’t feel you intuitively understand dogs. I had a severe dog phobia most of my life and this book was one of the keys in overcoming my fear of dogs and helping me bond with the dogs who ultimately joined our family. It is short and fast to read but very insightful.

This is a brief, very readable book that increased my knowledge of canine body language. To her credit, Ms. Rugaas does not say this is a scientific study. It is a how-to book based on her observations and efforts, an accessible book to begin learning canine body language. I have several large dogs and have read many dog books. This book was light and enjoyable. It was fun to try the head-turns and other signals myself. I was able to more easily recognize stress in my dogs and then reduce it. Any language can be mis-interpreted. No book can guarantee to keep you or your dog out of aggressive situations.

I have always hoped that the inner thought pattern of dogs was somehow 'governed' in the way a human's is. I had always kept a candle burning for the notion that dogs interacted, communicated and socially bonded in a self-aware and considerate manner, rather than the crazed and often unintelligible behavioral garble we are left to observe in our domesticated companions. But, as a confirmed skeptic who had faced down many an erroneous and self-serving theory about animals forced on the public by nut-jobs who hoped "Fluffy could read minds", I had my doubts about this book. I bought it because it was the book chosen by my monthly book club for behavior dorks. I was astounded, and frankly my training style will never be the same. This book has, with excellent concrete examples and full-color photos, taught me that dogs have an intricate and reliable body language that they use as effectively as we use words. It has raised my esteem for dogs as beings, enlightened my behavior around them, expectations of them and abilities as a trainer. I can hardly believe I interacted with dogs without knowing these principles. Turid Rugaas, the author, speaks in such an easy manner with her topic that it is clear how well she understands it. The book is concise, short and manageable. There are full color photos on nearly every page, depicting dogs engaged in the precise behavior patterns she is discussing (so you'll be able to start recognizing them in your own pups right away). It surprised me how things she described correlated with some of my own memories of doggie interactions. She even unraveled a few mysteries for me; for instance, does your dog seem happy for you to stand in front of him, looking down at him, but get nervous as soon as you crouch to his level? There's a social reason for that. Does your dog sit with his back to you? He's not being impudent; he's trying to reassure you. Seeing how dogs use these techniques with other dogs (and how those others respond in kind) is the enlightening selling point of this book. She never makes an unfounded claim, and has years of experience and success to back herself up. Skeptics rejoice! It's startling how thoughtful a dog's behavior really is. It won't even take a day's worth of your time to finish this book, but learning about a dog's calming signals, stress signals, threat signals and how to employ them yourself to calm and communicate with your own buddy will be worth a lifetime. Turid gives humans the gift of a language dogs already communicate with. It's like a Babel Fish for you and your hound.

Excellent book. Great insites. Totally changed my approach to my reactive dog.

I love dogs (and animals, in general) and happened across this book while searching for a training guide for a friend and her new puppy. Although this isn't actually a training guide, it provides an invaluable insight into the actions and responses I've observed in dogs throughout the years. The concept backing the author's understanding appears to be the same as that of Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. Creating a relationship with a puppy or dog should never be about domination or punishments, it should be formed through understanding and love. Turid Rugaas helps to clarify, simply, how uninformed people with good intentions create the problems we usually see in dogs. One of the enlightening understandings which I gained from this book involves the popular thinking among people that, in order to train a dog, a person must establish themselves as the "Alpha" member of the pack. To many, that idea implies that the human should dominate the dog, or even subjugate it. To truly understand the (healthy) relationship which humans should foster with their dog(s), we must understand the nature of being the "Alpha" and the implications. To be the Alpha is to be the PARENT in the pack, not the "Boss." When we fail to establish our self as the Alpha member of the dog's pack, the dog will, by nature, assume that role for his/her own protection and the protection of the pack. This places a great deal of stress upon the dog and erodes both feelings of security and peace of mind, which will lead to behavioral issues. Ms. Rugaas clarifies the gentle nature of the pack, and the discipline that is enforced. Dogs, by their true natures, try to avoid conflicts, and thus the title of this book. A problem which often arises as the direct result of the human not assuming the proper role of parent (Alpha) begins when the dog feels the need to assume the role, by (genetic) default because of the human's lack of leadership. Always responsible for the pack's safety and security, the Alpha can come and go as desired, but pack members cannot. Knowing this genetic rule of the pack, imagine the mental chaos and stress created by human pack members when they come-and-go without permission, breaking the rules of survival. It is no wonder that some dogs suffer from "separation anxiety" and tear things up. It is the human's lack of understanding that creates "problem dogs." This book is small, and a very fast read, but it is a game-changer for anyone wanting to gain a clearer understanding of what is going on with dogs and how they think. I have purchased copies for friends, and have my personal copy out on loan. The information it contains is worth learning, and makes a great deal of sense.

Calming signals are genetically inherited canine language used for communicating with each other to maintain healthy social hierarchy, since dogs, like their wolf ancestors, are pack animals dependent on sensory input, such as olfactory, auditory, and visual perceptions. Accordingly, dogs communicate with themselves through body motions, such as turning their heads to the other side (as a goodwill gesture in greeting between two dogs), lifting a front paw (showing peaceful intentions), yawning (as a way of reducing stress), bowing (releasing tension), etc. In this book, Ms. Turid Rugaas, an internationally acclaimed Norwegian canine behavioral counseling trainer, primarily focuses on the needs of understanding these signals from dogs as their way of communicating to and with their canids and humans alike. In the context of regarding the essence and importance of calming signals from dogs, this book offers a visual glimpse of what they are like with pictures of the dogs in each accordant motion, which I find helpful to perceive it. However, the book does not provide the reader with more in-depth knowledge on the calming signals on the grounds of scientific terms; rather it is more of a pamphlet introducing the basic concepts of the calming signals. In fact, this book of less than 100 pages recounts the author’s personal experience with her beloved dog Vesla, who had been her faithful and effective assistant in helping other dogs’ behavioral problems solved, in her close observation of their calming signals expressed and exchanged. It is needless to say that such personal experience saturated with her firm conviction in positive training of dogs is deemed highly valuable and thus contributes significantly to the purpose of this book, which I wholeheartedly appreciate as a kindred spirit. But it is also equally tantalizing to whet my desire of discovering more about the origins of the calming signals, the comparison with those of wolves in terms of evolutionary aspects, and more examples thereof. All in all, this book is a lovely quick read about dogs’ calming signals at a glance. In addition, the reader cannot help agreeing to the author’s view of dogs not as her subordinates to be trained with dominance but as her “children” who need love and patience because dogs as being of conflict-solving nature want to keep us in their company by trying to speak to us through calming signals. So if you just want to see what these calming signals are about in a nutshell, this is an informative and affectionate read.

This book so far has been the most helpful book to me in growing my relationship with our new rescue dog. Thank you! It is easy to understand, and is compassionate!

This book is a must for anyone who is keen on understanding their dogs better and wants to improve human-dog interactions. Being a pet parent and an animal rescuer who has to approach many dogs on a daily basis, this book has brought about a marked difference in how I interact with dogs and how they respond to my gestures and cues. In this book, Turid talks about a host of signals that dogs give out to themselves, to other dogs, and also to humans to express certain emotions such as "I come in peace, I mean no harm, I am scared, you are scaring me, I am trying to calm you down, I am friendly, do not approach me now, I don't intend to interact now, I am not interested, and so on". These signals are innate signals that all dogs use to communicate with each other, and in turn they also understand these signals when others are using them. Hence, no training is required. After reading this book, and after trying out some of these signals myself, I have noticed how the body language of a dog changes based on the signals I give out. I have used these signals on street dogs while approaching them and also while avoiding them (when walking my dogs) and they seem to work like a charm. Similarly, these signals have helped me understand when I should approach my dog, when they don't want interactions and I should let them be, what is stressing them out and how I can calm them now. I only wish I had read this book a few years back! A must read and a must buy for everyone who is interested in dogs. I am told cats and horses also seem to display some of these signals!

Très intéressant. Un must! Je conseille ce livre très agréable à lire à tous les propriétaires de chien. On s'énerve souvent sur son chien pour des petites choses bêtes comme quand il baille alors qu'on lui demande un ordre. Un chien ne se moque pas de son maître il s'exprime comme il fait avec les autres chiens mais nous humain nous ne comprenons pas son langage et du coup on s'énerve et notre relation avec notre chien se détériore. Lire se livre m'a permis de mieux observer mon chien interagir avec moi et avec l’environnement extérieur. Je le recommande vivement!

This is the book that taught me how to communicate with my dog. The author says that dogs do not want to have trouble, they want harmony. When i was going through the puppy period i did not know what he wanted from me and i had a heavy puppy blues, it was very close to depression. Then i read this book and it changed my whole perspective. I was finally able to understand what he was trying to say all the time to me: calm down. Rest. Sit down. Relax. All the things i was not able to do trying to raise him. I was in pure panic mode. And then i learned to read his body language and that was the door that i had to open. I am forever thankful to this author. She is an amazing human being and i still keep lending my book to dear friends who go through such hard times.

This has changed how we treat and think about our dog. We love it. Wish I lived in Norway near Turid.

Este livro da Turid Rugaas é de leitura obrigatória para que quer aprender sobre comportamento canino. É um clássico da literatura. Fácil leitura, muito contéudo, contém fotos.