Body language: puppies, social skills, patience, correcting and rewarding.

I talk (or used to) a lot about how dogs are super tolerant of puppies, and also how we need to teach puppies social skills, AND ALSO how after correcting we need to reward. Well, I saw this reel and it’s a perfect example.

…now we get to see if I can put it in here somehow…

I’m going to refer to these two as Papa and Puppy, though I doubt they’re related.

This is the link in case I fail: https://www.facebook.com/reel/739693350706807?fs=e&s=cl

Yeah, okay, I’ve spent 30 minutes trying to figure it out to no avail. Well, there’s the link.

So there’s Papa dog, holding a bone, probably recently chewing on it. But he’s watching, unhappily, as Puppy chews on it. Papa is baring his teeth silently. (Or at least, I can’t hear a growl on the video.)

This is teaching social skills. Papa dog is telling the puppy he doesn’t like what the puppy is doing, but he’s not correcting. If he were to correct, it would be like correcting an eight month old baby for grabbing your hair. They don’t have the brain development yet to understand that.

So what does this very appropriate Papa dog do? He continues communicating, holding uncomfortable eye contact, until the puppy finally gets uncomfortable enough to step back and look up, for direction or reassurance. At that point, Papa dog stops baring his teeth, and just a second later leans forward to sniff puppy and give him a little lick: forgiveness and reassurance, rewards for making the right choice even if the choice wasn’t yet intentional.

This is what we want to emulate when we humans are teaching puppies. Disapproval without correction at the wrong thing, maybe some persistent, slightly uncomfortable behavior, instant forgiveness and reward through touch when they check in, stop the behavior, or attempt to make the right choice.

Some dogs are natural parents, like Papa dog, here. But most, not having been raised by wild dogs (or even their own doggie parents) don’t know how to deal with a puppy. This is where we step in. Remember Papa dog, behave the same way when your puppy is driving you crazy, and watch out for your dogs when they’re being driven crazy and don’t know how to deal with it. Think of your own dog like a teenage mother. They need the same guidance, help, and protection that she would!

Jenna