The Wag Factor - Why your Dog's Tail and Ears are Important for Communication

Dogs convey subtle nuances with their ears and tail positions as well as posture, eye contact, raising of fur and overall facial expressions. A pug is at a definite disadvantage for communicating facial expression just as an Aussie Shepperd is at a disadvantage due to their docked tail.  These disadvantages can put these dogs at major risk for being misunderstood and possible targets of attack as their moods are considerably more difficult to interpret.  Some dogs are further disadvantaged when humans take it upon themselves to have the ears altered to a permanent upright position.  It may look good to some, but it becomes a disadvantage to your dog. When ears are cropped, creating an immobile ear, this can nullify the dog's signaling ability, causing potential problems.

The practice has been outlawed in the UK but in many other countries, owners are routinely docking purebreds.

In a book entitled Dogs Never Lie About Love, written by Canadian author, Jeffrey Mason, he says

Tails as we all know are subtle and marvelous carriers of meaning, but when I acquired my present family dog I was not prepared for the complexity of a dog's ears.  The expressiveness of Sasha's ears is something to behold.  She can say as much with her ears as we do with our mouths.

Also, in addition to ear reductions, some purebred owners also practice tail cutting, something which is also now illegal in the UK.  Some unfortunate dogs such as the Doberman are often deprived of both full ears and a tail.  According to Bruce Fogle, a British veterinarian and author, he states "Docked boxer dogs in particular have a higher incidence of back pain than those with tails.  A tail is built to wag at a healthy speed.  The fast metronome motion of a stump places excessive strain on the lower back, causing inflammation and eventual arthritic changes in the back bones."

We need to consider what is best for the dog as opposed to what we THINK looks best for our dog.  Keeping the ears and tail natural will help enable your dog to have better communication skills, resulting in a healthy, more well balanced, happy dog.

Do YOU speak dog?

Almost every dog trainer and dog training book advises us that we should pick simple commands and be consistent, but we all know each and every one of us, trainers included, have violated that rule.  We're human, of course!  Humans are taught from the beginning to "use your words", to use the adjectives that make us human, to use words creatively to get our points accross.  Words, words, words!  Not only do we LOVE adjectives but we also love to use our synonyms.  We love to word swap!  Well, we need to understand that a dog just doesn't understand the use of synonym swapping or correct adjectives or verbal nuances.  Dogs just speak dog.

It really is a wonder that our dogs understand us at all.  Dogs actually live and cohabitate with us as if they were living in a foreign land. 

Think about it.  When you visit a region where you don't speak the language, what do you do to get your point accross?  You use hand gestures to signify what you mean.  You use your facial expresssions and other forms of non verbal communication.  Well, guess what.  You just figured out the key to dog interaction.

Dogs respond to our gestures, our facial expressions and the intonations in our voice.   So when you think your dog isn't listening, he may just not be understanding what you are trying to tell him.

Raising your voice if they don't understand you will just cause them to tune you out.  You might as well not be saying anything.

So remember, simple repetition but most of all PATIENCE.