Dogs remind me a lot of babies. I mean, with a baby it cries and then you have to figure out if a diaper needs to be changed, the baby needs to be fed, the baby is tired or something else.
Dogs have similar needs. For mine, they want food, affection, a walk, outside to potty and sometimes they just want to play.
Do you know your dog’s language? My dogs have their own unique ways of communicating their needs.
Sampson’s Language.
When he wants to eat, he lies right in front of his food bowl and patiently waits.
When he wants affection he will come sit in front of you and either lay his head on your lap/leg or paw at you with his big beefy paw. Or sometimes he will just lie on his back in front of you with a big shit eating grin on his face. It’s a sure fire way to get one of us off the couch and down on the floor to do his bidding.
Rub my belly, please.
When he wants to outside he barks at the door.
When he wants to play, he brings you a toy, sets it down, stares at it and growls at you.
When he wants to walk, his tail goes up and he heads for the front door.
Delilah’s Language
When Delilah wants to eat, she employs the Lab Death Stare (not to be confused with the Death Star, that’s a totally different movie.) She sits in front of you and stares at you, as if that simple act can motivate you to do her bidding. If the Death Stare fails to motivate you, she will often times use the sigh for great effect. Stare down, “Hhhhhhhhh.” On the rare occasion we eat before the dogs, she will often lie on her mat and whine slightly. Not horribly and annoyingly, just enough to remind you she is ‘patiently’ awaiting her own meal.
You finally learned the Lab-ra-language. Your mother must be so proud. It only took you 7 1/2 years.
If you move, she will jump up and race you to the kitchen, regardless of whether it’s feeding time or not.
When she wants affection, she will come and shove her head under your hand or between your legs. Or she will just climb up into your lap. She has also learned the lie on your back with your feet in the air trick from Sampson.
When Delilah wants to go outside, she stands at the door and makes a little “Unnh” or growl sound. (Hubby will often be sitting less than 10 feet away and miss this.) Once she’s been out however and wants to come back in, she will bark incessantly at the door until you open it. If you are in the kitchen preparing her meals, it’s even more intense.
When Delilah wants to play, she will bring you a toy and drop it for you to throw.
When it is time for a walk, she can barely hold still for you to put her collar and harness on and once you head for the door she will launch herself off the steps towards the door.
Two labs, two different languages. It’s sort of like how Canada has English and French. One country, two languages.
Do your pets have their own language? How do they convey their needs to you?
BD has taken to coming up and plonking himself on my lap if he wants a cuddle, it is the cutest thing. If Mity wants something he comes and stares at you, you then have to go through the list of different things he may want and he will ‘yap’ or move when you get to the one he wants for example; Do you want a walk, nothing, do you want to play, nothing, do you want a wee, yelp and runs to back door. Thus he wants to go out into the back garden.
LOL at the Lab Death Stare. That has got us thinking about ways we communicate. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Best wishes Molly
These days we work a lot on communicating with the nose work stuff, but at home, our favorite thing is to sit around the treat drawer in the kitchen…that means we want a treat. We also sit on the landing going upstairs which means we are ready to go to bed. We sit at the back door when we want to go play in the yard, but when we want to come back in, we just ring our dog doorbell and Mom comes running. Watching Mom come running is the best because she knows if she makes us wait, I will lay on that bell non stop until she comes! Since we potty on our walks which are real regular so we never need to ask, we have no bell to go out like most dogs, just to come back in.
You would love Freighter. He rooo’s all the time. He is very vocal. Not for eating or going out so much but when you ask him to do something, like it for his collar or go behind the gate. It is quite funny. I have not quite figured out if it is excitement or backtalk…lol.
Um, my guess? Seeing he’s a brown dawg….it’s back talk. 😉
We have a LOT of difficulty teaching our Peeps our language… they just do not seem to have the aptitude fur it. YOU seem to be making pawgress with teaching YOUR peeps our language.
Ah, life used to be so easy when it was just two dogs! Callie was easy-going and patient, except when a thunderstorm was approaching; Shadow just wanted attention 24/7. No changes there. But add Ducky to the mix and suddenly it feels like learning Chinese. But close observation and a little time has made it easier…maybe like learning French when you’ve already learned Spanish. Ducky is a very vocal girl, so regardless of what she wants, she will bark at you incessantly until you figure it out and give in.
BOL! Yep, they are just like babies!
Mine each have their own ways of telling me what they want. And I like that they have their differences like that. An example would be Koda…when he is thirsty, he will paw his water dish across the floor!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
they are cute! Mine have their own language too. It’s almost been a year and Norman is finally channeling Gambler and telling him when it is 9pm and that he should stare at me because it is bed time.
Since mine our Labs, there are some similarities. I am VERY familiar with the Labrador death stare having been on the receiving end of it with all of them. Maggie only makes her needs known at food time and then she is in full hyper mode – like if she moves around and goes into the kitchen, I will follow and then of course feed her.
Dante likes to employ a very loud deep sigh….it means, “dang you guys are boring for making me wait.” To go outside Dante clicks his toenails on the sliding glass door, and if you are holding something particularly yummy smelling he has a wonderful big eyed beg (usually this is followed by ,”no beg” from either me or dad and he then sulks away.
And both our dogs ask permission to get on the couch – they put just their head on the couch and stare at the couch like it’s the only thing left to live for. 🙂
Mom says I am the worst communicator ever. Probably because I use the Death Stare for everything. Food? Out? Cucddle? Play? Death Stare. She says her whole life is a guessing game….
Love and licks and Death Stare,
Cupcake
Love this post! As my 90-year-old great aunt always says: “they don’t talk but they make themselves heard!” Great pics too! 🙂
It’s really amazing how we’re able to communicate so effectively with our dogs. They really do have a way of telling us what they need/want. Mauja likes to whack me with her paw if I’m not paying enough attention to her 😉
So silly. 🙂 Maya does the belly rub thing and the death stare. Pierson runs back and forth from the bowl to me when it is almost feeding time, and from the back door to me when he wants to potty.