The
Tail wags, flags, droops, and tucks, to differing degrees and angles
depending on how the backside of the dog shows you.
Wagging can take on many forms to indicate many thoughts internal to the dog.
A tail held high and wagging happily is not necessarily indicating great happiness, but indicates contentment and lack of concern.
A tail held straight back and wagging left and right at the base indicates that your dog is happy to see something. You'll see this as a puppy when it recognizes you as a source of happiness but it can also indicate that supper is on the way or it is bed time for the whole family.
A tail rotating fully and straight out from the base like a helicopter the dog is very happy.
A tail held low and wagging rapidly at the tip and not the base indicates concern. You dog is worried or nervous. When a puppy meets you for the first time this will be the most likely posture for the tail ans it nervously scoots toward you. The dog doesn't know how it will be received socially and is concerned and even careful.
A tail tucked is a dog with fear on its mind. Bassets are not usually worried about things this deeply, but if you find the tail tucked then there is something in the dog's world telling it to be prepared for some sort of negative reinforcement and it knows that whatever the subject of the situation, what it did was likely not acceptable and to expect a negative response.
Ears on a Basset Hound convey quite a bit of potentially useful information and this is largely not directed at other dogs, but at immediate family. These are gestures are usually dependent on outside factors so long as the ears are kept clean. Basset ears are prone to infections so cleaning is very important. The gestures won't mean anything specific if the dog's ears hurt.
Bassets engage their heads in violent shaking motions when they catch small animals and this motion is intended to shake the critter to death. The ears in this case are merely riding along with the head and the gesture is meaningless.
The ears can be held low and droop from the head, this is an indication that the Basset is ambivalent about things generally.
The ears, when held forward on the head indicate great interest and usually curiosity.
Ears that are held forward with the head held artificially high is a danger alert.
The ears can flap like wings as the dog twists the head left and right, this indicates agreement. If you ask a question, that the dog decides to agree with, the flapping will be immediate, while no flapping usually means obedience without agreement.
The Head of your Basset is the
least likely way to tell what the Basset is thinking and head
gestures are the sort of adjective means of refining your ideas about
what the dog is “saying”.
The nose is for sniffing, but also for prying things open and probing. A Basset uses the nose to get what it wants, be it under a fence, behind the washing machine, or under your arm.
Explosively exhaling through the nose is a nose clearing thing which can indicate the dog is greeting the alpha member of the social group, or the highest ranking member present. This is as close to any dog saying: “Hello boss!” and is usually good natured and sometimes repeated.
The Fews (the flaps hanging so joyously from the nose) might be pulled up where they are nearest the eyes and indicate contentment. This is a dog's smile.
The Fews might be held up generally and this may or may not show teeth. This is a warning that the teeth are an option the dog is considering useful to correct bad behavior,
A dog that is using it's jaw to make a clapping sound while not engaging the Fews is highly nervous and worried about something.
While the eyes are windows into the soul of a sentient beings like humans, the eyes on a Basset are not. Sad eyes are a trait which is re-enforced by breeding and desirable with Bassets. Closed eyes can indicate restfulness, or might indicate pain. Otherwise, Bassets use the eyes for seeing and little else.
There are a few tongue gestures worthy of looking for:
Panting when the dog is not hot can indicate it is not feeling well.
Intermittent panting behavior when not hot is happiness..
Licking is grooming, so if you don't want licked the dog may still do something close to it to say “I love you. You're my puppy.”
- Some dogs might nod slightly on occasion, as if to say yes.
Vocalizing among Bassets is most often used to tell other where they are and what they are doing.
Sharp, regular, full throat-ed, barking in a dog sitting still is the dog “saying” I am here looking at something which is ongoing but not of a general concern. When a pack of hounds does this all at the same time it might sound like they are raising the alarm, but this is not the case.
ROOing is an alarm which says “quick, come and see.”
Short medium loud barks and usually a dog wanting to be seen by someone not in the Pack. Essentially this is saying “Heh, look over here.”
Short and relatively soft barking is the sound of a nervous Basset. There is something to be concerned about which is not hunting related or immediately dangerous. This is essentially saying that something is not right in the dog's world.
Raucous barking is how Bassets greet other after some period of not seeing them.
Baying is the song of the Basset Hound usually done when the dog is content, despite it sounding something like the Blues.
Loud and persistent barking is often a greeting reserved for friends.
A loud, individual greeting is a double Roo sound: “Roo-oo.”
How this all works togethr is not simple, you read these posutres and gestures like a sentence from the head back to the tail.
If a dog is nervous about something
outside of the normal range of the dog it will sit with it's head
held high, ears slightly forward, tail out and wagging at the tip,
and making a short repetitive soft barking sound. If a dog is nervous
about something within the protected range of the pack it will stand
ready to move and make this same sound.
If a dog sees you
coming through the gate and you are the Alpha it may or may not
charge out to greet you. But if it sits at a distance and snorts it
is “saying”: “I see you boss.” This can be accompanied by a
greeting double-Roo, accompanied by a tail rotating fully like a
helicopter if the dog is very happy to see you.
These postures and gestures are the
bulk of the tools your dog communicates with. They are not difficult
to learn, less so to use. Ninety percent of the time the dog is
saying nothing at all, the ten percent is the key to having a better
relationship with your dog(s). But there is also the communications
going toward the dog which people often never know about. Subtle
tricks which help the dog learn more quickly what you want. So here's
some basic guidance for giving commands effectively.
First
things first . . . Imagine the dog is a two year old human toddler
with a tail and you begin to form a better opinion about
communicating with it. The dog doesn't speak English and knows few
words, all learned through trial and error. It might know the sound
of its name and might have learned the word “no”. Talking to your dog might be something like the adults talking in a Peanuts cartoon, all wah-wah-wah of vowels sounds and very few consonants. This is much
the same as how human toddlers learn to speak. So, as you teach your dog new words,
try to keep a few things in mind.
Simpler is better. Use words
with specific sounds and few syllables and guttural sounds rule the
day. But some sounds you don't normally make and your mouth can do easily are open for discussion. The key here is to keep the
sounds down to a manageable number and used them with dedication. I
will suggests things here, but you can certainly formulate your own ideas so long as you understand that dogs do not hear two words at once, and largely ignore sentences with nouns and verbs.
Starting with the the
simple vowel sounds.
A - (ahh)
E - (ehh)
I - (eye)
O - (oh)
U - (oo)
Restricting yourself
to these sounds, not adhering to how English is actually spoken
because it is very complicated, allows formulating commands with
simple meanings in single syllables.
“Come” is a KU
sound, the M sound is not necessary but can be used so long as you
know the dog only recognizes the word as KU, so “ku” is preferable for
commands than the word “come”.
“Go” is a KO sound, the
G will go unheard by the dog so “ko” is better for a command
word.
“Stay” is a TE sound, the S is unheard, so “te” is preferable.
“Sit” is an ET sound, “et” is better.
“In” is a direction to spaces other than the current position and is an N sound. “Go in” is better as “kon”. Your dog needs time to process complex commands like this because it requires knowing the command “ko” before finding the direction “n”
“Out” is a direction to some space not the current position and is a T sound. “Ut” will be heard easier though you might say the word “out” to much the same effect. This is training for the commander and consistency is important to the commander and the commanded.
You can find the rest as you
need them. “Sit Stay” is a common complex command which would be
said as “et te” to better effect. The idea is to use sounds, not
words, to give commands. Since your toddler puppy will never grow to be a
person capable of symbolic or complex conceptual communications these
commands will last the lifetime of the dog.
This is not to say
that your dog won't be able to learn more. But more will take time
and the simple stuff is usable right away and learned quickly.
Asking: “Does Harry want to go outside and potty” is largely not
going to make much sense to your young Basset for avery long time.
However, reducing the sounds will get you two outside much quicker:
“Eri”, the name of the dog, is simple.
“Ko” is relatively simple to learn.
“Ut” is also simple and would stay clear without adding “side”.
“Tee” might be understood quicker.
“Eri ko ut tee” might replace “does Harry want to go outside and potty” more effectively since Harry likely does have the desire to go outside, whether to go potty or not, and he already knows the sound of his name. Effective words will be short, specific to one thing, and the sound will not be misunderstood when the word in English is used by others. But it will take time to develop the habit unless you start off doing these things right away while training your puppy. Once your training is done you and your dog will come to agreements on them meanings of other words.
No comments:
Post a Comment