Dogs Demystified by Marc Bekoff

Author:Marc Bekoff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New World Library
Published: 2023-04-06T00:00:00+00:00

H

hackles. The term for the hairs that run along a dog’s back, hackles rise involuntarily when a dog is angry, alarmed, excited, or frightened. Piloerection, when the erectile hairs stand up, is sometimes called “hair up.”

hallucinating. In September 2012, I had the good fortune of having lunch with neurologist and best-selling writer Oliver Sacks. His book Hallucinations had just been published, and he asked me if I thought animals hallucinate. I said yes, there’s no reason to think they don’t, and we had a most lovely chat. Given the similarities between the brains of dogs and humans, since we can hallucinate, dogs probably can, too.

happiness. Dogs definitely feel happiness. The real question is, how do we recognize happiness in dogs when they (and we) feel it? Dogs display their emotions in many different ways, and it’s important to carefully watch them and to pay close attention to the whole dog — from the tip of their nose to the end of their tail. We must also keep the context in mind in order to accurately understand what a dog is feeling and what they’re trying to communicate. Happy dogs generally look very relaxed — their gait is springy, their tails loosely wag back and forth, their eyes are wide open, and it often looks like they’re smiling. Many people often say you can easily tell when a dog is happy and when they’re not. I agree. Happy dogs put out a good deal of contagious positive energy. Their happiness is easy to see and feel. I can’t tell you how many people tell me their dog’s happiness is contagious and how it gets them out of a funk. Likewise, when a canine companion is having a tough day, we feel and empathize with that mood, too.

We’re most likely to have a happy dog if we do our best to listen to them and honor what they want and need at any given moment. However, as I often advise people, there are few, if any, one-size-fits-all explanations. Some people say, “Well, the last two dogs I had were really happy when I did this, but my new dog isn’t. What’s wrong with the dog?” There’s nothing wrong. Their current dog is just different than their previous dogs. People are the same way. If your dog seems unhappy, experiment with changing your behavior and seeing what has the most positive effect on them.

head shaking. Shaking the head from side to side usually occurs when a dog is delivering a bite to increase its intensity.

head tilting. There’s no shortage of opinions on why dogs tilt their head to the side or from one side to the other. Most likely, there are multiple reasons. Dogs might be simply stretching their necks or trying to locate where and how far away something is. They might be concentrating in order to process incoming information. As always, when trying to figure out why a dog is doing something, it’s essential to pay close attention to context, to as many variables as possible, and to consider their body posture, gait, and other cues.

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