By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE
What is communication?
Dictionaries state:
1. The ability to communicate and establish a relationship with others brings me to the word communicate.
2. To give knowledge and share it with someone.
3. To be in a relationship, in contact, or corresponding with someone.
From these definitions, one can conclude that we communicate with our dogs; however, what are we telling them? Is there concept of dominance the same as ours?
Let us look at the Alpha Roll as an example. Does turning Fido on his back and holding him there say: I am Alpha, submit to me, or else! or Periodically, I will scare you, with no apparent reason, by tossing you on your back until you become inhibited. If you chose option two, you are right. Sometimes, what we say to Fido is a question of interpretational assumption, not communication. Dominance is an intra-specific concept. In order to dominate a dog, one must be able to speak the same language. In the case of human-dog communication, this means lifting your tail, pivoting your ears or raising your hackles. These behaviours are impossible to display if you are human; therefore, no communication has occurred.
I have never seen a dog or wolf take his adversary by the scruff of the neck, flip him on his back, and hold him there until he submitted. Submission is always VOLUNTARY. If one dog does not submit, they fight. Dogs have complex language, and we are responsible for moving away from assumptions to study the canine language. To illustrate this point, let us look at the following example.
An elephant and a buffalo challenge one another in order to access a water hole. I ask you, who dominates whom? The answer is neither nor both at the same time. In their respective heads, the elephant and buffalo are both displaying species-specific dominance behaviours. There is no communication in this situation since the definition states: establishing a relation with others, being in a relationship.
In our example, the buffalo tries to dominate the elephant by lowering his head and showing his horns. The elephant displays dominance by opening his ears and raising his trunk. Both animals demonstrate dominance, yet no one understands and backs down. Who wins, you ask? The answer is simple: the biggest of the two or the most thirsty one. From the human perspective, we can clearly see communication does not occur. The buffalo does not dominate the elephant because the latter does not understand the behaviours displayed. With this new understanding, how can we interpret our relationship with dogs as dominant or submissive?
To establish healthy relationships with dogs requires understanding. We must realize that communication is only possible between individuals of the same species; all other relationships function on approach, avoidance, interpretation, and trust. Dogs trust us not to hurt them, and we trust dogs will not hurt us in return. We must recognize that we are not superior or inferior to our dogs; we are simply different. Embrace your relationship, have fun, and give dominance to the old heave-ho.