If you have been attempting to train your Labrador retriever puppy, you might have asked yourself an important question. my Is it possible my chocolate Labrador Retriever can recognize body language? The answer to this question is a resounding yes and how dogs interpret body language should impact your Labrador puppy training. You need to think about this as soon as you start looking at Labrador puppies for sale because your body language is an important aspect of dog training just as understanding dog body language is.
The most obvious example of a dog reading body language is certainly the meet and greet. When you meet a new dog, you might bend over it, look it straight in the eye and then gasp when the dog growls at you. What you don’t realize is that these body postures come across to the dog as both aggressive and threatening. This is a key fact to consider when you’re exploring how dogs read human body language. They might not always understand the message. What you see as friendly a dog might see as a sign of danger.
Why Is Body Language Important For Labrador Puppy Training
Body language is crucial for a variety of reasons. The first is that adopting the right body language will send a clear message to your dog about what you want it to do. In the world of dog communication, dog behavior depends in a large way on body language and body position. For instance, you might be eager to get the dog to come to you immediately. Ensuring that your Labrador retriever puppy returns on command is one of the most crucial elements of early training. The right body language will help the pup understand when you are giving a command rather than being playful.
Furthermore, the wrong body language can confuse the message. This can lead to the dog becoming confused, upset, uncertain, afraid or even aggressive. Remember, an unclear message can seem quite threatening to an untrained dog. If you master body language and understand how to use it correctly you will be able to train your Labrador retriever puppy more rapidly and with less difficulty. You also will not have a worried dog but rather a dog who is happy because you are not sending conflicting messages between your words and your body language.
Body Orientation
You need to make sure that you adopt the right body orientation when you are training your Labrador retriever puppy. Remember the lesson about appearing threatening to a pup? Well, the best way to avoid this is to make sure that you kneel and turn your body sideways. This does depend on the dog of course. Some dogs will immediately resonate with you and will leap or bounce up to greet you. Your dog will also learn and adapt to your body language over time. However, they may still be wary of strangers who have a seemingly threatening stance. In order to have a relaxed dog you will want to make sure that you don’t show your dog an aggressive body.
Eye Contact
Dogs do not recognize eye contact the same way that we do. In the eye’s of a dog, if a human looks it directly in the eye it will often be perceived as a threat or a challenge. That’s why you should never make eye contact with a dog that you don’t know. Experts will always avoid eye contact with new dogs at first while training their own dogs to accept and reciprocate eye contact. Why do this? When you train your Labrador retriever puppy, helping them to accept and appreciate eye contact allows you to develop a closer bond with the animal. It will make you feel more connected to them. Furthermore, teaching them eye contact will ensure that when a stranger does accidentally make eye contact with them, they do not see it as an act of aggression. A fearful dog can quickly turn into an aggressive dog if they are unsure of someone and have not been taught that eye contact can be non-threatening. You can train eye contact with treats, though some dogs will pick it up naturally.
How Effective Is A Labrador Retriever Puppy At Recognizing Your Demeanor?
You might be surprised to learn that evidence suggests dogs are able to pick up subtle behavioral cues. Even the difference between eyes open and eyes slightly opened and different facial expressions. One study highlighted this by hiding food in one of three buckets. While the dog looked on, the human gave cues as to where the food was. These cues ranged from tapping the top of the bucket to tilting the head or just looking at the container. Dogs were found to be better at this task then apes and very young children. This suggests that when training your dog they will pick up on cues like this. For instance, if you are training them to fetch, pointing at the object will help reinforce this behavior. Or, if you are aiming for something more advanced like shutting the door, just looking at the door while giving the command could lead to greater results.
Recognizing Emotion
How a chocolate Labrador reads human body language does stretch to picking up and on some level understanding your emotion. For instance, studies have suggested that dogs recognize what a smile means or a similar look and respond positively to this. Some research has even suggested that dogs understand when we are upset and will attempt to provide comfort. However, it is difficult to know how deeply dogs comprehend what we are feeling. What is clear is that they do notice social cues in humans just like they would in another dog and react to them.
It’s also possible for your dog and particularly Labrador retriever puppies to misunderstand your emotion completely. Sadness, for instance, is often confusing to a chocolate Labrador and it may simply feel like it is being ignored. Due to this, they will show attention seeking behavior. On the other hand, if you’re excited, you will display particular cues that a dog seems to fully understand. As such, they may become more excited which is why you need a verbal command for ceasing play and calming your pup when necessary. Observe their tail and ears or maybe their wagging tail to determine their level of excitement.
Using Behavioral Cues Effectively
Once you understand how a dog recognizes behavior, you can start using it in training. For instance, if you love your Labrador retriever puppy jumping up, you can encourage this with positive reinforcement such as patting your legs or kneeling down to their level. On the other hand, when you don’t want them to jump up, you shouldn’t get exasperated or flail your arms around. A dog could misinterpret this as excitement. Instead, you need to avoid giving them any attention, turning away from them to show it is not welcome or warranted.
We hope this demonstrates how Labrador retrievers recognize behavior in humans and how it can be useful during training. Before you look at Labrador puppies for sale, you should certainly explore how they recognize behavior further to guarantee you are well prepared in this area. And finally, it is also important for you to understanding how your dog shows affection.
