(Photo: Person wearing a face mask sitting on a bench. They are accompanied by two dogs on leashes)
Dogs are masters at reading human body language, but how well do we humans read the body language of our fellow humans?
If you really pay attention, you’ll see body language cues everywhere. The easiest way to practice reading human body language is to turn on a television show with the volume off. You can tell right away if the people on the screen like each other or not, by the way they move. People who like each other may be smiling, moving toward each other, and touching each other as they laugh. People who are having an argument, on the other hand, gesture differently. They are stiff, make strong eye contact, and aggressively invade the other person’s space.
Some signals we send each other on a day-to-day basis are so small, they fly under the radar: a small frown, the way someone’s lips flatten ever so slightly when they’re trying to keep something nasty from escaping their mouth, or a nostril flare.
Now add a mask to those three.
Can you still tell how those people are feeling?
It’s more difficult, isn’t it?
Could wearing masks help humans to read body language cues more effectively? (Photo: people wearing masks)
While chatting with one of my clients, he mentioned how he finds it more difficult to read people when they have a mask on. He said “You really need to look at their eyes and their body language nowadays.”
I was so excited at the thought of this. If people are being forced to look at human body language more, could this finally bring humans back to a more instinctual way of being? Could it allow us the opportunity to begin paying more attention to our dog’s body language as well? Could it also make us more in tune with the body language of the other owners around us?
Humans miss a lot of subtle dog body language. For example, how many of you have heard someone say: “And then the dog bit me out of nowhere?”
I’d wager all of you have heard someone say this phrase. Dogs don’t bite out of nowhere. They give plenty of warnings: stiff posture, avoiding eye contact by moving their head away, whale eye, curling their lip, raising their hackles, moving away from the person or dog who is making them uncomfortable, to name a few. The problem is that humans aren’t taught the subtle cues of dog body language and only notice there’s a problem when the dog is making lots of noise and exploding at the dog or person who continued to ignore the fact that they were asking for space.
While we’re out walking our dogs, we humans tend to look at:
-the person we’re walking with,
-cellphones,
-and other people’s dogs.
When we do this we completely miss the body language of the person on the other end of the leash.
I encourage you to observe the body language of your fellow dog walkers this week (A woman looking at her cellphone while walking through a train station)
We humans get very excited when we see puppies and dogs while we’re out walking our own dog. That excitement travels down the leash to our own dog, and over to the other dog/puppy as we say: “Awwww. Puppy!!!!” or “Oh my goodness, your dog is adorable!!!”
We forget to notice:
-how the other person is feeling about us approaching them with our dog
-the behaviour and body language of the puppy or dog (because humans tend to want to touch everything fuzzy regardless of whether or not that fuzzy thing actually wants to be touched by us)
Some people are walking dogs who:
-just had surgery
-have an underlying health issue that makes them quick to bite
-are in training
-are a brand new rescue who they themselves have no idea about (Does he like other dogs invading his space? Is he afraid of large dogs? They don’t know yet — they met a day ago!)
-recently moved (this is a stressful event for people and also for dogs)
-do not like other dogs
Some people:
-want to be left alone to train their dog in peace
-are stressed out because their dog is dog aggressive and you’re heading straight for them
-are freaking out because they’re trying to create space for their dog and you’re changing your trajectory and coming at them anyway
-are rehabilitating a rescue dog who is fearful of dogs and people
-are walking a puppy who does not have all of his vaccinations yet
I challenge you on your next walk to observe the body language of the other owners. Do they tense up when they see you coming? Begin wrapping the leash around and around their hand? Do they grab a harness handle? Are they pulling back on their dog? They don’t know it, but they are signalling to their dog that you are not to be trusted. They are making you and your dog a threat. This is your opportunity to give them space.
Happy observing! Happy training! Happy Friday!
Alyssa
Photos by: Atoms @atoms (Person wearing a face mask sitting on a bench. They are accompanied by two dogs on leashes) Xingyue HUANG @stephanie_nese (people wearing masks,) Upsplash image (A woman looking at her cellphone while walking through a train station,)