Now can any of you tell me that this is good, sound advice on how to treat a shy dog?
I don’t know much, but I do know that dogs are controlled by that thing between their ears– not by their tails!
Now, I’m sure that someone will come on here and give me some pseudoscientific reasons for controlling a dog’s tail.
I should tell everyone that I used to watch The Dog Whisperer every Friday night.
And then I started seeing things like this…
While I appreciate the sentiment – the act of smiling in humans has a noticeable biochemical effect on emotion – until valid studies establish positioning a tail results in the release of hormones akin to “confidence” AND that that also results in behavior modification, I’m going to stick to regular ‘ol dog training and encourage confidence other ways.
Yeah.
But remember dogs wag their tails for a whole host of reasons.
And some dogs, like the spitz types and pugs, always have their tails up when walking.
So I don’t know how that would work.
It could be said humans smile for a variety of reasons.
I don’t know how it would work, either, except to measure pertinent hormonal releases or brain activity when repositioning tails (assuming you could eliminate the “handling” spike).
Regardless, I don’t think it would ever become a magical fix to actual behavior modification.
it’s about the stupidest damn thing anyone has ever said about dogs on television.
Maybe the dog owner pissed off the dog trainer, so the dog trainer calmly and assertively told the owner to do something that would make him look weird when he walked his dog?
Blog rule: please refrain from using Cesar memes on this blog.
The words “calm and assertive” in a sentence tend to launch me.
On the serious side, tail carriage in wolves is said to signal emotion and social position, in dogs it is a bit iffier.
Some dogs clearly use their tail to signal. Their tail is normally mobile and they leave it limp when relaxed, raise it when alert, and raise it over their back when thinking about being aggrressive. If terrified they tuck their tail under their belly.
I have seen one of my dogs with a normal mobile tail, react to breeds with tails over their backs as if those dogs were hostile, when my dog was very friendly to other dogs.
Maybe a relaxed look, floppy ears, and a low tail help dogs avoid attack from mobile tailed dogs?
But some breeds don’t seem to follow the typical rules. Tail carriage in some breeds is less important than gaze – where the dog is looking.
I’ve had groups of dogs from two different breeds in my yard at one time, and they clearly ‘spoke’ different body language, and never really learned to ‘speak’ the other breeds language.
I think dogs should have a normal tail, and they should ‘speak’ normal dog lingo with it. But floppy ears don’t seem to be a problem.
Utah has great points about tail set. I agree. High tails and high ears can set other dogs off.
I hate that motto too: Isn’t calm and assertive just another way to say quiet and pushy? Shouldn’t we be calm and confident or calm and attentive? Even responsive would be a better word there.
You have at least one convert to your side. After seeing this short video clip of Millan training dog “owners”, I was really confused:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/dog-whisperer/3263/Overview#tab-Videos/05666_00
i can argue about that TV dog trainer if you other people want to, but personally (as i said on my blog) i think it is like arguing about Star Trek, like: Since Spock has pale skin, if his blood is green, are other parts of his body green as well? like his nipples?
It is an interesting thought, and we could argue it, but really (close your ears kiddies) there is no planet Vulcan, and no green blooded Vulcans, and Mr Spock is an actor named Leonard Nimoy – and IMO the Trek fans are smarter than the that dog trainer’s fans because the Trek fans know they are arguing about a TV show, while some fans of that TV dog trainer show think that is the way to train dogs.
It is just a TV show, get off on it if that’s your thing, but remember that it a TV show. Why do you think it says “Don’t try this at home?”
I’ve always been confused when people excuse Millan’s bad advice with ‘he’s not REALLY telling people how to treat their dog at home’.
Have you ever actually watched his show? He’s constantly looking at the camera and giving advice and general ideas about dog training and behavior. Some of it good, much of it bad or ridiculous. A lawyer-required disclaimer at the beginning of each episode doesn’t change that.
Are we seriously asking each other: Will holding up a dog’s tail make him happy?
Unless by “tail” you mean ____? no. What a stupid question. It is a TV show. Did you watch Mary Poppins and try to use your umbrella to fly? Gee, some of us need an adult to watch TV with us, so they can tell us that it is just a TV show.
The show appeals to some people, it has fans. Dogs can learn through all sorts of ways. As I posted earlier, I have only watched one of his shows all the way through, and bits of some of the others. You don’t have to drink the whole glass of milk to know that it has gone bad.
Do any of you really think that holding up a dog’s tail will make him happy? Or is the dog trainer alone on this?
Note – I did NOT ask if training a dog to hold his tail up will fool people into thinking the dog is happy.
Cesar Millan is more like Maury Povich for dogs; all he needs is paternity testing to really have a show!
That dog is father of that litter!
No, he’s not!
Your poodle runs around with all sorts of mongrels!
Tail wags:
http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/tail-wags-translated