EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Figured I'd throw up a topic I ain't really seen discussed in this sense...

Not so much in the "training" aspect, but where a person can talk to or walk up to sometimes  an unknown shy, skiddish, or down right mean dog.  Can read the dog and the dog can read them.

My two daughters are very different in how they can handle dogs.  My oldest,  11, has more of the "want to" when it comes to learning how to work, hunt, and take of the dogs...but she for some reason gets aggervated and/or nervous when it comes to a dog that won't listen or wants to play and jump on her while feeding or walking.
My younger one, 7, can walk up to dang near any dog (which I'm not crazy about) and love all over them and make them listen to her.  She can walk my 90lb AB on a leash with lil problem.  When I got a gyp from a buddy that is quite particular on who she will let handle her...I told the girls not to get around her unless I was with them for the first few weeks.  Well, what does she do...she slips out back and walks right to that gyp without me.  Eases up to her, makes her sit, pets her a lil and next thing I know she's out there laying in the dirt with her like she's had her since a pup.  I does put a smile on my face to watch her interact with and handle dogs, bit it also scares the crap out of me too, and I try to pound in their heads to respect any dog amd not be just walking up to any dog.
My grandpa tells stories of my uncle being the same way as young as 2 or 3. 

Is it something some people are just born with?

What's y'alls thoughts?  Sorry so long winded;)

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A guy I know is that way idk why he is what I call hard on dogs but durn it they like him and respect him.  It is weird to see people that can do as you posted.

JMO

I THINK....for one, dogs can read people better than we can read them. They know when your scared, happy, or mad....more often than not...just by your body language. I think this applies to all dogs...not just YOUR dogs.

I THINK, This being the case....dogs react the way they do based off of the person. Real confidence (you can't fake it) goes a long ways.

Just what I THINK anyway.

I agree with Kevin. If that confidence is just not knowing any better or just being that confident I don't know. All critters like my wife. She can't always control them but they like her.

x2 on what Kevin and shotgun said...

some kids are born with it ... some folks never can learn it .

Great Topic!!!   I feel like those that have it are born to it. Yet seem many loose it with life taught lessons. I am not convinced its confidence specificly but maybe more a lack of pretensions, a genuine what you see is what you get. 

Obviously just an opinion though.

Be real careful with that young one though, I feel like animals build the same pretensions based on past encounters and are not always receptive.

I think the little girl and people like her have no concept that she should be cautious of the dogs so she walks in just like it's one of the dogs she's been raised around and it calms the dog. I think it scares a dog when someone is nervous around him.

I agree Josh. I KNOW it scares/bothers a dog when someone is nervous around em, any dog owner worth his salt can pick up on subtle changes in a dogs demeanor when he is uneasy/nervous. I TRY to always approach a dog calm and confident, i really think it makes a difference, hell and that applies to lots of animals not just dogs.

I agree. A calm confident person gets a calm dog. A person trying to project confidence when its not there gets an aggressive dog. And as u said nervousness gets nervousness. I also know the emotional state of the person the dog is closest connected to will affect the emotional state of the dog.

Man I agree completely... Then there's times where a dogs been beat on pretty good and all bets are off. I got a dog that I'm pretty sure has been whooped on pretty good. All he does when we cast is hang right by our feet looking for someone to pet him or afraid he's gonna be in trouble. That's why they make tri-tronics systems! If used right you can discipline him without him ever really taking it personal. And you don't haveta whale on him with it!

I agree with ya'll.  Confidence is a BIG part, but i don't think that's all of it

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Clean livin !!!!

Seems every dogs wants to bite me.....except the worthless ones!  Lol

People that are born with it, whatever it is, can handle all animals, not just dogs, better than most people. It is a God given gift and can only be learned to a certain extent.

dogs, horses, kids (and women ... a joke) any pack animal, and yes humans are a pack animal, want a clear definition of the hierarchy inside the pack. To have success you first have to make sure it is clear in YOUR head and the dogs that YOU are the alpha. Heavy handedness alone will not get you this spot and many people miss that point. Dogs, kids, horses and women want to be punished when they screw up, it not only hopefully solves the problem but re-asserts you as the leader. Most problems with a pack of dogs, a marriage, a work place, or a country can be traced back to an unclear definition of who is in charge! Fairness goes a long way too. In apes, a big male can be alpha on force alone, but once the strength is gone,  he is overthrown. If he was un-fair or brutal in his reign he is either killed or shunned, but if an alpha ape was fair he is allowed to stay with the pack at a lower rank.
Dogs do warm to some people more than others, I don't think it is a gift, or some psychic power. Its all in body language, how you walk to a dog, your voice, your role in the pack, past experience with you etc. Its a tight rope walk between confidence, leadership, punishment, and careing. We can all learn to have this "gift", and it should be something that every dog man is working on everyday.

Agreed and very well said...but, to me, it doesn't explain situations like the one I described in ny original post.  This gyp is a very "alpha" type dog, hell she even hikes her leg to pee and will go mark after another dog uses the bathroom:D.  The gyp and my daughter had never seen each other before and that was their first encounter.
It's these "one off" encounters that people get to witness that sometimes bring their attention to a possible "animal whisperer"

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The dog is taking ques from her body language. Think about the info we get from watching a dog and think about how it effects us around the dog. Same thing just from a different perspective. If we she an unsure, skiddish dog we approach with caution, guarded, just like you described above. You had apprehensions about the dog, (just as a dog will do with us if we look uncertain) your daughter is probably too young to have these instincts in her yet, so she just walks up to the dog with none of the mental baggage that you or your older daughter would bring. Its that expectation that makes the dog "peculiar".

Interesting topox

X2...I like it...somewhere between logical and ESP...

Have to agree with Ed. The gyp does not sense any reason to display or assert her dominance, she is ultimately confident and not remotely threatend by your daughter who had no intention other then love on her.

Its a God given talent that a person is born with.  I think some stages of it can be learned threw a lot of experience but the core of it you either got it are you don't .  Dogs see Children in a different matter so you will not know if the kid has it are not till he is older and grown .  Just my take .

I agree, but I think sometimes you can see it shine through at a young age

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This is it in a nutshell. Born with a gift.

i agree with alot of you guys, all dogs can feel how you are from your posture. i know that's how my dogs are, i walk out there when i'm mad or pist and they seem to know that. when i'm happy they seem to want to jump around and act like liitle nuts

dogs have a higher level of perception than we as humans know...my wife was going thru some severe medical treatments and she insisted on taking care of my dogs while I worked a 6 month Turn Around...when was was not ill the dogs ran and rough housed with each other and basically gave her somewhat of a hard time...when the meds mad her ill the dogs were calm and would walk along side her and were very gentle...

I had a dog at the vet because of a big cut he had and at about 2 am my pack of dogs at home started howling very mournfully for a while...I woke up my wife so she could listen to them...I told her Redman has died at the vets office...I called the vet the next morning and the vet said the dog had passed that night of water in the lungs...

I have a few more similar stories about what dogs can feel or know that we do not unless we see with our own eyes...dogs also look at body language, they smell what we are feeling, and they pay lot's of attention to the tone of our voices...one man can discipline his dogs and the dogs will run from him and another man can discipline his dogs and the dogs are not afraid of their master but want to please him...

Good post Reuben...so true.

It's amazing what dogs "know". Where it comes from...who knows.

Joggeled my memory a bit. There was a story on animal planet I think. A dog that was used to anticipate seizures in a child. He was pretty much dead on and appropriate measures could be taken to ensure the safety of the child. Could have been scent related...don't know.

Coming from you I completely believe the story I have hi-lighted in red, it really is crazy to sit back and think about that though. Talking about animal behavior has always been a topic I enjoy discussing and reading into....... our 4 legged friends are pretty impressive animals when you really take the time to sit back and look at all that they are capable of and the subtle things they do in certain situations.

This reminds me of the multiple stories i've read in the past about not just dogs but all animals seeking out shelter in advance of a hurricane or large storm.....completely different situation but also quite impressive that they have the insight or instinct I should say to notice minute changes around them and adjust/adapt to survive in situations like these.......animals are pretty durn impressive as a whole.

Another memory Jog....after some thought....this makes some sense....

Talking about our dogs perceptiveness, or ability to read people/other animals. Back in my bay pen (competition) days....I had a pretty dang good dog. He NEVER caught out but would get super tight on set up hogs (nose to nose) and tight on rougher hogs but not AS tight (2-3 feet). I would always have this dog facing the chute when the hog was released and This dog...I think could read these hogs right outa the chute and know how tight he could get without getting nailed right off the bat.

Justin...speaking of animals and hurricanes, when I was 5 or 6 years old we were fixing to evacuate because of the great hurricane CARLA...we had a cat with kittens and I was sitting with my grandfather several days before we were to evacuate when she grabbed her kittens one by one and took them to the corn shed and set them up about 5 feet off the ground on the corn...right away I wanted to bring the kittens back and my gpa said to let her be because she was sensing bad weather coming...I don't think anyone new how bad this hurricane was until it came thru...my gpa was pretty smart about nature because they didn't have the technology back in his day...he was born in 1882 and he told me lots of stories as well as taught me some of his ways...that hurricane flooded our area so that cat new ahead of time what she needed to do...

Yep Mr. Reuben i had heard numerous stories like that in the past....interesting stuff for sure....ive read a few different possible explanations for it and in my opinion is that the sudden change in barometric pressure is noticed by animals and as we know when storms build pressure in the atmosphere changes. I read a book called "isaacs storm" about the hurricane that decimated galveston in 1902 (i believe) im not positive but i believe that the author at one point spoke about animals of all shapes and sizes pretty much disappearing in the days before the storm, the day before the storm hit the barometric pressure on galveston island  surpassed the previous record low by a substantial amount.....