Your dog doesn't trust you when you're angry, study finds

Source: "Science Alert"

"Dude, you need to chill out." - Your dog

JOSH HRALA
24 MAY 2016

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www.sciencealert.com...
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It's news to exactly no one that dogs can read our emotions, but this is the first time that researchers have looked into how our canine friends actually respond to our changing moods, and things don’t look good, especially if you get upset easily.
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For the study, psychology professor Ross Flom from Brigham Young University conducted two experiments where he examined how dogs reacted to both positive and negative emotions.
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When the person pointed to an area, the dog would know to explore it to find whatever the person was pointing at. This action, according to Flom, shows that the dog trusts the person enough to explore an unknown area for the first time. Based on how fast the dog reacted to this cue, Flom was able to determine its level of trust.
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I think it is a REASONABLE inference that the dog trusts less with an angry person.
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It may well be that the lack of trust has to do with serious uncertainty as to what's expected of the dog by an angry person.
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I think it is useful information to realize that in order to get the dog to respond as quickly etc. as possible, one needs to insure a pleasant, even happy tone and body language when trying to get the dog to respond to a command/ word/ gesture.
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Have any ATSers experimented with emotions, tone, body language in training a dog?

I think it's a safe assumption that a dog needs a good tone of voice to do what the owner asked of it.

S&F..Yeah it's true.When I'm in a bad mood "Rusty" picks up on it.However He gets Me a good mood after taking a walk with Him in the woods..

I can say this is true by my observations. When I was younger we had a family dog, he was a hell of a jumper and always ended up scaling a fence onto the garden, at least 8x his height. Anyway when my father used to try get him off the garden je was always shouting and stressing, the whole ordeal looked and sounded horrendous to a human so I can imagine to a dog it sounded really aggressive. Safe to say it usef to take 5-10 minutes to get gopd old Reggie off the garden.

In comparison I am not a stressful person and don't talk to my pets like they are scum. It never took me mote than 10 seconds to get my canine friend of the garden... Usually a slight double click with my tongue. It was always obvious to me that the dog didn't trust, like or respect his attitude.

Dogs are moulded by the actions and attitudes of their superiors trust is a big deal with them.

In, a way they know more about how you are feeling(such as with being sick) than you'd even notice. With that they'd be able to sense that anger may mean danger. Dogs also have adopted a tricky behavior as well as with being alert to human emotions. They can act like they are scared, while really not, so they are not scolded.

I think studies like this are important as they reinforce what any dog-owner already knows.

Dogs are clearly able to understand emotional cues from their owners and also from people they don't know. There is more to it than the tone of the voice, because dogs are able to pick up less subtle clues. As dogs have lived and evolved with mankind over the last few thousand years, such a bond is not unexpected.

Anyone who has had some bad and upsetting news will know that a dog's mood will change to accommodate. Similarly, if you are angry and anxious, you don't need to start throwing the TV out of the window for the dog to change its behaviour and be cautious and alert.

a reply to: BO XIAN

I think dogs don't get "angry" and don't really understand the emotion, so naturally, they would be confused and not trusting of a person displaying such an emotion. In humans, they say that the underlying emotion of anger is fear, something dogs understand well.

I think in humans, fear generates anger - and in dogs, fear generates fight (aggression) or flight. So, anger and aggression are really just the outcome of an underlying fear.

I have a Shihtzu that I'm trying to raise two large dogs around. As the day progresses, the Shihtzu will get ornery, and "challenges" the Akbash male. Sometimes the little one will be 15 feet away, and stare at Ghost ( Akbash), and start to growl. And then he attacks once he's close enough. My female (Nyx) hides and cries until it's broken up. It's getting harder because the Shihtzu is doing this more and more. He's the one I get mad at, and I can tell it's confusing to the big dogs. It's very unstabilizing...

The big dogs don't fight, but they've both had to defend themselves from the Shihtzu. Nyx will just snap at him and then move quickly, she had to move three times once because the little one just kept attacking 🙄
Ghost, being the breed he is, doesn't back down, so I have to grab him right away, and then get the Shihtzu off him...it's getting frustrating.

On the plus side, the fellow who apparently did some study that said dogs don't like hugs, was wrong. Both my big ones initiate hugs. They're very affectionate.
But they don't like it when I'm mad.....they get extremely cuddly then, and I can tell it's because they know I'm "not quite right "

originally posted by: snowspirit
It's getting harder because the Shihtzu is doing this more and more. He's the one I get mad at, and I can tell it's confusing to the big dogs. It's very unstabilizing...

Off topic, but you should leave them to clarify the dominance hierarchy. There is no reason why big dogs cannot be dominated by smaller dogs. In fact, I have seen it happen e.g. Jack Russell being boss over two wolf hounds. Your intervention may be complicating the ordering of dominance.

a reply to: paraphi

I've had to do that when I go out. If it's not going to be a hot day, or if it's winter, I bring the Shihtzu. On warmer days, the three dogs are all together, figuring out things by themselves.
I'm pretty sure it only happens when I'm around or the Shihtzu would have been hurt by now. Part of it is two males both having to prove themselves. Probably only because I'm there 🙄
Nyx is already totally dominated by the Shihtzu, but not by the bigger Akbash.

I had a gentle golden lab, last year, who just shook off the little guy, but he passed away from kidney disease. I'm out in the country, so big dogs for protection are a must (husband is long haul truck driver).

Ghost and Nyx are only about a year old, I'm trying to get Ghost to just ignore the little one, but it's scary when I see an 80 lb dog on a 10 lb dog, I have to step in.

The Shihtzu was getting like that with me too last year, just growling at me for no reason, I had him neutered hoping to cut back on the testosterone, but I guess it's his nature.

a reply to: RAY1990

Wonderful narrative. THANKS.

When I was a small boy, my grandmother advised me to talk to my Lassie type collie as though the collie would understand me--insisting that she would. She often seemed to. She was quick to learn new commands. She was my one dear Friend.

a reply to: paraphi

ABSOLUTELY.

Certainly body language is a big cue to dogs. They are masters of subtle cues.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

Well put. THANKS.

I hadn't thought of it in those terms but I think you are quite accurate.

a reply to: snowspirit

Interesting.

The big dogs sound absolutely wonderful.

I've never been very fond of lapdogs. A yippy, snappy one wouldn't last long at my house--much less an aggressive one. LOL.

I've noticed that a variety of animal seems to be responsive to emotion, including without the catalyst of behavioral expression. For example, many animal trainers who became victims of attack reported being frustrated. For example, several orca trainers remarked on having felt stress as a result of such things as the previous show being imperfect. Despite that the trainers then go on to behave cheerful for the audience and otherwise following their routine meticulously, it may be that the animals somehow pick up on their trainers frustration, which could be construed as being directed at them.

When someone demonstrates their anger with you, it often has the effect of making you angry, does it not? You feel attacked, and so it's no surprise that anger frequently leads to violence. People remark how shocked they are that these otherwise docile creatures seemingly randomly act out as they do, and the trainers themselves have a tendency to theorize that their animals were merely playing. Maybe these animals sensed their frustration, their subtle anger, felt attacked, and responded in kind.

a reply to: Navarro

That sounds very insightful, to me.

More than plausible. Thanks.

a reply to: snowspirit

Lol, it's called Shihtzitude. We have an imperial Shihtzu, her personality is interesting to say the least.

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: snowspirit

Lol, it's called Shihtzitude. We have an imperial Shihtzu, her personality is interesting to say the least.

He's part King Charles Spaniel as well, so he really thinks he's King Shiht!

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: snowspirit

Lol, it's called Shihtzitude. We have an imperial Shihtzu, her personality is interesting to say the least.

LOL good term for it. My Peke/Shih Tzu/Pom mix has that for other pets in the household.

a reply to: BO XIAN

Border Collies and breeds alike are tremendously clever and do understand the human language well. You might be interested in this.



Smartest US dog learns more than 1000 words

It seems your grandmother was a smart woman, a kid I knew at school who was a bit of a loner had a typical short fur border collie. I always saw him after school taking it everywhere and he did frequently talked to it. I really envied the bond they had, it even waited for him outside of school. Awesome dogs.