Being Canine, Dog Behaviour and Training

10/06/2026

A study in 2019 looked at how well dog communication and body language was understood by humans, the outcome was that reliably understanding dog body language came with age and experience. So, it's not only the time that is spent with dogs but the culture and positive regard that is important.

'A dog-postive cultural background, one in which dogs are closely integrated into human life and considered highly important, may result in a higher level of passive exposure and increased inclination and interest in dogs, making humans better at recognizing dogs’ emotions even without a history of personal dog ownership. “These results are noteworthy,” says Amici, “because they suggest that it is not necessarily direct experience with dogs that affects humans’ ability to recognize their emotions, but rather the cultural milieu in which humans develop.”

The first comprehensive study of the human ability to recognize the facial expressions of dogs suggests this ability is mainly acquired through age and experience and is not an evolutionarily selected trait, and in adults is better in those growing up in dog-positive cultural contexts. In a recent s...

09/06/2026

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02/06/2026

When you understand that your dog's brain is making a fast prediction of what might happen, based on previous experiences, you can start to appreciate why the 'the other dog wasn't doing anything' argument doesn't really apply.

It's not only what is happening at this point in time, it is also what has happened before. Contrary to popular belief, dogs don't 'live in the moment', they have memories and expectations based on previous similar events.

That's why your placid dog might turn into a raging beast when they go to the vet. Their brain is predicting something unpleasant, based on previous experience. No amount of tasty treats is going to have an impact on that process - the bigger the concern - the stronger the memory and prediction will be. Our brains and dog's brains are more sensitive to negative experiences than positive ones. it anticipates difficulty before it occurs - sensible given that the primary aim is to be safe. The brain is doing its job prefectly.

In the end, perception is everything.
The answer is to try to work on those predictions.

Photo: Many of the things that we do with dogs have the potential to become negative - it's not our intention of course, but it's perception that matters. My dogs are comfortable being groomed, having their nails trimmed etc but that hasn't happend by accident and it certainly hasn't happened by using force or restraint.