How Dogs Communicate with Humans

Question 1

What are the four main ways dogs communicate?

Answer 1

Vocalization, body language, touch and scent

Question 2

Why do dogs whimper?

Answer 2

The dog is feeling anxious, sad or is in pain

Question 3

Why do dogs whine?

Answer 3

They are frustrated or feeling anticipation
Can indicate attention seeking behavior

Question 4

Barking can mean a number of different things. What are a few of them?

Answer 4

Greeting, alarms, attention, threatening

Question 5

What does growling mean?

Answer 5

A warning from the dog, it will attack if provoked

Question 6

Why do dogs howl?

Answer 6

Dogs generally howl when they are lonely, miserable or attempting to communicate at a long distance

Question 7

What kind of words/sounds can dogs understand the best?

Answer 7

Words with hard constant sounds such as “cuh” or “the” as found in “cat”

Question 8

Who is Barbra Woodhouse?

Answer 8

She is a well known dog trainer in the UK and she has done a lot of research on dog vocalization
She understood dog can better undertand words with hard constant sounds

Question 9

Who is Barbra Woodhouse?

Answer 9

She is a well known dog trainer in the UK and she has done a lot of research on dog vocalization
She understood dog can better undertand words with hard constant sounds

Question 10

Dogs have the capacity to learn hundreds of different human sounds but _________________________________________.

Answer 10

They have difficulties with stringing these sounds together

EX) dog can understand “sit” and “dinner” but would not understand “sit on your dinner”

Question 11

Dogs are experts at showing and understanding ______ language.

Answer 11

Body

Question 12

Which human body part do we sometimes use like a dog’s ears and tails?

Answer 12

Hands

Question 13

What are some ways dogs use their eyes?

Answer 13

Direct eye contact
Averting the eyes
Looking directly at an object

Question 14

What does it mean when a dog uses direct eye contact?

Answer 14

They want attention
They want to threaten a human
In order to know which one, look at a dogs body language

Question 15

What does it mean when a dog averts their eyes?

Answer 15

They are showing submission or defensive

Question 16

What does it mean when a dog looks directly at an object?

Answer 16

They are trying to bring their owners attention at the object
EX) looking at the sofa because their ball is stuck or looking at the door because they want to go outside

Question 17

What does it mean when a dogs head is held high?

Answer 17

They are paying attention
They wish to challenge you

Question 18

What does it mean when a dog turns their head to the side?

Answer 18

It is an attempt to avoid the human

Question 19

What does it mean when a dogs head is held low?

Answer 19

The dog is showing submission

Question 20

What does it mean when a dog has tense muscles?

Answer 20

They are preparing to fight or flight
This is a subconsious reaction

Question 21

What does it mean when a dog has relaxed muscles?

Answer 21

The dog is feeling easy going and non-threatening

Question 22

What does it mean when a dog has a low head, elevated hindquarters and a wagging tail?

Answer 22

The dog wants to play
“Play bow”

Question 23

What does it mean when a dogs tail is up?

Answer 23

The dog is interested in something

Question 24

What does it mean when a dogs tail is tucked?

Answer 24

The dog is submissive

Question 25

What does it mean when a dog is moving towards a human?

Answer 25

They are trying to get the human’s attention

Question 26

What does it mean when a dog is moving away from a human?

Answer 26

They are showing uncertainty
It is a defensive move

Question 27

What does it mean when a dog “paws” you?

Answer 27

Paw owner for scratches and food
Dogs are usually quick to use paws

Question 28

What does it mean when a dog paws and lowers their head?

Answer 28

They want a pat on the head

Question 29

What does it mean when a dog paws, then bows down with tail wagging?

Answer 29

They most likely want to play

Question 30

What does it mwan when a dog licks you?

Answer 30

It is a classic greeting and sign of affection
It can also be used to show they are feeling submissive or anxious
Dogs often lick to face to tell humans that they are friendly and non-threatening

Question 31

What does it mean when a dog touches their nose to you?

Answer 31

They can touch their nose to your face as a greeting
A dog might also “nose” you if they want a scratch on the head
Dog’s have an advanced sense of smell and their nose is one of their most important tools, they can learn a lot about you by smelling you

Question 32

What does it mean when a dog places their weight on you?

Answer 32

They are seeking out security or reassuranace because they feel anxious or threatened
They may also do so because they think you feel threatened or anxious

Question 33

Which type of communication that dogs use is least known to us?

Answer 33

Scent

Question 34

Why do dogs use their sense of smell to communicate?

Answer 34

They want to say hello and get aquainted
To learn more about us by smelling our pheremones

Question 35

What are some things that dog’s can learn from smelling our pheremones?

Answer 35

They can identify the gender of a person, their health, age and even mood (including fear)
Sometimes they can even tell if a woman is pregnant

Question 36

Is a dog’s sense of taste better than human’s?

Answer 36

No, humans have a better sense of taste
Humans have around 9,000 taste buds and dogs have around 2,000 taste buds
Dog’s can distinguish tastes (sour, sweet, salty, bitter) but it is less pronounced

Question 37

Which type of taste do dog’s have a very strong aversion to?

Answer 37

Bitterness, which is why it is often used as a deterrent

Question 38

What is one of a dog’s most beloved scents?

Answer 38

The scent of a loving owner
The scent of their owner causes the brain of the dog to have a strong response

Question 39

How do dog’s communicate through urinating/defecating?

Answer 39

To express ownership over something or someplace

Question 40

What does it mean when wild wolves urinate/deficate around their dens?

Answer 40

It is a sign to animals in the group that they are near home and a sign to animals that are not in the group to stay away

Question 41

What are the differences between male and female urinating?

Answer 41

Males that are have not been nuetered are more likely to mark their scent as a way to communicate but female dogs are not far behind
Males genrally only urinate over the urine of other males while females will urinate over any canine urine they find
Dogs (of both sexes) that are more submissive will sniff out the urine but will not urinate over it
Dogs can tell the difference between male and female urine

Question 42

What are some ways dogs use their sense of smell to read the health of a person?

Answer 42

Some dogs are able to smell if a diabetic person has low blood sugar (most likely due to the change in the person’s body chemistry, caused by ketosis)
Some dogs can even smell tumors
Some dogs can snticipate when someone is about to have a seizure

Question 43

T or F
A dog barks when it is feeling anxious, sad, or in pain

Answer 43

False, a dog whimpers when it is feeling anxious, sad, or in pain

Question 44

Dog’s will use their paws when they want something. To figure out what they want, one must look at the rest of the body language. If a dog paws their owner with it’s head down, what is the dog trying to say?

Answer 44

“pet my head”

Question 45

Dogs often sniff humans ___________ to get more information about them.

Answer 45

Pheremones