Just before two dogs launch into a fight or a dog lands a bite on a human hand, there’s a moment of stillness referred to as a ‘freeze’ in dog behavior talk. That moment before is final negotiation time. It is the last warning that you will be dealt a blow if you do not back off or stop whatever it is that you’re doing — which might ‘just’ be staring (ie, challenging the dog). It’s often after one or more growls and accompanied by body postures such as hovering over an object with the head lowered. Dogs go through several communicative steps to avoid having to bite or fight – that is, unless people have suppressed (punished or ‘corrected’) a dog’s built-in early warning system.
This freeze behavior is not unique to dogs. People do this too. It’s part of the freeze, fight or flight autonomic response system (some add a fright as the fourth). It’s about self-preservation, regardless of the species. People who have been bitten or witnessed dog bites and attacks often say that the dog just bit or attacked for no apparent reason. There’s always a reason — from the dog’s perspective.
In dog behavior talk, ‘whale eye’ refers to the being able to see whites of the dog’s eye as a precursor to a bite. In human body language terms, whale eye is referred to as ‘a sideways glance’. Regardless of whether one happens to be a dog or human, looking to the side while someone approaches peripherally is to orient to potential danger… pausing while reading to answer a loved one’s 8th interrupting question in 10 minutes is to patiently wait but one may soon become irritated enough to lash out verbally is not unlike a dog growling when disturbed while enjoying a good chew on a bone… a look of disgust at someone who is making noise in a movie theatre or library is to communicate, ‘Be Quiet’ just as some dogs stop eating from their food bowl when a human hovers nearby is to say, “Go away, now’. An appropriate question may be- would you slap someone’s hand if they reached to take your sandwich off your plate, with or without asking first? Probably not. My point is that it’s important to consider a dog’s perspective in the development and resolution of behavior problems.
Both dogs and people read the approach of another in much the same way even though our greeting rituals are different. It is especially important when in unfamiliar surroundings to make a quick assessment as to whether the approaching person or dog is potentially dangerous. Dogs ‘read’ the oncoming other as ‘friend’ or ‘foe’ according to the angle of and speed of approach as well as the accompanied body language. Dogs frequently make mistakes in ‘reading’ people.
More on the invasion of personal space and the similarities and differences in how dogs and people ‘read’ body language in The Calm Before the Storm, part 2.
~ Vera E. Wilkinson CDBC, CPDT-KA