Scranton Dog Kennel

Something interesting I have learnt working at a Scranton dog kennel is that a dog that is used to being around humans will accept almost any way a person greets them. However, leaning over a dog and looking into their eyes is a threatening thing for most dogs. You can notice if a dog is not happy about this type of greeting by the way the tail of the dog is; if it is in a neutral position it means the dog is worried, excited, happy, or anxious. If the person were to then stretch out his or her hand to touch the dog, he would most likely get a little nervous about it. You can notice how the dog is feeling by how his ears are if they are leaning upwards it means the dog is interested, if they are back and glued to the dogs head, it means the dog is not comfortable with the situation. If this happens, help the dog feel more confident and comfortable by turning slightly towards the side and not looking at him directly into his eyes. Dogs feel threatened when other dogs look at them directly into their eyes and they very quickly learn to take evasive action when it happens. Dogs avoid eye contact with other dogs because they want to avoid getting into a fight, which is what this type of behavior usually leads to. Human beings love to look into their pets eyes lovingly, and because of this, we need to out pets that when we look into their eyes it does not mean we want to hurt them. Most dogs don't learn this and they will show different signs to let us know they do not feel comfortable about being looked at that way; usually the owner is completely unaware of this.