Our 4th CGC class included a mix of skills, which is to be expected at this stage in our training. It again occurred to me how the class environment is so beneficial, because it provides easy access to people and dogs to practice with.
Nose lick: Something's making Logan uneasy
Tests #1-3 are different versions of your dog accepting a nice person and letting the person touch them, so our instructor approached us a few times during class.
The next two areas (Tests #4-5) involve walking nicely, so we walked around the room a few times, switching direction, varying our speed, varying our proximity to each other.
One woman complained that her dog stopped and scratched herself a couple of times during the walking exercises. This caught my interest, as I know scratching can sometimes be a “calming signal” (which indicates the dog is communicating “peace” in an anxious situation).
Head turn: Adrian is showing "calm" to Sage
When we transitioned into “sit” and “down” practice (for Test #6), I knew for sure. Poor dog, she displayed about a dozen different calming signals. The dog yawned, stretched, sniffed the floor, lifted her paw, licked her nose, turned her head – all of these instead of performing “sit” or “down”. What’s sad is, this dog was trying to communicate but her mom obviously didn’t understand. In fact, the mom became frustrated at her dog “not listening”, which only made matters worse. Something was stressing this dog (quite possibly her mom’s intensity level) and her mom wasn’t getting it.
The two main lessons from this story are:
- First, you should learn calming signals! They are pretty easy… if you see any of the behaviors I just mentioned, especially grouped together, your dog is communicating “let’s calm down”. She could be feeling stressed about what’s going on. She may be excited herself and trying to calm herself down.
Paw lift: Mandi and her new friend are agreeing
- Second, when you see calming signals, reciprocate. You can yawn, turn your head, lick your nose, etc. This way, you let your dog know you understand – she will probably appreciate this.
The rest of class involved practicing being close to each other’s dogs (Test #8). Our instructor reminded us that our dogs are masterful at picking up our vibes. The main things for you to focus on are: provide a loose leash and breath normally. By the way, all that’s expected of a Canine Good Citizen is to be calm near another calm dog. In the test, both dogs are on leashes with their handlers, and the dogs do not actually come into contact. Don’t be surprised when the two dogs exhibit calming signals – dogs often use these signals when they meet, to communicate peaceful intentions.
