Being able to read a dog’s body language is an invaluable asset. Breaking through part of the language barrier can help with everything from assessing a dog’s mood, to training or helping a frightened dog. Dogs already read our body language very well. What if we could understand the silent signals dogs are sending us?

While much of this has been studied by behaviourists, the person most responsible for bringing it into the public domain is Turid Rugaas, a dog trainer in Norway who set about doing her own study, carefully observing dogs, then documenting her findings. Her book, On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals, has a huge following, as do her videos. Her lectures quickly sell out around the world.

When you know what to look for, you can see many calming signals. Head-turning, lip-licking, blinking and yawning can be signs that the dog is calming himself, another dog, or a human. Once you’re familiar with the signs, you’ll notice them whenever you watch dogs.

“I decided to study the calming signals in dogs in particular because all the other body signals were covered by almost everybody writing about dogs,” reveals Rugaas.

“As usual, it is the dramatic things that fascinate people, and so they see nothing else. But during my education as a dog behaviourist we had to read books about wolves, and there the authors described the ‘aggression-calming signals’ in wolves, also stating that dogs did not have them. I knew they had, as I had seen them in dogs all my life, and it triggered me to start a study to show that dogs also have the same aggression-calming signals – except they are much more than that. But to convince dog people about something, it must be well documented, so it was only after two years of intense studies and several thousands of dogs and situations, that I put it together,” says Rugaas, who agreed to be interviewed for this column.

We can apply her findings to our own dogs, and sharpen our skills by observing other dogs, once we know what to look for. Watch how dogs interact with their owners, how they behave when left alone, how they behave with each other, what sort of signals they use to communicate.

“It is important to be able to read the dog and the dog’s emotions at all times. If we can learn to be good observers and see the first small signs of stress, discomfort, anxiousness, frustration, and whatever the dog feels, we can avoid having the emotions escalating to a level where the dog is in real trouble, and we also get in trouble. We can rescue the dog out of difficulties, stop a situation before anything happens, stop the training and our demands on the dog before it really goes wrong – we can see when things go right, because the dog is polite and showing you when you are impolite.

“We can learn to be better dog owners and trainers – and better people, as being observant to anybody’s feelings and state of mind make us behave better in all kinds of situations. Our relationships become better, because we understand, and dogs know when we do. The respect that dogs show for each other and us, and their polite behaviour, can also teach people how wrong it is to use them as toys for children, and to test them – espe-cially afraid and vulnerable shelter dogs,” says Rugaas. She believes that if we could learn to respect dogs’ emotions and calming signals, we probably wouldn’t need as many shelters. “The most important thing the knowledge can give us is the difference between disaster and a good life for dogs.”

Anything that helps solidify the human-animal bond is worthy of attention. This isn’t just a random concept. I’ve tried it and it works, using it to communicate with dogs and puppies I’m meeting for the first time, rescues, shelter dogs, and I even gave it a whirl with my cat.

“The most important signal is the very first signal the dog gives in any situation, because that gives you the indication about what is happening. It can be licking, a turn of the head, nose to the ground, yawning, blinking – it can differ from dog to dog and case to case what will be used, but the very first signal tells you something important, and gives you a choice of how to deal with it. That’s why meeting a new dog is always a new and exciting adventure to me,” Rugaas explains.

It’s exciting to implement calming signals, both reading them and using them as a tool for relating to dogs. Many of us will be forever grateful to Turid Rugaas for opening this door to canine-human communication.