Humans really don't understand dogs.




So many humans really do not "get" dog language.  Just yesterday I commented on yet another of those guilt inducing, people pleasing videos.  This one had two black labs being coaxed into snitching on the one who took the cookies.  Obviously it was a set up and what it causes is just simply stress.  But what was so telling about the whole thing was the comments on my comment.  Humans are quite the species.  

After reading all the comments on my comment about it causing stress to the dogs and pointing out several of the stress signals in a further comment, people went on the attack of me.  I was called hysterical, a negative nelly, stressed and other things.  People were very angry at me.  Hmmmmmm???????  Why were people compelled to act so aggressively to my comment?  This is my exact comment put on the page about the video.  

"I cannot stand these videos and the sharing of them for entertainment. These dogs are showing many stress related behaviors. Please stop sharing."

Pretty simple, straight to the point.  I really hate these videos and they are becoming more and more common.  Why?  Because people don't understand what is going on.  Because people think that they will get their moment of fame by doing one.  So sharing these and promoting them as cute simply perpetuates the problem.

My comment came from being a dog lover; one who hates to see dogs put through these long and drawn out human entertaining videos.  But those who read it and disagreed because of their lack of understanding dog behavior felt something else.  They very quickly turned it around to me as a stressed out person who needed to take a chill pill.   

One woman even commented that I was reading human behavior into it.  On the contrary, I saw what they were saying as dogs; unlike what most others were seeing.  People get really nasty and on the defense with name calling and very insulting when you see something that they cannot.  It is really quite interesting.  

The comment was made by me, Sherri.  No one reading it knows that I am a dog trainer who specializes in canine behavior modification.  Would this information change the way that they felt about my comment?  I believe so.  Of course some would not care in the least and those are the ones who tend to throw stones the fastest and hardest.  

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; I simply stand for dogs and try to enlighten as much as I can.  Dogs do not speak human; they can most definitely be taught to communicate with us to the highest degree of perfection.  But shouldn't we really try, just a bit to understand how they communicate?  

Canine behavior is a passion of mine.  Human behavior?  Simply perplexing and yet fascinating.  

1 comment:

  1. I didn't see your post and I don't think I've seen any videos, the ones of different situations that people put their dogs in for their own amusement, I block them and don't even open them.

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