Testimonials for Turid Rugaas seminars in other areas of the world

I had the privilege of spending a few days with this lovely lady, and she changed the way I viewed dogs, opening up a whole new world of dog behaviour. Highly recommended.

(Gill Minter)

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This book should come with every dog - if every dog owner took the time to read this little book there would be far less problem dogs..... 10 out of 10.

(Pauline L)

excerpted from an article in The Ottawa Citizen, March 27 1999)

An internationally renowned trainer who claims to have decoded the body language of dogs will give a seminar in Nepean this weekend - her first appearance in Canada.

Turid Rugaas, author of On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals, plans to give a two-day workshop on how to communicate with dogs and prevent aggressive behaviour.

The Norwegian dog trainer has studied the body language of dogs for 10 years. "We knew a little about communication between wolves," she said, "so, I wanted to see if dogs were just as skilled at it as the wolves are."

She and a colleague started observing dogs carefully, recording their behaviour on video and in photographs.

Ms. Rugaas said she found dogs, like wolves, use body signals to solve potential conflicts. "Violence never does any good to humans, or dogs," she said. "When dogs are giving each other signals like that (calming signals) they avoid getting into conflict with each other."

Ms. Rugaas has recorded 30 different signals used by dogs to communicate, including turning away, which helps calm aggressive dogs, and yawning, which shows nervousness.

She taught a dog to display calming signals, on command, and has tried using the signals herself. "Dogs were actually getting it when we used the signals," she said. "So, we could actually get into communication with the dog."

'Calming Signals' Comes to Town by Don Hanson

A pilgrimage

My wife Paula and I recently attended the two-day workshop by Turid Rugaas in Ottawa. We travelled 11 hours to see Rugaas and it was well worth it! I would encourage anyone who works with dogs to see her when she is in their area.

The major topic of Rugaas' workshop was 'Calming Signals' as described in her book of the same title. When I first read the book, I found the material interesting and insightful. To hear her present the information was inspirational. Since the audience was a mixture of trainers and dog owners, Rugaas started off with the basics, discussing the evolution of dogs and the dog/wolf connection. She also described instinctive behaviours and their effect on training. Rugaas also emphasized that people need to de-emphasize their preoccupation with rank order and the attitude that they must be dominant over their dog. To that, I say, "Amen!"

Reading the signals

Calming signals constitute a method of communication used by dogs and wolves to resolve conflicts, prevent aggression and reduce stress. They are used between dogs as well as between dogs and any other creature they may see as a threat.

When a dog gives a calming signal, it accepts a signal back — a change in behaviour. When it doesn't get that signal back, it may become more stressed or frightened. Some of the more common calming signals are turning of the head, yawning, nose licking, and sniffing. For example, asking a dog to sit in a harsh tone of voice may result in sniffing rather than sitting. The dog isn't being disobedient, it is feeling stressed and giving you a signal asking you to calm down. The more stressed the dog gets, the less likely it is to respond. Unfortunately, when people don't understand this, they get more stressed causing the dog to get even more stressed — something we have probably all seen happen in our classes.

The second day, Rugaas spent some time talking about teaching a dog to walk politely. She emphasized the standard technique of freezing when the leash goes tight and encouraging the dog to come back to you before proceeding with the leash loose. She explained that while many traditionalists like to use leash corrections for training a dog to walk politely, they are in fact punishing the dog for having a loose leash because, in order to give a correction, the leash must be loose. I never thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense. Yet another reason not to jerk the dog!

Handling stress

Stress was also a major topic. Rugaas explained what causes it, how to identify it and how to handle it. She explained that strenuous exercise on a daily basis is not good for many dogs as they will be under a continuous state of stress. It is far better to mix an exercise schedule with days that just have low stress activities like walks, targeting exercises, and playing games like 'Find It'.

My recommendation

Anyone who works with dogs can learn a great deal from Rugaas and can make the dogs they are working with more comfortable!

First published in Menagerie Magazine, May 1999

Don Hanson is a dog trainer and owner of Green Acres Boarding Kennel in Bangor, Maine.

first printed in Menagerie Magazine May 2000

It's a Dog's Life
by Carolyn Clark

CALMING SIGNALS: A DOG'S OWN LANGUAGE

 First impressions

I first came across Turid Rugaas through a slide presentation and talk given by Terry Ryan at the 1994 Association of Pet Dog Trainers' Conference in Orlando, FL. It was one of those times when you see something that you just know is 'truth', something that you know is very important.

I tried to explain the theory of calming signals, without pictures, to my staff back home in Canada. They listened politely but I knew they didn't really get it — that is, until I started to point out what our dogs were doing. We could use the signals and get predictable responses back from our dogs. Now, we could point out to students (and each other) the yawn, the subtle turn away of that dog's head, the averted eyes. Our ability to 'see' improved. As we and our clients learned to use some of the signals, stress and the related aggressive responses of the dogs in class noticeably decreased. Our classes became much quieter, calmer.

Later, I had the privilege of actually meeting Turid Rugaas and watching her work at a five-day Legacy Camp for trainers at Alan Bauman's Center in Wooster, OH. As Rugaas pointed out the postures, the 'signals' that dogs were giving as they worked, I suddenly began to see what had been there all the time! It was fascinating! The audience was affected by Rugaas' calm, quiet manner as she turned away from a dog, crouched, waited and described what the dog would do. Sure enough, the dog did exactly what she had predicted, as though he had read the book. It was like magic!

Over the next few years, I had the opportunity to attend a number of talks given by Rugaas in the U.S. and, in 1999, she accepted my invitation to give a two-day seminar in Ottawa, her first full seminar in North America.

Universal language

The beauty of the calming signal language is that it is universal, subtle and predictable. I recently had a client who brought her five year-old dog for a consultation. The dog has had a lot of training and has earned several titles in obedience. But he was becoming more and more reactive towards other dogs, lunging and barking at any dog that moved. He finally managed to take a mouthful of hair from another dog at the training class he was attending. As I watched the dog, who was very friendly towards people, he was yawning a lot, licking his lips, panting with a tight tongue, stretching into a bow.

When I pointed these things out to the owner, she said she had never noticed. "But come to think of it, he does that all the time at the training class," she said. We now could begin to help the dog by educating the owner about this dog's marvellous efforts to calm himself and control the situation.

Both sides learn

I love talking to groups, demonstrating this wonderful language of dogs. It is exciting to watch a group of puppy owners recognize the moment a pup rushes in to split up a wrestling pair of puppies in an off-leash play session. And then to realize that they, the owners, can do the splitting too.

Especially rewarding is the way that some dogs try to calm their stressful owners at an obedience competition. Recognize the dog that only lags (slows down) during competition. Recognize the dog that slowly gets up and ambles in a curve toward his owner during a recall. It is exciting to see owners suddenly understand. The dog is not bad, defiant, or disobedient. The dog is doing his best to calm himself and his owner, stressed by competing. If people understand this, perhaps they will not feel the need to punish but, instead, will find kind, gentle ways to communicate with their pets.

Broader benefits

Turid Rugaas and her work have helped me and my staff to be kinder, gentler and more patient. We have all become better communicators. In turn, I hope we are influencing our clients to be kinder, gentler and more patient. I know our dogs are less likely to be reactive as we understand how to communicate in a way that lowers stress. The implications of the work are vast. The calming signals are a fundamental part of what a dog is.

Carolyn Clark has been teaching dog owners for over thirty years. She is the owner of Carolark Training and the founder and Director of the Centre for Applied Canine Behaviour in Kanata, Ontario.