“Every living thing has a visible physical boundary—its skin—separating it from its external environment. This visible boundary is surrounded by a series of invisible boundaries that are more difficult to define but are just as real. These other boundaries begin with the individual’s personal space and terminate with her or his ‘territory’”.* This concept of physical boundary and territory can be defined as personal space. Space is something that varies greatly from culture to culture and species to species and breed to breed.
Perhaps you've noticed that your adult dog reacts to familiar people and dogs differently than unfamiliar stimuli. Where a dog might curl up with you, their family, on the couch, they may not want to be touched so readily by an unfamiliar person.
Understanding the differences between the breeds is like understanding the difference between cultures. In the US conversational space between two people is between 24 and 36", the more intimate you are the closer you accept people. Different breeds need more space than others too. Working and herding breeds tend to need more personal space. Individuals within a breed can vary outside the breeds norm too. If you see a dog barking anywhere give them as much space as you can, regardless of breed.
Imagine you and your dog are out for a walk and someone asks to pat her. When the stranger approaches, he gives direct eye contact to your dog, reaches over the top of her head to pat her. The stranger's hand is in the blind spot over your dog's head and invading her personal space bubble. The direct approach of unfamiliar people can be intimidating, even if the person intends to be friendly. Who is being rude in this scenario?
How can I see if your dog is uncomfortable in new situations?
Your dog naturally puts her ears back when someone reaches over them. She may also tuck her tail, lick her lips, duck away or back up. These are a few of the early warning signals. As things get more intense your dog may try to hide behind you, shut down, eat grass, jump up, nip or mouth, seem distracted or become crazily active with the zoomies.
If, in this scenario, your dog were to escalate and show the whites of her eyes, pucker her lip, show teeth, growl, bark or snap, she would be sending a bigger warning signals that are intended to stop unwelcome attention. Since we tend to find the dog's behavior unacceptable and embarrassing, we may punish the warning signs. Then the dog may stop giving warning signs and may go directly to protecting themselves with a bite. Warnings happen quickly, people often miss them and trainers and behaviorists will hear "There was no warning!". Learning to read your dog takes a little education and your focus.
The "Doughnut" diagram below shows three comfort zones:
Green - Safety zone, comfort zone
Yellow - Slow down, uncomfortable
Red - Stop! Very uncomfortable
In the green zone, dogs will be relaxed and happy. In the yellow zone, the doughnut shape, they will show early warning signs of being uncomfortable and in the red zone they will show bigger displays of aggression. The zones are dynamic and vary from moment to moment, day to day.
The green zone is the training zone. In the yellow and red zone your dog wants the scary thing to go away and they have more important things to do than obedience.
How can you make your dog feel more comfortable in close quarters with other dogs and people? Training in groups can help decrease the need for space. A dog who has a lot of training around predictable dogs and people learns how to relax in close proximity.
Be proactive to avoid problem behavior
- Think about how comfortable your dog is around new, unfamiliar people, dogs and situations
- Learn to read the language of dogs, the micro-signals of early warnings
- If you have a shy, fearful or even a grouchy dog, keep more space around them proactively.
- Keep them in group training classes
- Keep them out walking in public daily
- Take a Reactive Rover class or private one-on-one lessons if your dog is reactive
Resources
- Living with Dogs will schedule a presentation on canine body language for our students upon request. We also provide group training classes from puppyhood to advanced dog sports and we have specialized Reactive Rover classes for dogs who aggress while on leash. If you would like to know more visit our website to enroll or contact us.
- Dogs Do Not Bite Out of the Blue
- The Yellow Dog Project - tie a yellow ribbon on your leash!
- Dogs in Need of Space (DINOS ) website
- Dr. Sophia Yin's website
- Petting Dogs - why consent is important
- Dog Body Language Poster by Lily Chin
- Fearful Body Language Poster by Lily Chin
- Space Etiquette for Dogs Poster by Lily Chin
Author, Sandi Pensinger owns Living with Dogs in Santa Cruz County, CA, offering a variety of dog training and sport classes in 3 locations around the county. She shares her life with her husband and four Jack Russell Terriers and one foster dog.
*Hall, Edward T. (1966). The Hidden Dimension. Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-08476-5.
