Dogs With Jas

While I love that social media has become so supportive of reading dog body language and being conscious of how dogs communicate with us, the nuance has been completely lost. It is simply not as clearcut as “this is stress, this is joy.”

And it is NOT possible to get a definitive reading on a situation in a 30 second video clip outside of very obvious and extreme situations. Whether it’s a training video, play video, or completely random dog video, I will stand by that same statement.

This is true for a few reasons:

First, all dogs present differently. This can be due to breed specific reasons (ie. german shepherds have a completely different tail set to shiba’s), physical structural reasons, or random specific quirks.

Unless you know a specific dog well enough to know what THEIR body language looks like, everything is only a guess.

Second, context matters. Let’s say a dog is presenting stress signals in a training video. What is that dog’s baseline for stress? Is the training reducing the stress signals over time? Is the dog already a generally stressed out dog?

An ordinarily happy-go-lucky dog that is anxious and overwhelmed in a training video is bad, obviously, but a dog that has SEVERE anxiety issues showing minor stress signals might actually be a massive sign of positive progress. You cannot rule out a snapshot as if the context is irrelevant.

Third, all emotions are two sides of the same coin.

A dog eager to work for a treat is not far off from a dog that is frustrated over not getting it.

A dog that is excited for his ball is not far from a dog that is stressed about when it will be thrown.

Resource guarding often shows positive body language as well as negative body language very close together because the insecurity that leads to guarding is triggered by the enjoyment and value of the item.

Now, that’s not to say body language analysis or breakdown videos aren’t valuable, or that they shouldn’t be made. I myself and constantly evaluating body language subconsciously.

But there must be a distinction between whether a video is being used as a definition or a single example.

This is a post I will be titling Hello Algorithm Sorry For My Absence Please Remember I Exist. For the price of $0 you can help me out by leaving a comment to remind Instagram that you care about my posts. I’m also running a special (2 for the price of 1) in which you can leave TWO comments, also for $0 (😱).

Hate comments are also accepted as long as they’re 5 words or more because that’s what Instagram values.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks. ✨

Cheers!

I don’t know who decided we could just start lying on Instagram, but I am SO sick of posts claiming that “xyz minutes” of sniffing/lickmat/snuffle mat/enrichment toy/etc is EQUAL to some exorbitant amount of time walking, running, playing fetch.

I even saw a post claiming that a CAR RIDE was the equivalent of a walk. 🤦🏻‍♀️

The truth is that enrichment activities do not equal anything except for other enrichment activities. A snuffle mat could be an equivalent to a kong. A kong could be an equivalent to a lickmat. A lickmat could be an equivalent to a sniffing walk.

But in no universe do those activities equal physical exercise. They do NOT build cardiovascular endurance. They do NOT strengthen tendons and ligaments. They do NOT stretch and grow muscle. They do NOT release exercise-specific endorphins.

It is extremely concerning to me to think that there are owners out there that are giving their dog 20 minutes of enrichment time in the living room and then thinking, “Great, that means we don’t have to go for a walk!”

In my opinion, enrichment activities should be seen as an addition to what your dog is ALREADY doing, not a replacement or an alternative.

Your dog needs to go outside. Your dog needs to walk, and yes, needs to do that for more than 30 minutes per day. Your dog needs to run. Your dog needs to build muscle. Your dog needs to stretch their legs. They do NOT need another snuffle mat.

Obviously if the weather is bad or your dog is injured or you are sick, enrichment activities can be used as replacements to supply stimulation for a few unfortunate days. But that should not be something you plan for.

Go outside and walk your dog. It’s the bare minimum of pet ownership.

Shocking, I know, but the worst thing a dog can experience is NOT living outside…

Obviously, that statement assumes that the dog in question is not being abused or neglected. The problem is that a lot of people refuse to understand that living outside in itself is not abuse or neglect.

I am far more concerned with the epidemic of dogs in suburbs and cities that live in a thousand square feet (or less) and whose only activity all day is a 30 minute walk to the dog park and back.

I am far more concerned with the dogs whose owners think a snuffle mat in the living room is exercise.

I am far more concerned with the dogs who spend 23 hours per day lying on the couch doing absolutely nothing.

I am far more concerned with the dogs who haven’t been adequately fulfilled or exercised per their breed specific requirements in months, or possibly even ever.

I am far more concerned with the fact that the majority of dogs I see out and about are massively overweight and horribly undertrained.

Many dogs live outdoors either due to their work (ie. livestock guardian dogs), their lifestyle (ie. sled dogs), their own preference due to breed, or the preferences of their owner. Yes, sometimes in the snow. Yes, sometimes on a chain. Yes, sometimes without blankets or pillows/traditional dog beds (and if you don’t know WHY that is, then you’re not really qualified to be making critiques in the first place anyway).

And more than I am concerned about dogs who always live outdoors, I am FAR more concerned with the dogs that only ever live inside…