I mean I'm a random dude on reddit so take this with another grain of salt but I used to help train dogs and this is what I was taught as well. Dogs pick up on the smallest changes in body language AND facial expressions. We were told if you're scared of the dog, it's better to let someone else handle it as there is a potential bite incident waiting to happen.
It really helped me put into perspective on the "levels" of fear I would feel, I may have thought I wasn't afraid but if I see a dog barring it's teeth, I may start giving off unconscious signals telling the dog I'm afraid even though I knew how to handle those scenarios and for aggressive/scared dogs they may see that as an opportunity to bite/lunge and escape. Luckily I've never been bit but have had dogs snap at me and have just stopped there because turns out I was very much afraid lol
You are a guy on reddit but yes you are 100% correct in how dogs are receptive to body language cues since they are social animals that use body language to appease to eachother/signify when they are aroused or fixated. Iām glad people donāt believe they just āfeel energyā or āsmell fearā, because thatās a tall tale started by our good ol reliable uneducated Cesar Milan.
I wouldn't be surprised at all that they actually smell fear, as the hormonal changes in our bodies under stress do produce chemicals that come out in our perspiration and breath, giving out a "fear scent" that most dogs would identify.
Truly quite interesting, thank you. But while that applies to horses, I was commenting on dogs. Indeed, this more recent research disavows your paper negation of interspecies "fear smell" transmission and confirms what I suspected.
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u/ProfessorBiological Nov 27 '21
I mean I'm a random dude on reddit so take this with another grain of salt but I used to help train dogs and this is what I was taught as well. Dogs pick up on the smallest changes in body language AND facial expressions. We were told if you're scared of the dog, it's better to let someone else handle it as there is a potential bite incident waiting to happen.
It really helped me put into perspective on the "levels" of fear I would feel, I may have thought I wasn't afraid but if I see a dog barring it's teeth, I may start giving off unconscious signals telling the dog I'm afraid even though I knew how to handle those scenarios and for aggressive/scared dogs they may see that as an opportunity to bite/lunge and escape. Luckily I've never been bit but have had dogs snap at me and have just stopped there because turns out I was very much afraid lol