Body Language Tells The Tail Discussion

Notice how her head position minimizes neck exposure.
Cheryl said: No. From the camera angle, it's hard to tell, but her neck is not held high or low. The front of her body is all about how she feels about Snow White. Could you explain more fully? I find it interesting how close her front paws are together. I've seen that in horses when they're not quite sure; may have been corrected about something, etc. It's not a balanced position.


Good observation. What you say about the narrow stance makes perfect sense. I wasn't sure what to make about it. Thanks.


Other photos I have of Bonita in stalk mode she has a wide front stance, so that probably is about Blondie. The head position shows intent. A post I'm working on has Bonita and Stormy warning off Toby with a similiar head position. They look like football players lining up to kick butt. God, I miss these guys.

Remember that Blondie had Bonita so terrorized that she wouldn’t move towards food when she was starving.
 I'm assuming that Blondie might not have had a nurturing mother or is her relationship with her daughter based more on "the strong will survive?" The female will survive and raise more puppies insuring that the animals will not die out.


My Jan/Feb posts talk about Blondie's mothering style. I think breeding and nurturing style of parent are the key players in how a mom treats her kids. For a while I thought scarcity of resources was the key, then I met a couple of moms who could rival any pampered pet as far as being sweet and concerned. So I don't know is my best answer. I do agree that Blondie and Stormy were not allowing Bonita to eat to insure their own survival.


By the way, when Blondie looked at me before she invited Snow to eat; I said, "Good girl". It was an extraordinary moment for us. I didn't think I needed to share that.

I differ. I realize animal body language is a whole new subject for some as well as your reporting the interactions, the life they live, etc. The photos are a moment in time. The body is, let's say, the last word on the subject or situation. It's the end result of a thought process, EMOTION (feelings), whatever that comes through the neurological system. Previous to what we're seeing, change could have been a little as a whisker twitch-- tighter lips. What we couldn't see, hear or visualize(?) is the nonverbal aspect at the beginning.

Now getting back to your sentence, you experienced or felt that non-verbal conversation. You were one with the dog - LOL. Now maybe this isn't what your blog is about, but as an animal owner it's a cool feeling to experience. One one hand it's like saying "let's go for some ice cream" and Kurt, say "you took the words right out of my mouth." Blondie made a decision and looked for guidance from the leader of the dance.


There are people who can't read or see human body language; there are people who only hear words in black and white; they don't pick up on intonation, etc. all parts of a spoken language. The other part that I've heard is, the telepathy part - words, emotions, pictures are sent before the words get out of our mouths. That's the deeper part we'd like to have to become a better partner with our pets.


At the first clinic I did with Steve, he had us start out with a partner, hands on the hips sort of thing with the person behind guiding the other. It was mass confusion. Besides trying to to not run into or bump into someone, you had a herky-jerky issue between partners. We did little floor stuff and who knows what. At the end, we did the same thing. Everyone was in sync - partners and the group as large. Neurologically, partners were connected and so was the group. You and I had the same thing with Sarge.

 I remember my first Feldenkrais workshop with Steve, what brilliant work. I always wanted to study Feldenkrais movement more, but had all I could handle with the modalities of soft tissue I was studying.


Those moments of “being one with the dog” are so amazing. Being in communication with the satos is addicting for me because they are not trained or conditioned the way our dogs are. When we raise a dog it is with the dog fitting into our house, our lives. These dogs have independent lives. Their primary relationships are with each other. I’m fitting into their lives.
It's studying the essential dog. Our dogs soak up our energy, they become so similiar to their people in the same way people who have been married a long time become similiar. Knowing a dog tells you so much about their human. 
A dog without a human tells his own story. I hope that's not too far out.