Demystifying Dogs' Minds: A Fun-Filled Illustrated Guide

"The World According to Dogs" by Adrian Raeside

Source: Harbour Publishing, used with permission.

Many people who live with or encounter dogs want to know more about them. I often tell them that while we actually know a lot about dogs, there's still much we don't know. They also have told me they want easy but science-based ways to "become fluent in dog" but don't want to read long, jargon-filled texts.

Because they prefer easy-to-read books or pictures, cartoonist Adrian Raeside's new fact-filled and fun-filled book, The World According to Dogs, could be the perfect solution for those folks to learn how dogs "see" the world and sense their cosmos. Throughout his book, Raeside considers and dispels annoying but popular myths about who dogs are, what they like and dislike, what they know and feel, and what they want and need.^1,2

The topics about which he writes and draws include:

• Domestication: All dogs came from a common wolf ancestor, but dogs are not dumb-downed wolves. They're highly intelligent and curious beings.
• Selective breeding: Humans have created different breeds and mixes of dogs to suit their tastes, not the tastes of the dogs themselves. Various breeds and mixes have short, difficult lives, because they can't breathe well, exercise, mate, or give birth on their own.
• The awesome canine nose and the division of labor in their nostrils: Their nostrils can wiggle independently and take in smells separately. Their sense of smell is far more sensitive than ours, and they can mix and sort different odors and exhale the ones that aren't especially relevant to them at a given moment.
• Different facial expressions, and how they're used to communicate what dogs want and need: Most dogs have expressive faces, and combined with whether their teeth are bared, whether they're snarling, growling, whining, or whimpering, the position of their ears—up, down, or flattened against their head—and whether or not their pupils are constricted or dilated, they can communicate different and rather subtle messages, ranging from threatening to submitting and appeasing. The meaning of different facial expressions can also be modified by a dog's posture and gait and what they're doing with their tail—is it up, down, or wagging rapidly or slowly? Messages arising from combining the same or different modalities are called "composite signals," and it's essential to pay close attention to context to determine what they mean.
• Sniffing diseases, contraband, and other things: Because dogs' noses are so sensitive, they can detect diseases such as diabetes, different cancers, and seizures, often sooner than physicians can. They also can sniff out migraines, fear, and stress, and locate bombs and drugs that our noses can't possibly sense.
• Rescuing us when we're in danger: Using primarily scent and sound, dogs are used to rescue people from avalanches, buildings that have collapsed, and other situations in which they need assistance.
• Groin and butt sniffing: Most dogs like to sniff the groin and butts of other dogs and also those of humans. While it's dog-appropriate to do so, many if not most humans do not like to be the recipient of a dog's nose in their private parts, although the dog means no harm or shame. They're just collecting information that might help them decide whether a person is a friend or foe and what to do next. (The dog in one of the drawings below reminds me of a dog I named "Gus the Groiner," who spent a lot of time in a local dog park.)
• Taking dogs for a walk and allowing them to tell you and do what they want to do: Dog walk time is their time, and they must be allowed to exercise their bodies and their senses and sniff to their nose's content, locate sounds that we can't hear, and scan the horizons for other dogs, people, or simply just look around to see what's happening.
• Giving them real love, not tough love: Positive, force-free training is the only way to teach a dog to do something or not to do something. Mistreating a dog can harm them and the relationship you form with them. Of course, a dog might do what you want them to do when you treat them aversively, but they're usually living highly stressed lives and aren't happy or content.
• Helicopter dog parenting: Many people feel comfortable telling their dogs what not to do. Saying "No!" or "Don't" occurs far more often than saying "Good dog."
• Puppy mills: Puppy mills are canine hellholes where dogs are used as breeding machines and then left alone or killed when they can no longer make more of themselves. They've rightfully been banned in a number of different states.
• The depth of their emotional lives, including PTSD: Dogs are deeply emotional beings, and it's the emotions that dogs and humans share that act like "social glue" and help establish and maintain strong, reciprocal, and enduring social bonds.
• Guilt: We still do not know if dogs feel guilt, but I bet they do, and we'll learn that when the right studies are done. One study showed that some people are not good at recognizing a guilty face and often chastise a dog when they've done nothing wrong. This does not mean dogs do not actually feel guilty.
• How we can form and maintain better reciprocal and mutually beneficial dog-human relationships: By becoming dog-literate or "fluent in dog," we can learn what a dog is thinking or feeling at a given moment and do what they want us to do to make them feel welcomed and safe.
• Going to the veterinarian: Getting medical care can be traumatic for some dogs, and it's essential to make the entire journey—from their home to the vet's, while they're there, and the trip home—as pleasant as it can be.

Here are a few examples of some of the above topics I've chosen from Adrian's book, which he has graciously shared. I'm sure they'll make you think about your dog and others you know and how you can further enrich their and your lives: a win-win for everyone.

Source: Adrian Raeside, used with permission.

Source: Adrian Raeside, used with permission.

Source: Adrian Raeside, used with permission.

Source: Adrian Raeside, used with permission.

Source: Adrian Raeside, used with permission.