The meaning of the non-verbal man-dog dialogue

“He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.” (Sigmund Freud)

Abstract

This article is a summary of a chapter taken from a research study , which sought to examine whether the non-verbal dialogue between man and the domestic dog can create a curative relationship, as well as to examine its affective meaning in the context of Creative Arts Therapy. The questions that were introduced in this research were: (a) Does the non-verbal man-dog dialogue assume curative properties? (b) How do such curative properties manifest in relation to different aspects of the dialogue, such as emotions of love, fear, anxiety or loneliness?

For this research, 19 test subjects were appointed. In order to allow the subjects to freely express their feelings and thoughts, it was decided that personal interviews should be held. In addition, psychodrama and sketching sessions were also implemented for this research.

The findings revealed that the non-verbal man-dog dialogue does bear an important curative effect on the subjects. This is evident in many dialogue aspects concerning love, intimacy, empathy, neoteny, compassion, reduction of anxiety and fear level and reduced feelings of pain and loneliness.

Despite its non-verbal nature, the man-dog dialogue allows curative situations, as it evokes content from the inner-most and deepest layers, constituting a therapeutic process.

The conclusions of this study are to lead to the development of an ecological educational program in different levels, designed for different populations and focusing on the non-verbal man-dog dialogue. Such a program may bring young people closer to their natural environment, through all its different elements.

Preface 

The idea of the non-verbal dialogue has captivated the minds of artists and novelists for many years. Venus’s hand gesture in the famous painting by Titian, or the innkeeper of Balzac’s “Old Father Goriot” are fine examples of non-verbal expressions.

The human verbal language is responsible for expressing patterns of thought and cognitive references. It is a structured and deliberate channel, based on facts. Our body language, on the other hand, resolves to channel and to express emotions spontaneously, with no conscious control.

This article discusses the borderline between the human and the canine non-verbal languages.

In the field of psychology, through its diverse therapeutic methods, researchers would refer to the different aspects of their patients’ non-verbal demeanor as part of their personality. It was, however only in the early 20th century that these aspects were studied in research. Through the years 1915-1945 a large number of psychologists conducted experiments focusing on the correlation between facial expressions and its emotional denotation.

At that period, the subject was further studied by expert researchers in Anthropology. Sapir stated: “We are fairly alert when responding to gestures. Despite not being conscious about it, we all capture the meaning of a gesture” (Mendelbaum, 1949). Nonetheless, anthropologists had yet to attempt the deciphering of such non-verbal messages. It was only in the early 1950’s that several prominent researchers began to lay grounds for theories regarding human non-verbal behavior (Birdwhistle, 1970; Scheflen, 1972; Hall, 1959; Goffman, 1963; Eckman 1969) . Although it is widely accepted today, some restrictions arise regarding the influential importance of non-verbal messages, much due to the exceeding popularity of body-language alertness. Since popular sources are quite accessible nowadays, superficial or simplistic interpretations of gestures are likely to occur.

Non-verbal communications in dogs: 

The canine non-verbal manner of communication is highly evolved, thus Koren (1994). Koren argued that a dog communicates using its body. Its tail, eyes, ears and mouth converse with us, and the posture of the body relays further information to the message (Koren, 1994). The following patterns will exemplify:

The Tail

A dog’s tail position indicates its social status and mood. Certain parameters should be taken into account to understand the tail’s responsiveness, such as its natural pose, that differs among dogs. For instance, if the tail is not stiff, and posed near-vertically, it indicates a listening mode, as looking to see what is happening. A stiff and vertical tail would attest for the presence of a threat or invasion, as though looking to see “who’s boss around here”.

Ears

Like the tail, ears must be examined in relation to their natural state. It would be hard to interpret a message when the ears are either very short or very long. Erect ears or ears leaning forward mean attentiveness or reassessment of a new situation. Should this position be accompanied with a slight nod of the head and an open mouth, it then marks a possible interest in the occurrence, saying “I find this interesting” or “I’m not following through”. Exposure of the teeth, on the other hand is a sign of aggression in a challenging situation. Ears drawn backwards flat against the skull relay the dog is afraid or self-defending. This expresses suspicion and might indicate hesitation, aggression or both combined.

The eyes express two main themes: Domination and Control. Looking into one’s eye is challenging, as saying “Who do you think you are?”. Such a stare relays a conflict and is more common in dominant dogs. Refraining from looking in the eye means: "I respect your authority" or "I ain't looking for trouble" - as an obedient dog would respond to a challenge.

Mouth

Dogs are incapable of as diverse communication using their mouths as humans are, but some of the expressions they make are quite significant. A limp and slightly open mouth, with the tongue peering through the canine smile, does go to say: "I'm happy". A yawn makes the least comprehensible of the dog's expressions. It is sometimes regarded as a sign of fatigue or boredom, but it is actually a sign of tension or anxiousness.

Body and paws

Dogs utilize their paws and body to relay a wide variety of feelings. In this case as well, these messages are mainly social. When a dog lies about, stretching its paws forward, back arched, hind legs standing straight and holding its head close to the ground, this suggests a classic bow, saying: "Let's play". When the dog is upright with paws standing firmly, or moving around rigidly, this asserts authority, a dominant dog ready for combat, saying "I'm boss around here, let's see what you got". If the body is slightly curved and paws are bent, this means "I accept your challenge and I'm up for the fight". If the dog rolls sideways, it means: "Let's not fight", or "I don't mean to threaten you" – this is a gesture trying to avoid confrontation. Many dogs act this way when they are relaxed. When the dog places its head or paws on another dog's shoulder, it is saying: "I’m gonna make you see who's boss around here".

Investigating non-verbal behavior and deciphering these messages rely on several factors, such as the current place and scene, participants, timing, relationship with the owner, etc.

Non-verbal expression of human emotional content

Our body language exhibits a Non-verbal expression of emotional content. Emotion is by nature immeasurable and imprecise. However this does not diminish its value as a communicative and therapeutic instrument. Modern society's stress on words, together with the progression of rational methods diverts the attention from emotional life, which is exhibited as said, in one's body language.

Anyone attempting to thoroughly understand an individual's emotional life should pay attention to their body language. The regard of the non-verbal fabric leads the way to a better comprehension of better hidden and less conscious layers of personality. (Fast, 1972; Wainwright, 1988; Raam & Raam, 1995).

The human verbal language is responsible for expressing patterns of thought and cognitive references. It is a structured and deliberate channel, based on facts. On the other hand, our body language carries and relays emotions spontaneously, with no conscious control. This channel deals with the "How": How can a person strain their body and hold it in a position? Their movement and posture reflect their emotional mood.

Our body language is highly rich and complex. Much like the way we learn new languages, learning the body language combines theory and practice, by observing and exercising. But unlike the systematical apprehension applied by learning methods customary to modern technological society, learning our body language requires a different thinking strategy. It is not a rational method, much as emotional life is not rational.

Body language makes up a clump of visual metaphors which signal messages about a person's inner world. A tightly closed fist, for instance, is a metaphoric reference to an irritable or nervous state, tending to erupt. Open arms are a metaphor to an open and accepting emotional life. Our body language is multi-disciplinarian, and requires a holistic approach to master. Our verbal language is functioned by the left hemisphere of the brain. Body language is functioned by the right hemisphere, so a "right brain" way of thinking is required to understand it. Body language is also perceived as an additional linguistic means to the verbal language.

Similar gestures in infants and dogs

According to Koren, psychologists believe that infants who just started walking attain linguistic capabilities from the moment they begin responding to their own name being called, turning their head to the person who called it. The receptive linguistic ability, or otherwise, the ability to understand verbal language and non-verbal signs is the first measure for linguistic development. In addition, although a child first articulates words around the age of 12 months, psychologists argue that the baby's cries and other sounds made by it, do carry a lingual communicative content, as these sounds and gestures express feelings of pleasure or fear, thus relaying the infants’ needs. The first sounds actually come close to words. Others relay expectation, excitement, etc., incredibly similar to sounds made by dogs in similar circumstances.

For instance, MacArthur's Communicative Development Inventory is a scale used to assess linguistic development of infants and includes a full chapter discussing communicative gestures, which count as linguistic expressions. Among these gestures are object pointing, waving goodbye to a parent walking out, lifting their arms when the child wants to be carried up and using lips to convey food enjoyment. Koren argues that canine gestures are, in terms of their complexity, identical to those of infants.

According to Koren, like infants, dogs comprehend much more than they can produce. They can normally understand information about the environment and our expectations from them. A child reaching his hand when verbally prompted to do so reveals to us some linguistic abilities. Therefore, a similar response by a dog should suppose a similar linguistic ability. Both infantile and canine languages are mostly social, attempting to gain a response by others. The canine language is slightly more complex than the infant's, as it emerges from the will to communicate, gain status or obey. Such desires will only be understood and uttered by the infant after several years.

The comparing of a baby's talk and a canine expression ends when discussing grammar or sentence structure. In human language, this means word order transformation. Around the age of two, babies begin using a two-word-sentence and comprehend the first sentence structure rules. Dogs do not seem to have any recourse to grammar. They treat a series of sounds as a single linguistic unit.

Koren writes: "What is the canine language in human terms? The canine language is a receptive language, comprising of an estimated 65 items (words or phrases) and 25 gestures or signs. Thus, the dog's vocabulary consists of 90 linguistic items. Its productive language consists of 25 sounds and 35 visual and body-language signs. There is no proof of grammar usage or regard by dogs. Were they infants, their linguistic ability would measure as that of an infant, aged between 18 to 24 months" (Koren, 1994).

Non-speech related aspects of language

Language has always been assumed to man alone. Descartes wrote about linguistic ability being a trial of intelligence to animals, claiming animals have no language. A breakthrough was reached by Allan & Beatrice Gardner who held knowledge of previous attempts to teach speech to chimpanzees, by way of daily exposure to human language. This grand success resulted in a primitive vocabulary of four words. The Gardners held that their failure to teach language to animals arises from the trainers' expectations that these animals should speak. Since most primates (thus including dogs) do not possess the same amount of control their tongue, lips or vocal strings as humans do, it is not to be expected of primates to be able to produce speech, despite them having sufficient intelligence to master different aspects of the language, aside speech. In order to circumvent the physical aspect of language, the Gardners began teaching American Sign Language to the chimps. This language is used by deaf people to communicate using hand gestures. The chimps are quite talented and can master these signs. The first chimp that was tested accomplished to learn more than 150 signs, creating simple sentences through observing rules of grammar and expressing her own ideas, having attained a linguistic capability identical to that of a child aged 2.5-3 years.

It appears that the best way to determine the existence of language in animals is to examine it in terms of infant language. We assume linguistic capability for infants who have learned only few words but can convey their will. Webster's Tenth New College Dictionary defines language as "audible, articulate, meaningful sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs ", but also as "a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings". The latter definition is applicable to what we have discussed here concerning language.

The initial stage of language acquisition is the receptive stage, gaining an understanding of language, not its production. The ability to produce sounds to communicate with others is a more advanced stage of language acquisition.

Milton Erickson was 17 when he was diagnosed with Polio. He became paralyzed and had to learn fundamental movements, which is actually the process infants who learn to walk undergo in their second year. Observing his year old sister, Milton learned how to move again. He tried to readjust himself to his body sensations and recreate the movements and gestures he had been capable of, prior to his disease. The direct result was a partial recovery of his ability to move. Indirectly, he developed intuition and sensitivity to movement, which according to Erickson is an expression of our very essence.

"We make these slight movements which tell everything to those who witness them. A major part of communication is conveyed through our body rather than our mouth".

He adds further:

"My insensitivity to variation of sounds forced me to pay more attention to changes of tone and rhythm. Therefore I am not very much influenced by what people are saying. Many basic characteristics reflect in the way people speak, rather than in the content of their speech".

This sets the border line between the canine and human non-verbal languages. We focus on the non-verbal dialogue between man and dog and its human-like characterization. Like humans, dogs also use non-verbal codes to convey emotion, while humans have the ability to translate the dog's messages (Koren, 1994). Learning the body language is not done by a rational method just as emotional life is irrational. The body language is a gushing fountain of visual metaphors conveying messages for both the dog's and the human's inner worlds.

There is an inclination (Koren, 1994) to compare canine language to infants'. In fact, the language produced by dogs is slightly more complex than the one produced by babies. Milton Erickson (1968) stresses the importance of intuition in gaining the skill of understanding body language.

We have yet to discuss expressions of love, empathy or compassion in the non-verbal man-dog dialogue. That is to be discussed at another time.