I'm always on the look out for behaviours which are kind and respectful to reinforce. One important behaviour that I see all too many people overlook is the "look away".
The second I see one, I'm always checking to see what the other dog/person does in response to it. If there's any indication that they're not going to respect it, I intervene and try to time it so that the sender of this "look away" is reinforced for not following through with a more overt display. At the same time, the receiver also is reinforced for not pushing the interaction further.
The "look away" is one of the benevolent, cut off signals that should be respected. It can be as subtle as the eyes flicking away in the opposite direction or as overt as the complete head turning away.
So many dog fights and bites would never happen, if people would just reinforce the "look away" and teach the pushy dog or ask an unaware person to respect it.
Here's my own crew doing a great job....
Keegan my Aussie is so cheeky but from day one, I knew as a puppy that he'd grow to be 4times George's size so I have always been around to reward being respectful and it's paying off. Kee still has some growning up to do but atleast he's on the right track. I think it's sweet to see him give it his best shot...but even sweeter to respect another dog's request for space.
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