Take your dogs "T.E.M.P"
&
"The Meme Game"
What does taking my dogs “T.E.M.P” mean?
“T.E.M.P” is an acronym originally created by the late doctor Sophia Yin.
T.E.M.P stands for “tails, ears, mouth, posture”. Dogs can't communicate in the way that is easiest for us to understand, but they have many ways to express what they are feeling. Understanding how to better “listen” to what your dog could be expressing could save a life. Many people think “oh the dog's tail is wagging, I can pet him”. When my dog Kiba was younger and greeting people, she would display one of two tail wags. If she knew the person she had a very loose, full body wiggle wag, if she did not know the person, she displayed a very low, stiff wag. One of those two wags could have ended in a bite.
Many times, when children go to the hospital after they are bitten by a dog, the parents say “Oh he bit so suddenly, there was no warning!” If you train your eye to understand what your dog is communicating, you may be able to spot the warnings.
Other times the warnings were suppressed, “no growling fluffy, that's bad!”.
PLEASE NEVER punish a growl! In no circumstance is a growl ever a bad thing. With tug it's a common sign of joy. Other contexts of growling may say “I am uncomfortable with this situation, I need to get out”. PLEASE do not punish this!!! Your dog is politely telling you his boundaries, if he is only growling he is making an effort to hold back.
If you tell him not to growl, he might just stop giving you that precious warning, and all that's left is his bite to communicate.
The following are two of my favorite free public use videos on youtube doing a deep dive on this. Understanding your dog's T.E.M.P is one of the most critical first steps in your journey together.
These two videos give so many wonderful examples from Kris Crestejo so snag some tea, and enjoy!
Maybe you have resource guarding, reactivity, over-exuberance with greeting new people, aggression, fear, or maybe a family dog who does not want the kids climbing on his back.
Understanding your dog better is the first step to bite prevention, and probably the most important.
On a quick note, I want to add another common signal… “stress itching”.
Stress activates the immune system to release histamine. Histamine plays a role in signaling itch sensations. When police interview a suspect, and the suspect gets itchy, they can take note of it as a stress signal. Neat huh?
The Meme Game
The whole family is encouraged to play "The Meme Game"!
Grab a snack and throw on some funny animal videos online. Set a ten minuet timer and see how many from the list you can cross off before the timer rings!
Younger children may need help from parents with a little more hand holding. Try asking young children "Do you think this dog is happy"? Follow up with things like "Why"? Help your kids learn body language so you can reduce the risk of a bite even if you are not around to supervise them.