Is it threatening to look a dog in the eyes

Is it Bad to Stare a Dog in the Eyes? (+ What It Means)

There are conflicting ideas about whether its bad to stare a dog in the eyes. Whilst some dog owners, trainers and behaviorists swear by it, claiming that it can help deepen your bond with your pup and make them easier to train, others argue that it will only serve to distress and agitate your dog. I believe theres a reason for these varied opinions; the difference between staring and eye contact with dogs.

Is it bad to stare a dog in the eyes? It can be bad to stare a dog in the eyes as it can scare them and be perceived as a threat. However, scientists have discovered that making eye contact with your own dog can strengthen the bond between owner and canine.

So, that might sound a little confusing, but let me explain as we need to make the important distinction between staring at a dog and making eye contact with a dog. The two things are different. One could provoke a negative reaction, the other, a positive reaction.

Whilst the latter can help you build a more positive, loving relationship with your pup, looking into a dogs eye with a stare can be bad, resulting anxiety and confrontation.

Is eye contact with dogs bad?

It depends on the circumstances, and often whether you know the dog, or its a complete stranger to you. For example, with your own dog, eye contact can be good rather than bad, providing its the right setting and mood. The eye contact should also be short. This means that positive eye contact with your dog should last around one to two seconds.

More prolonged eye contact, which is more how you would describe staring, can have negative consequences. Dogs can see staring as a threat, which will then cause them upset and anxiety.

Do dogs like to look you in the eyes?

Your dog does like you to look into their eyes in certain circumstances. According to a study, it can actually be a good thing (heres the 2016 study).

Results provided evidence that pet dogs did not rely on details of owners direction of visual attention. Instead, they relied on the whole combination of visual cues and especially on the owners availability to make eye contact. Dogs increased visual communicative behaviors when they established eye contact with their owners.

The key difference though is between staring and eye contact.

To give you an example, when two dogs meet in a park, they will rarely make sustained eye contact. Unlike us humans, eye contact is not considered a positive thing. The only time that dog will tend to lock eyes is for the temporary moment when play is just about to start.

Youve probably seen it; if they are both up for the game, the play bow between the two will happen first. They will then make eye contact for a few seconds, which I assume is a form of reciprocation, and then take off and play.

On the other hand, if two dogs meet in a park and lock eyes and stare each other down, its a sign of aggression and means potential trouble is brewing.

And this is all you need to understand; dog eye contact or staring is all context based.

So, if you look a dog in the eyes and dont offer any other visual or verbal clues as to how youre feeling, it could scare the dog and provoke a negative response.

This is why its bad to stare a dog in the eyes, particularly one that you dont know. Strange dogs dont have any prior trust in you and dont know what your intentions are. If the dog looks skittish and on edge, prolonged and direct eye contact is bad and should be avoided.

Its not about dominance

A misconception around dog-human eye contact is its correlation with dominance and power dynamics between yourself and your pet. The truth is, there isnt really any such thing as dominance between a dog and an owner.

Whilst a lot of owners (and some trainers) swear by staring at their dog to assert dominance, the fact is that this is nothing more than a myth.

In fact, the trainer who originally championed this training method has since admitted that the link between staring and dominance is tenuous, to say the least.

Handy Hint: You might also have a problem whereby your dog wont settle, and will instead stare at you all night as you sleep. Heres how to fix that one.

Should you make eye contact with dogs?

But that isnt to say that eye contact cant be an important tool when it comes to training your dog and making them more obedient. It just comes back to making that important distinction between staring and eye contact.

Whilst weve established that staring at a dog could result in a reaction you dont want, science shows that sharing eye contact with your own dog can be beneficial. Another study from 2015 revealed that when a dog looks us in the eyes, we release oxytocin a hormone released when mother dogs nurse their puppies into our bloodstreams.

Findings support the existence of an interspecies oxytocin-mediated positive loop facilitated and modulated by gazing, which may have supported the coevolution of human-dog bonding by engaging common modes of communicating social attachment.

This in turn suggests that eye contact between dog and owner can help to strengthen your bond on a familial level, especially since dogs are able to pick up on their owners oxytocin levels once its expelled through their urine.

As well as strengthening your bond, more eye contact with your dog can be useful because it can help them become more focussed, and in turn help them become better at training and sports.

If distractions prevent your dog from learning new tricks or co-operating with you in agility tasks, training them to look into your eyes on cue can help to gently direct them back to the task at hand and become more disciplined as a result.

Handy Hint: Other studies have suggested that dogs believe owners are their parents. Building up trust with eye contact would certainly support that.

What does it mean when a dog stares you in the eyes?

If your dog is the one making the eye contact and staring at you, you might be wondering what is behind their desire to stare at you. There is more than one reason why they suddenly might be watching you like a hawk, but all of them are important and worth paying attention to.

1. They are trying to read your emotions

One major reason why a dog might find themselves staring into your eyes is that they are trying to read your emotions. It is often said that eyes are the window to the soul, so if you catch your dog staring deeply into your eyes, it may well be that they are trying to look through that window themselves.

Dogs are more intelligent and attuned to human emotion than we sometimes give them credit for, and theyll know that if you seem happy, you are more likely to give them positive attention (and treats!).

This is particularly true if you have previously trained your dog using methods related to positive reinforcement. You might find that your dog stares at you to seek cues that you want them to perform a trick or specific task such as sit or fetch.

As mentioned, if treats or other rewards are often factored into these activities, you can be sure that your dog will be keen to act upon any sign that you want them to perform a trick.

It is also worth noting that with the absence of language, dogs rely heavily on our body language and actions to understand their environment and what could be happening next. For example, if you get out their lead, they will learn to associate that with imminently going on a walk.

Essentially, your dog sees you as their compass, as they study your mood, actions and gestures for signs of you doing something that will impact them.

Handy Hint: In the absence of being able to talk with our dogs, we rely heavily on body language. Heres how your dog can possibly apologize to you using visual clues.

2. They want to tell you how they feel

On the flip side of the coin, your dog might stare at you in order to try and convey their feelings to you as opposed to trying to work out yours.

For example, if they are standing by the back door and refuse to break eye contact, it is safe to assume that they are trying to tell you that they need the toilet.

One thing to be careful of is how your dog stares when youre eating. Whilst it is natural for them to stare out of interest, hunger and a desire for you to share with them, you shouldnt give them food if they stare at you eating.

This will just teach them that if they stare at you long enough, they will get a reward, which isnt a productive or healthy behaviour pattern for them.

Furthermore, if their staring is coupled with unusual symptoms, they might be trying to let you know they feel unwell. If you have any doubts, you should talk to your vet immediately.

Handy Hint: Find out why dogs hate it so much when you blow in their face or on their nose.

Conclusion

Provided that you understand the distinction between staring at your dog and making eye contact with your dog, you can feel confident that through more eye contact, you and your pup can have a deeper bond and become more in tune with one another.

However, if you are out and about and you encounter a strange dog, it could be bad to stare them in the eyes, so please exercise caution.

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I regularly write about dog behaviours and quirks. Here are some related posts you might enjoy.

Canine Body Language The Eyes

Why Your Dog Avoids Eye Contact: 7 Reasons for the Behavior! (2024)

Are you wondering why your dog avoids eye contact? Most dog owners love interacting with and gazing at their pets, but no matter how you like the idea of looking at your dog, they might not be comfortable making eye contact with you.

Why does my dog avoid eye contact? A dog avoids eye contact mainly because of their instincts. Dogs view direct eye contact as a sign of impending conflict or as a threatening or aggression behavior. However, dogs may also avoid eye contact when showing submission or because of fear due to a lack of proper socialization.

Should you worry when your dog avoids eye contact with you? In the following youll discover what causes this strange behavior in dogs and what to do about it.

Why Dogs Avoid Eye Contact 7 Reasons

Direct eye contact may happen while dogs are playing, especially when they want to play chase, but in most cases and instances beyond these situations, dogs purposefully choose to avoid eye contact.

The question is why?

Instinctive Trait

In the wild, friendly eye contact among canines doesnt usually exist. So, if your dog doesnt like to look straight in your eyes, you dont have to be offended.

Remember that its not their nature to willingly make eye contact, and instinct dictates to avoid looking you straight in the eye as much as possible.

An Attempt To Avoid Conflict

Looking straight in the eye rarely happens in friendly contexts for most dogs. Looking straight in the eyes is usually a precursor to a challenge or conflict in the wild.

Its a threatening look for dogs, usually a warning signal.

So, if your pet averts their eyes whenever you try to make direct eye contact, it could be that they want to avoid any direct challenge.

Sign of Submission and Respect

A stare-down with a dog can only end two ways. First, the confrontation can quickly elevate into a conflict.

However, if during a stare-down, your dog averts their gaze and avoids making eye contact at all costs, it usually signals submissiveness.

Fear or Lack of Trust

Eye contact between humans is known to produce the love hormone called oxytocin, and the same powerful hormone is released during eye contact between humans and dogs. You can read more about this hormone in this article from Harvard Medical School.

In other words, your dog will feel the love during eye contact if they are used to doing so and are comfortable with you.

With that said, if there is a weak bond or lack of trust between a dog and a human, a dog will see your eye contact as a challenge instead of love.

View Eye Contact as Threatening or Aggressive Behavior

While humans see eye contact as a sign of confidence, encouragement, and strength, its the opposite in the canine world.

Most dogs consider a staring contest to be a sign of a challenge. Making direct eye contact is often a way of challenging dominance or displaying aggressiveness in dogs.

Interestingly enough, most dogs also view kisses and hugs as threatening behavior, so dont force human displays of affection on your dog if it clearly makes him uncomfortable.

Not Socialized Well When Young

Another reason why dogs avoid making eye contact with people is that it simply makes them uncomfortable, especially with strangers.

It can cause you anxiety to look other people in the eye if you dont know them that well. Its the same thing for dogs.

If they werent socialized well when young, it means they havent learned to be open and trusting with many people or other dogs enough to want to make eye contact.

Guilt

If your dog is fine with making direct eye contact on any normal day but then stops unexpectedly, it could be that your pet knows they did something you wont be happy about.

The thing is, dogs know more than we think they know.

Most dogs know when they will get in trouble for something they did, and they will give you that guilty look stealing looks at you and avoiding eye contact.

How To Teach Your Dog to Make Eye Contact

If your dog avoids eye contact, you may wish to teach him not to. Teaching your dog how to make eye contact will take some time, but it has great benefits for both of you. Heres how to do it:

1. Put your dog on a leash or harness and have a bag of treats handy (try these all-natural morsels).
2. Stand still in front of your dog and wait until he looks up to you. When he does, your dog deserves a treat!
3. If your dog hesitates to make eye contact, consider holding a treat near your face.
4. Once your dog is readily making eye contact, you can start using commands like look at me or look.
5. After your pup learns the look command basics, you can start practicing it in the real world, especially while you both are out and about among other dogs.

Other Natural Dog Behaviors That People Find Strange

Besides avoiding eye contact, humans find other natural dog behaviors, like those mentioned below, weird and strange.

• Eating grass another instinctual behavior.
• Sniffing butts the dogs way of saying hello.
• Rolling in gross things what smells terrible to us might smell good to dogs.

Related Questions:

What Does It Mean if a Dog Growls With Eye Contact?

Prolonged eye contact accompanied with growling communicates aggression.

Dogs displaying this behavior are either providing a very serious warning or have moved past that point and are on the verge of attacking.

Why Does My Dog Put His Paw on Me?

Dogs show their affection differently. If your dog puts his paw on your out of the blue, it could be that they are seeking attention.

If your pooch places his paw on you while you are petting him, it could be a sign that he is showing his affection to you.

Conclusion

Its completely normal if your dog avoids eye contact with you. Its not something you need to force but one you can teach your dog.

Most importantly, you have to bond with your dog to make them feel comfortable enough to look you in the eye.

Last update on 2024-04-25 at 15:41 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API