Odin-Genie Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 My dogs constantly demand eye contact. I've trained them to look at me when they need to focus. However when I'm petting them, massaging them, I also have to look at them. If I have one dog on each side, and massage both of them I have to also make eye contact with both the dogs at regular intervals. Otherwise the one I'm not looking at behaves as if it's left out even if the dog is lying down with its head on my lap. Is that normal dog behaviour? I thought dogs don't like a lot of eye contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 (edited) Sounds pretty normal to me. Although letting my dogs 'demand' my attention is not something I do. My dogs love eye contact with me, and clearly find a shared gaze reinforcing. They don't like strangers staring at them with a 'hard' look which is also pretty normal I think, staring at a stranger is unfriendly in both dog and human language and can be risky with a dog with a low threshold. I think that the caution about eye contact is really about dogs you don't know - dogs respond differently to trusted family. Edited May 31, 2012 by Diva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nawnim Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 (edited) ... Edited May 31, 2012 by padraic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I read somewhere that the smaller, 'lap-dog' type dogs have eyes positioned to be rather 'human'-like as they focus on a person. I don't know the truth of that, but the way tibbies look straight into your eyes, was what attracted me to them, in the first place. I was at the Brisbane Royal and walked into a couple of rows of small dogs that calmly looked me straight in the eye. I asked what breed they were....& a couple of months later, I owned one, a tibbie. After years of owning pet tibbies, I still love how they do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin-Genie Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 (edited) Sounds pretty normal to me. Although letting my dogs 'demand' my attention is not something I do. Yes...I have a spoilt goldie who whines if I don't look at her. It starts with a really slow pitiful sound. And yes, she does get eye contact when she does that. My other dog would keep looking at me with soulful eyes till I look at him. I give in to that too. Note: Edited to correct spelling!!! Edited June 1, 2012 by Odin-Genie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W Sibs Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I wouldn't say Charlie or Em demand eye contact but they love watching me. They've both done this since they were puppies. Charlie demands are usually very vocal and Emmy likes to pat me when she wants attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Sounds pretty normal to me. Although letting my dogs 'demand' my attention is not something I do. Yes...I have a spoilt goldie who whines if I don't look at her. It starts with a really slow pitiful sound. And yes, she does get eye contact when she does that. My other dog would keep looking at me with soleful eyes till I look at him. I give in to that too. This is my dogs, Lili will just stare at me till I look at her, she's intense :laugh: , and Mo will stare at me and if I don't look over paw at me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Our family (the hoomans) have a "who blinks first" game, the dogs also play this now! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Wouldn't say my dogs demand it but they have always been rewarded for eye contact so will seek eye contact for various reasons. My girl is very intense and during training sessions when I am listing to the instructor talking will sit and just stare at me until we are ready to go doesn't whine or paw just patiently stares, I've never trained her this way, she has always just naturally had a weird intense focus. I've read that eye contact is a dominant thing but two of my dogs that do it are so far from trying to dominate me it's not funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korbin13 Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I think that like a lot of things it is all about context. I can stare at my dogs and they can stare at me, they are used to it, they don't see it as a challenge, they have been rewarded for it in the past. It's a good thing. But when greeting a strange dog, I may make eye contact but I wouldn't stare at it. Definitely wouldn't stare at an unknown aggressive dog and would avoid all eye contact actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimiss Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Haha.. This sounds like my Pomeranian. If he wants eye contact he will fidget and grunt/woof until he gets it :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Mine will sit and stare at me if I'm lying on the couch watching TV... and they stop when I reach over and start scratching them... I don't have to look at them to know what makes them stop the staring... *grin* When I've given them a good five mins of scratching, I pat them 3 times on the scratching spot and say "Finish", and they move over to their couch and let the next dog come in for her pat... there is no particular order as to who gets first in line for the pats either. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantis Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Sounds pretty normal to me. Although letting my dogs 'demand' my attention is not something I do. Yes...I have a spoilt goldie who whines if I don't look at her. It starts with a really slow pitiful sound. And yes, she does get eye contact when she does that. My other dog would keep looking at me with soleful eyes till I look at him. I give in to that too. My Kenny used to push my arm up with his head if I was on the computer, or put his paws on my lap when I was watching TV, damn spoilt dog, but would I have had it any other way, nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin-Genie Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 Sounds pretty normal to me. Although letting my dogs 'demand' my attention is not something I do. Yes...I have a spoilt goldie who whines if I don't look at her. It starts with a really slow pitiful sound. And yes, she does get eye contact when she does that. My other dog would keep looking at me with soleful eyes till I look at him. I give in to that too. My Kenny used to push my arm up with his head if I was on the computer, or put his paws on my lap when I was watching TV, damn spoilt dog, but would I have had it any other way, nope. :laugh: :laugh: So I'm not the only one with spoilt demanding dogs But I love it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Eye contact is rewarding for dogs in the right circumstance- usually when the dog wants attention. Also the person has to be somebody of value to them, most dogs don't take well to be stared at by a stranger who means nothing (possibly even has negative value) to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin-Genie Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Eye contact is rewarding for dogs in the right circumstance- usually when the dog wants attention. Also the person has to be somebody of value to them, most dogs don't take well to be stared at by a stranger who means nothing (possibly even has negative value) to them That's interesting. I haven't seen any dogs making eye contacts with other dogs, even those who know each other really well, except when they are playing or doing something with each other. They never really just look at other dogs. This behaviour seems to be reserved for humans. However, while we do train dogs to look at us when they need to focus, I at least never tried to train them to look at me when we are relaxing. So where do they get that soulful look from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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