Stop Staring

Making eye contact or staring is considered rude in the dog world. Not making eye contact is rude in the human world (although we usually still consider staring rude.) This can cause a wealth of misunderstandings. We naturally look dogs in the eye, just like we do with humans or really any thing with eyes. This causes dogs to feel scared or attacked. Often they turn their heads or back away. We might think our dog isn't paying attention. Or we might keep looking or move forward further upsetting the dog. These two natural instincts just don't combine well.

As the human part of the equation, we can train ourselves not to look dogs directly in the eye. When we do, we can make sure to move on quickly. We can also teach dogs that when a human looks them in the eye, it isn't a bad thing.