Humans are very noisy creatures. We will use a thousand sounds to communicate the simplest things. Our expressions and body language convey much more information and subtlety than our words ever do, yet we are so heavily dependent on our spoken and written words to convey our messages.
When it comes to our dogs, we need to remember they are not noisy beings. I know those with persistent barkers will disagree and I would tell you your barking dog is screaming to try and get you to see them. They have tried communicating with you in their normal way and you didn’t “hear” them.
Try this exercise with your dog. Set up a closed space – a room you can close the door to, a pen, small fenced area. Just a space that has a fixed size and isn’t full of too many distractions. Without saying anything to your dog, stand in the middle of that space and note everything your dog does. Do they sniff around? Look at you every so often? Maybe eventually they sit in front of you and perhaps even bark or whine at you? All of that is communication with you. Them telling you they aren’t sure what you want.
After standing there for a while. Take one step directly towards your dog. Take a step away from your dog. Maybe take a couple steps, if the space allows. What is your dog’s reaction? Do they get closer? Further away? All of this is valuable information.
Go back to standing quietly in the middle of the room. How long is it before the dog comes to you and looks into your eyes?
There are no definitive right or wrong behaviors here. No simple formula for interpreting a dog’s behavior. What is important is how YOU interpret YOUR dog’s behavior? Can you see the subtleties and changes in how they react to you and their body language. The more you SEE your dog, the more your relationship will develop. The more you will realize just how much they SEE you.