Dog Pawse

LINCOLN - Do you know what your dog is trying to tell you?

Do you want to communicate with your dog?

Tracie Laliberte Bailey is an acute observer of dogs and one of the few people in the country - the only one at Salve Regina University - working on a doctorate of philosophy about dogs.

"One of the greatest problems with having a dog is that you forget it's a dog and that it doesn't communicate in the same language," she said.

Bailey, who grew up in Norton, Mass., and lives in Attleboro, got interested in dogs as a child. Back then, her mother volunteered to work in her 3rd-grade classroom and became friends with her math teacher, who was an exhibitor of show dogs.

It didn't take long before Bailey said she, too, "got bitten by dogs, so to speak," and began showing dogs. Eventually, her family opened a full service kennel and grooming salon.

Now 42, she has 33 years of love and experience in the professional field of dogs and enjoys helping other people communicate with their dogs.

Why is this important?

Understanding what your canine is communicating goes a long way in enriching your relationship with your pet, she said, adding, "a good relationship can become more solid."

On Monday, Feb 2 at 6 p.m., she will present a 90-minute to two-hour, interactive program at Lincoln Public Library called "Communicating with your Dog."

Bailey said that dogs interpret people's actions differently from what was intended.

Take dog kisses.

A pet owner may think the dog is licking your cheek and kissing you back.

In all actuality, the dog's response to a person's kisses is "instinctual behavior," said Bailey.

"In dog language that could be one or two things," she said.

Licking your face is the same response as when a puppy licks its mother's face to get her to regurgitate her food and feed him.

For dogs in the wild, kissing the cheek is an indication of acceptance of the other dog as leader.

How about this scenario: a child runs up to a strange dog and hugs it. The human response, simply put, is that this is a show of love.

According to Bailey, in canine language, this hug means: "I want to dominate you."

In another example, a dog may lie down when a male with a loud, gruff voice speaks to it.

People typically figure the dog's reaction means that he is afraid.

Not so, said Bailey.

"The dog's not afraid," she said. Rather, "the dog is showing submissiveness," Bailey said.

"It's all fascinating," said Bailey, who will also discuss body language - that's dog's body language. Then, there are the seven to eight different dog "barks," each with a different meaning that will be discussed.

Bailey will not be bringing a dog to the lecture but she will bring an armload of books on dogs.

When not teaching public speaking and literature at Rhode Island College and Fisher College - she has a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's in humanities - she's working on her dissertation.

The subject of her dissertation: the connection between the family dog and human spirituality.

"I'm examining the human side of our relationship with the domesticated dog," she said, adding that "most people don't make the connection that Rover is actually a human-constructed technology which also offers an array of physical, psychological and spiritual benefits."

She also writes a column about dogs for the Sun Chronicle.

She promises her lecture at the Lincoln Public Library will not only be informative but fun.

"My goal is for people to enjoy the learning process," she said. She always expects to answer a lot of questions that people have.

For more information or to register, call the library at 333-2422, ext. 22 to reserve your seat.