Tuesday morning I decided to treat myself. I sat down and I “read the newspaper!” But not from an electronic device. This time I actually held AND read the dirty ink absorbed printed publication filled with pages of note worthy information complete with a plethora of germs!

Despite all of that, it was great – a nostalgic moment indeed!

Unfolding, creasing and paging through I stopped at the Health & Science section of the Washington Post, where I glanced over at an interesting heading “Dogs may have a moral code.” Hmmm….

This was an article (written by David Grimm) about the hidden language of dog play…

Grimm started with a description of two dogs meeting at a city park. Once they got close enough, one dog adopted a yoga-like pose which Grimm later described as a “play bow,” right before the two dogs began barking excitedly, doing somersaults  and tugging on each other’s ears…

Harley’s always trying to grab Leo’s ear.

That first paragraph made me wonder if this writer had been watching Harley and Leo…

The chase!

Harley “bows” a lot, so naturally I was intrigued. I nestled down further into my seat, paper in one hand, coffee in the other – and I continued to read.

Grimm said the “play bow” was an “instigation and a clarification, a warning and an apology. Dogs often adopt this stance as an invitation to play right before they lunge at another dog; they also bow before they nip (“I’m going to bite you, but I’m just fooling around”) or after some particularly aggressive roughhousing (“Sorry I knocked you over; I didn’t mean it.”).” 

Oh – this man HAD to have met Harley!…

I read more: Scientists have forever been fascinated by the canine mind. Charles Darwin for instance suggested canines were capable of abstract thought, morality, and even language. Darwin even wrote: “Dogs, understand human words and respond with barks of eagerness, joy and despair.”

This conjured up memories of a blog post I’d written last year about a Border Collie named Chaser who understood more than 1,000 words. I’ve learned valuable techniques from John Pilley and his book when it comes to training and communication tools with both of the Boys…

Leo enjoyed the book too!

Grimm also wrote of another scientist Marc Bekoff who spotted what he called “a number of blink-and-you’ll miss them behaviors, such as a sudden shift in the eyes – a squint that can mean “you’re playing too rough” – and a particular wag of the tail that says, “I’m open to be approached.” As if they are giving signals.

This thought process made perfect sense to me. Grimm wrote and I agree, “such signals are important during play, without them, a giddy tussle could turn into a vicious fight.” 

This is how they play!

This next sentence was an eye opener for me… “humping a playmate during a romp, is often an invitation to nearby dogs to come join the fun.” OMD – are you kidding? This is truly Harley’s M.O. In the middle of a dead sprint, Harley will tackle Leo by grabbing his leg, and then leap on top as if to say “I won, I won”…

I often sit and watch Harley & Leo interact. I yearn at times for a better understanding of what they do and why. Perhaps this is the reason I found the article so interesting. I saw so many similarities.The article is here in its entirety if you’d like to read it.

David Grimm is a deputy news editor at Science and the author of the new book “Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship With Cats and Dogs.” I do believe I shall put this on my Summer reading list. I look forward to turning the pages of this book…

Thanks so much for reading…