No animal in the care of humans should be forced info fear inducing situations if its not absolutely necessary. Doing so constitutes unacceptable abuse as well as heightens the risk to everyone involved. This is why I am truly upset, angry and horrified when a friend just shared with me the latest news about the Belarus entry to the Eurovision. Visuals from the rehearsals show the signer performing with socialised wolves. If you in one snap shot want to learn the body language of a fearful dog look at the picture below from the video. What do you see?

I can tell you what I see: a very scared wolf who – forced (do please note the tension in the leash and the hands holding on extremely tight) by a handler with a leash – can not do what he wants which is to escape this situation. This is indicated by several things but mainly:

• the tongue flicking out licking the nose
• the tucked tail

The people responsible for the care of these wolves should be nothing short of ashamed of themselves. Ignorance may be bliss but  it’s not an excuse to treat animals bad!

You can see the video here. Im not going to dissect this video into all the various clear, distressing and serious stress and threat signals the wolves do throughout the video which are completely ignored resulting in bites . But allow me to share a few:

14 seconds in there is a “cut” in the video, just as the man reaches out to touch the wolf. Why do they cut the video there do we think..? Because most likely the wolf pulled away from his touch as the wolf desperately does not want to be there just as you can see 30 seconds in the the video; one wolf pulling away from the singer as he gets too close and the wolf is simply too uncomfortable.

Shortly after that you see:

• a wolf yawn straight into the camera

Yawning is another signal dogs and wolves use. Whilst it is a very simple, reflexive behaviour it is used with different intent in different situations. But to put it simply, yawning often indicates that an animal is uncomfortable. Here, judging by the novel setting and all the other stress signs the wolves show, the yawn is used as a displacement behaviour showing that the wolf is uncomfortable by the setting and the proximity of possibly both the camera and unknown people.  Roger Abrantes has a great post about yawning here if you want to know more about how dogs use yawning.

1 minute into the video you see the signer sitting down staring at the wolf, something that most dogs even find very challenging as this is what dogs and wolves do when they mean business and want to deliver a threat. The wolf on the other hand, does a very polite canine response; turns his head away from the signer.

This is what polite dogs do when they want to clearly signal that they do not want to come closer and they certainly don’t want to fight. What is the response of the handler?

Of course; with both hands he forces the wolf closer to the signer. What happens next is what always happens when you are so scared that you have nothing left to loose; you have to defend yourself.

Thus if you are a dog or a wolf you bite, cos one way or another you need that distance to the scary person to increase. To ensure that he is VERY clear and can’t be misunderstood the wolf growls and shows his front teeth after the bite.

Next there is a cut and the new visual is the same  scene, singer sitting down in front of a wolf, trying to touch a wolf that CLEARLY does not  want to be there let alone be touched.

Again, to be polite but understood the wolf ignores the person. This is what canines do when they are uncomfortable. They “pretend it’s raining” to signal that they don’t want contact. Then they go “stiff”. This is a clear sign. But the person’s hand just comes closer….

So again the wolf is forced to scream to the person to pull the hand away!! Yes, a canine biting is a canine screaming, “if you didn’t hear me before DO YOU HEAR ME NOW? BACK OFF!! LEAVE ME ALONE”

If you want to teach a wolf or a dog to become a fear-biter then this is EXACTLY the way to go about it; put the animal into a scary situation from which it can’t escape, force it closer to the scary thing and ignore the animal’s clear signals begging to be left alone.

In this news article in the Independent the signer talks about this performance being art. It is not art. It is abuse!

To show what relaxed and happy dogs look like Ive included some images below of our Iggy (small dog) and her English friend Zephyr (big dog); a wolf-hybrid dog as it happens and an absolute gem of an animal with absolutely amazing owners.

Below Iggy and Zephyr signal playful intent to each other with a so called “play bow”.  This is what dogs do before they start to play.

Below you can see Zephyr (big dog) with a very relaxed and calm face, relaxed mouth and ears. Iggy’s tail is high but her body relaxed as indicated by the open mouth. These dogs are enjoying life and each other’s company!

Below, the ultimate show of affection, the hip nudge. When a dog pushes its hip and bum towards you, or towards another dog, it signals friendly intent. Read more about it from the brilliant Roger Abrantes.

I’ve talked before about the importance of reading an animal’s body language correct (blogs in Swedish here and here). This is the main way many species communicate; dogs, cats and horses included.  Understanding dog language, and avoiding the use of punishment in training and handling, is the only way we can avoid dog bites and ultimately protect dogs from the risk of euthanasia.

I will be watching the Eurovision on the 14th of May. Like many crazy Swedes I love the Eurovision. Needless to say I won’t be voting for Belarus.

If you want to get to know Iggy’s friend Zephyr better, or find out why Little Red Riding Hood was a liar, then check out his brilliant Wolf Dog Blog and you can like the Wolf Dog Blog FacebookPage .

Jag är certifierad TTouch Terapeut och COAPE diplomerad Beteendeutredare för Hund & Katt. Vill du ha hjälp med ditt djur, eller boka en föreläsning, kontakta mig på +46 727 312 483 eller milene.wallin@hotmail.co.uk. Du finner mig också på Facebook.  Jag bor på gården Lions of Rabben i Värmland. Vi ses!