It would be interesting if you could tell us why the original statement was made (in what context)?

what conference was this?

Generally speaking, it can sometimes be harder to read some dogs such as rotts and akitas (the main two that come to mind). I think this is because - they don't seem to always give off as much body language as many other dogs.

~Some dogs are actually better at communication with humans than they are with other dogs (process of domestication). Other dogs are just not that easy to read - perhaps they are further away from the more natural breeds and so physically find it harder to do so.

Some individuals of that breed will be more adaptive and communicate well, others won't.

If a person is good at reading signals and is living with such a breed, they would perhaps find it much easier to read them? I am not sure, but I suspect this may be true.

Well that's my take on it, anyway

Wys
x

It's really not relevant to my question. But it was an ex-police dog trainer who was the speaker and police dogs were discussed, GSDs and Rotties were mentioned.
Also I chatted to a Rottweiler owner during the break.

I once was looking after a Boxer who was food possesive (I had not been told this) but she attacked one of my guys with (from what I could see) no warnings...

As I got to know her I could see the twitching on her jowls (she was not physically capable of bearing her teeth) and (looking at her from behind) could see her hackles raised...and (as she was docked) the different tension in her tail. BUt it took my by surprise as it was hard (not knowing her) to see her warnings due to her physical shape/

I agree with you here. Akita warning signs can be so subtle that many miss them. Sometimes it is just the raising/dropping of the tail by half an inch that can indicate that they are not happy so back off

I remember reading a breed specific book about the Akita (will have to drag it out from its hising place) that actually states that Akitas do not growl before they attack and that an owner really needs to know their dog extremely well to know when it is unhappy about anything.

I have just been speaking to someone on a different forum about the Fact her Akita has just attacked and gave no 'warning' (she had her back turned and did not hear anything - aka - a growl)
Very interesting to hear you say this.

I think people also tend to expect a growl, see teeth bared etc when actually theres a lot of subtle signals apart from that.....I suppose in some ways its harder to read an akitas tail, for a non-akita person anyway and with rott's being docked, people may not see that the tail has just gone straight in the air..

but if she had her back turned she wouldnt have seen the physical signs if there were any, I dont think we should all assume that a dog will growl beforehand, usual yes but who told a dog thats what you do?

I totally agree with this 100% - I can say that they definitely DO give signs, perhaps they just aren't getting them 'read' properly. They are extremely efficient no-nonsense guards.

None of the Rotties I've owned have been gobby barkers. Marius is a good example, if he hears something awry he goes right to the area of the noise and stands stock still, his hackles will go up and he stiffens his pose, tail straight up and listening intently, his whole body looks rigid in typical show-pose. He growls very softly, sort of under his breath type of thing. If he then feels the need to follow this up and be protective of the house, like if a stranger is about outside at night, he does an explosive bounce up and down in the same spot whilst barking and growling. Believe me it is very intimidating, but the warning signals are quite clear.