Today, i randomly stumbled upon this article in National Geogaphic from 2003 (I was looking for some nice pics for my visual arts project, so it was completely random).
And on one of the pages about animal attraction and mating rituals, there is a picture of two ibexes, a male and a female, and male has such a posture that, if he was a dog, I would say is totally calming towards other animal: tongue flick, one leg up, horns (ears...) back. And I read the desription of the picture and it say:
"Tongue flicking and horns back in a gesture of peace a low stretch and leg raise..."
I found this very interesting: similar calming signals in two completely different animals. And while horns/eares back do, I guess show some kind of submissiveness and therefore say: "I'm not dangerous", what about the tongue flick? doues it in both species relate to behavior of puppies/ baby ibexes?
Can we find these behaviors in other species, too? If yes, in how many? How universal is it?
I actually have a cat that
I actually have a cat that talks very well with Calming signals.
My dog is under educated in the use of them or understanding them with other dogs.
Cats are said to use them far more softly then dogs so you may not notice. My cat will freeze or yawn if the dog comes near and I have seen her lip lick as well. Which makes my dog slow it down.
My cat uses calming signals in a more observable way to deal with the dog.
As she uses them more with her I have noticed my dog using them more.
Joy