Calming signals

A term used in dog training literature to describe a set of low-arousal behaviours that some authors interpret as deliberate communicative signals intended to reduce social tension.

The behaviours typically included as calming signals overlap substantially with what other authors describe as displacement behaviour or conflict behaviour: yawning, lip licking, looking away, slow movement, head turns, sitting or lying down in tense situations. The concept was popularised by Norwegian trainer Turid Rugaas in the 1990s and has been widely adopted in applied dog work.

The empirical status of “calming signals” as deliberate communicative acts is contested in the academic literature. Some studies have provided evidence consistent with the interpretation (dogs producing the behaviours in tense social situations, behaviours appearing to reduce tension when reciprocated by another dog). Other authors interpret the same behaviours through different frameworks (stress signals, conflict signals, appeasement displays) without committing to a deliberate-communication interpretation.

The practical implication for handlers is largely the same regardless of which interpretive framework is used. The behaviours indicate that the animal is experiencing some form of internal conflict or social tension, and the handler can reasonably respond by reducing pressure, providing space, or otherwise adjusting the situation. Whether the dog is “deliberately signalling” or “showing displacement” matters less for practical handling than the recognition that something is going on in the dog’s experience.

The term has been applied beyond dogs to other species, particularly horses, though with more limited research support. Some authors describe horses as showing “calming signals” in social or handling contexts; others describe similar horse behaviours through different frameworks.

Worth knowing about because the term is in widespread use across companion animal work and across some equine training communities. Practitioners encountering the term should understand it is associated with a particular interpretive framework that is not universally accepted in the academic literature, while recognising that the underlying observation (that animals produce certain low-arousal behaviours in tense situations) is well established.