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Learning Leadership from Dogs Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 June 2025
Communication and Its Various Forms
There are several kinds of communication that one could discuss in this chapter, and I will do so at length in this chapter. On the one hand, we have the nonverbal variety, where one understands the message being conveyed even without any sound. The other kind of communication is obviously of the spoken variety, where language and sound play their respective parts. Then there is the written aspect of communication, which is what is being used here in this book, after all (at least until the imminently inevitable audiobook, when the medium of communication would shift to the spoken kind of communication. David Tennant would make an excellent narrator, I think, but I digress. Back to the chapter!).
As always, a definition of communication would be helpful before we get deeper into the topic itself. Communication involved the transmission and reception of information, and that information can be received or relayed via different means, be it oral, nonverbal, or written. If there is information that needs to be shared with others, then communication is the way to go about doing so. Now since this book is about how we can learn and improve our own leadership from dogs, I am not going to focus too much on the written form of communication. Sadly, dogs are yet to master the art of writing—there are no canine equivalents of William Shakespeare or J. K. Rowling. Yes, dogs are amazing in the art of listening (well, some dogs are experts in selective listening, like mine when she doesn't want to go back home from the dog park), and that is a huge part of communication too. But as far as the written aspect of communication is concerned, dogs are sadly a nonstarter there. So, let's begin with the nonverbal aspect of communication, which one must admit, dogs are experts in both relaying as well as understanding.
Nonverbal Communication
This form of communication is perhaps one that dogs are masterful practitioners of; many a dog can simply stare into their human's eyes and let them know exactly what the dog is conveying.
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