Preparing Your Dog for Your New Baby" class we teach at several local hospitals, we point out to expectant parents that if their dog gets up and leaves if the baby crawls in the dog's direction, this is a clear sign the dog is uncomfortable with the child's presence. The other side of the coin is that, at least in some circles, fear is cited as motivating behavior even when there are no observable signs of fear. For example, some folks believe that despite offensive body postures, a threatening dog is actually fearful and is choosing an "I"ll get you before you get me" tactic. Because we can't ask animals how they are feeling, we use physiologic and behavioral measures to make inferences about their emotional states. If folks are now claiming we can no longer rely on these indicators then it seems we are back to anthropomorphic guess work in our efforts to determine whether an animal's behaviors are fear related or not.