Aspen crouches into a pounce position sometimes when we see other people or dogs on our walks. He looks like a lion stalking prey. He will also lay down until people get closer and try to jump at them or will just stay sitting. When he does that, sometimes I have to really try to get him up and walking again. He is not aggressive at all. When he decides to leave the crouching position, it is all wagging tails and sniffing. Why does he like to do this?
Wish I knew...Quinn still does it and she is coming up to 2! She either does it when we are coming face to face on leash with a dog she doesn't know (particularly small dogs), or if she is waiting for a dog 'friend' to approach off leash. She does this every morning while waiting for her dog best friend to get close to her, then runs to get him to chase her. Some days she even surprises him, because he doesn't see where she is crouching I've never really done anything about it. If she's on leash, I move to the side and wait for the dog to pass and get her moving with "let's go" and a treat for walking. She usually just watches the dog go by and then gets up on her own. If I think she might try and engage in play while on leash (therefore lunging), I stand in front of her and get her to look at me, and treat.
@QuinnM15 It's so odd! I just laugh because he looks like a little lion cub with his golden fur. It doesn't bother me, I was just wondering if anyone could explain why he does it, but I'm glad to know he isn't the only one! He also gets very excited and the fur on the back of his neck goes up. My boyfriend will go and try to pat it down like a mum fussing over messy hair
@alschwahn , I'd say he probably thinks he is a lion stalking prey! If you watch a litter of puppies playing this is what they do. I'm guessing it's some sort of hunting behaviour which has stayed with them throughout domestication. I'm not a behaviourist or anything close but this is how I interpret it.
I don't know the reasons why, but it freaks my girl out when she sees a dog crouch/lie down ready to pounce. I have to be vigilant when out and about because of this. Her fear is because a collie done this to her three times and viciously attacked her each time.
It can be a sign of submission, especially in a young dog. Trying to show to someone approaching, dog or human, maybe even cats, that he is no threat so please be nice to him. Oban sometimes lies down when dogs are approaching us off leash, one dog, or in one case three dogs. Since Oban is a pretty darn confident dog his breeder and I think with him it's only to show he intends no harm. It's the same meaning but a different reason. The three dogs were funny. They were all Westies, one male and two girls, all related. Oban stayed down while all three came up and sniffed him. His owner was surprised and pleased, saying her male was grumbly and defensive with bigger dogs. With Oban he seemed more surprised. Huh, grumbly isn't a word? I thought it was. Grumble is. Grumbly.
When dogs approach other dogs or people they often use calming signals - which is a way of reassuring the other one that they don't want any conflict. This includes pretending to sniff things, looking away, peeing, lying down, etc. I think the stalking is also a friendly approach. Lucky does this at 3 years old, but not with every dog. Often it is if the other dog is also doing the stalking move and is quite far away, and I think it's usually with dogs he knows. When they are a few meters away from each other they will suddenly leap into play. But, I think the dog could be giving calming signals to say "don't worry I'm friendly" or to say "I'm nervous about you approaching me" - with the second one you might have problems. For example, yesterday we met another uncastrated male dog that Lucky knows. The other dog is not very relaxed around other uncastrated males. The other dog lay down, Lucky started tigger bouncing towards him, then when he was about 3 meters away, Lucky darted to the side, peed, and then the other dog got up and they very slowly took turns sniffing each others pee, circling around each other without ever being face to face. The other dog lies down because he is nervous, not because he wants to say "I'm friendly", and somehow Lucky knows not to directly approach him when he's lying down - despite his initial bouncy enthusiasm about meeting a friend Here's an article summarising some research into whether calming signals exist: http://thebark.com/content/should-we-call-these-canine-behaviors-calming-signals Turid Rugaas coined the term calming signals - I think her book is supposed to be really interesting - I haven't read it though.
Yes it is a very interesting book. Her interpretations and a lot of the observations are of her own dog but nevertheless a worthwhile read. And pictures, it has lots.
Harley does this everytime we come across a dog. She lays down and watches them approach. She is also a confident dog and I really like the fact that she interacts like this. She doesn't roll over or behave in a submissive way, she just calmly waits for the other dog to approach.
Bailey does this too - he is confident and always looking to play - when he sees a dog he knows well it is quite funny watching them both crouch down and slowly approach each other before bounding into full on play! Bailey also does this when he "likes the look" of another dog and we've had quite a few comments from other owners when their dogs come to say hello "oh my boy/girl doesn't like other dogs usually". He looks most offended if the other dog ignores him!
I think sometimes it can be stalk-y and not a positive behaviour. If it's accompanied by staring and a 'poised to run, jump or pounce' kind of posture then I'd discourage it and get my dog to do something else that involves looking away or moving away from the other dog/person/animal. I think that quite a bit of what Turid Ruugas calls calming behaviours are actually stress responses.
