I was walking Ella on a path beside one of the off lead dog areas tonight. Ella was on lead as we were just passing by. As we were nearly out of the park a lady entered with her Collie (off lead). He was an old chap (14 years young) and appeared to be calm and quiet but the second Ella caught sight of him she froze, ears back, tail high, clearly uncomfortable. She then stepped behind me and the pram. As the other dog took a (slow) step towards her she immediately rolled over into a submissive position. Thankfully the owner was great and spotted the behaviour straight away, called her dog before he reached Ella and popped him on the lead. Ella is usually a nutty, bouncy dog when it comes to others. She is generally quite submissive with male dog's but I've never seen her act like this before. When speaking to the owner she mentioned that he is intact and was used for breeding in his day. It occurred to me later that Ella had never met an intact dog before so could this possibly explain her behaviour or is it just one of those things that she happened to meet a dog that she wasn't keen on?
Possibly....although it might have been because it was a Border Collie. I have just been reading about this very thing! Border Collies can, by very tiny movements, convey to another dog a 'stalking' motion - and it can terrify other dogs. The example I was reading about was exactly that one girl dog could be intimidated by just an eye movement of a BC, while others dogs were more robust. If she is submissive, this also might mean she is not as confident as you think she is. A mature dog the constantly shows submissive behaviour at least is feeling a bit uncertain.
And that slow step might have meant what the other owner spotted - and recognised in her own dog - was a BC stalk...
Hmm.. Thanks Julie. I'm a novice at reading dog behaviour! She's a complex little girl as her behaviour is so different around different dogs. Her buddy Hamish (4 year old choccy lab, unrelated but from the same breeder) is her bestest friend in the whole world. They play so well, boisterous, taking turns, growly, then calm and controlled. They snuggle up and sleep together, groom each other (totally adorable) and neither shows an aggressive or submissive streak. Then there's her husky buddy from training. She is bouncy and playful with him and he totally adores her. They spend the whole time play bowing and bouncing around. He growls/howls in the way that huskys do. She will often roll onto her back but he always let's her up, they start bowing and she's always keen for more! Then there's girls. I always watch her closely with girls (who am I kidding... I watch her closely all of the time!) as she pushes her weight around a bit. She tends to be the one standing on top of the poor submissive other dog.
I guess that makes perfect sense! I wonder if they analyse our behaviour as much as we analyse theirs?
More, I think - they constantly monitor every move we make. Poppy is the same as Ella; she is submissive with some dogs and quite bossy with others, depending on how well she knows them (boisterous with a few dogs she knows well, is rather stand-offish with others and can be submissive to big dogs she doesn't know), their age (is kind to puppies but makes sure they know she's The Queen), and their size (always gentle with small dogs). She is also a complex little character! I guess the collie was just sending out some body signals that you could not read, but that seemed strange to her. As Julie says, maybe it was the Collie Creep, or it could have been something completely different!
Another possiblity is the dog has some ailment that Ella can sense that frightens or worries her. At 14 he might very well have something, maybe related to his slow movement. Myself I have seen an obvious disability provoke attacks from otherwise very nice dogs, maybe it can work in other ways too?
I think Border Collies give off some strange signals, they are anxious dogs, at least the ones I have met are. Hattie is the most placid dog but there is one BC which is a failed sheepdog that has set about Hattie twice, so who can blame her for being a bit wary. Hattie is a very forgiving girl and has excellent body signals but when she sees that dog she moves right out of it's way and if that's not possible she walks stuck to my leg on the opposite side not giving it any eye contact at all.
