Why Does My Dog Lay Down When He Sees Other Dogs?

Have you ever noticed that while out on walks your dog lays down when they see other dogs? Well, there can be many reasons behind this. Keep reading to find out what the cause may be behind this and how you can put a stop to it.

Why Does My Dog Lay Down When He Sees Other Dogs?

There can be many reasons why a dog would lay down when they see other dogs. They might feel scared or intimidated. They may be trying to assert their dominance. They may just want to play. But the reason could be serious so knowing this and knowing how to sort it is important.

Is My Dog Scared/Intimidated?

In some cases, your dog may be feeling scared of this dog. You can tell if this is how they are feeling by looking at their head, ears, and tail. If all of these are laying low, it means that your dog is feeling intimidated by something.

Other signs that your dog is feeling scared or intimidated include them turning its head away, yawning, or licking their lips. These are signs they are trying to calm themselves down from whatever is causing them to feel scared or intimidated.

Is This A Play Solicitation Or Something More Serious?

In many cases, your dog laying down when they see another dog could just be play solicitation. However, there are other cases where something more serious may be afoot.

For example, if your dog is laying down but they have its head, ears and tail raised, this means they are feeling dominant towards something else, possibly another dog, animal, or even another human.

Alternatively, if your dog is laying down and its head, ears, and tail are lowered, this means your dog is feeling submissive. In both cases, it’s really important you keep an eye on your dog and possibly remove them from the situation.

How Did My Dog Learn This Behaviour (Nature Or Nurture)?

This behavior is due to nature and not nurture as dogs naturally have their own body language that they use to communicate with other dogs. It is an indication that they are excited to see the other dog and should be an indicator that the dog is in a friendly and playful mood.

It is also within their nature to do this because if they were bred in the past as a herding breed of dog, this is a part of what their ancestors used to do. They may be unlikely to actually try and herd another animal, but it’s worth being wary of this just in case they try to.

Is This Herding Dog Behaviour?

This can be herding behaviour. There are some breeds of dogs that were originally specifically bred for their herding capabilities, so therefore, it’s in their nature to crouch and even possibly lay down because it’s in their nature to herd.

Regarding herding, this is known as eye stalking. Some dogs are quite predatory by nature due to their breed and the sequence for this is search, stalk, chase, bite, dissect, consume.

Of course, as your dog will be a domesticated dog, they are less likely to to exhibit this sort of herding behaviour, but it is still somewhat in their nature to crouch or lay down low when they see other animals.

Why Is My Doing Behaving This Way When It’s Not A Herding Dog?

If it’s not herding behaviour, there are other reasons behind your dog crouching and laying low when they see another dog.

One of these reasons is because they are feeling excited and want to play with the other dog. In this case, they’ll probably be wagging their tail quite a lot and looking quite happy.

Another reason behind this is because they are either feeling dominant or submissive towards the other dog. Look out for the tell-tale signs of which of these it is and either way, try and remove your dog from the situation so no one gets hurt.

Should I Just Ignore Ignore The Behaviour?

In some cases it’s fine to ignore the behaviour as it’s just your dog being friendly towards other dogs and showing that they want to play.

However, your dog may also be lying down as a way to show aggression. It’s all about you knowing your dog and being alert to their behaviour.

If you know your dog is always quite friendly, then they should be alright. But if they can be a bit aggressive around other dogs, it may be best to keep an eye on them and also possibly try and keep them away from other dogs where possible.

You also need to learn the difference between when your dog is feeling dominant and when they are feeling submissive and there are other tell-tale signs along with your dog laying down for which one they are feeling. In both cases, you don’t want to ignore the signs.

If your dog is feeling dominant, their head, ears and tail will be perked up. However, if their head, ears and tail is lowered, this means they are feeling submissive.

You may also want to look at your dog’s back legs. If you can see tension in their back legs, that can either indicate that they want to play with the other dog or that they are about to start a fight. In this case, it is best to keep an eye on your dog for both yours and the other dog’s safety.

How To Stop My Dog From Laying Down When He Sees Other Dogs?

It’s all about the training. If you put the time into training your dog and have plenty of patience with them when it comes to preventing them from laying down when seeing other dogs, it will take time but it will help to put your mind more at ease when out in public.

You can either reward them with a treat everytime they do what you want them to do by gradually introducing them to other dogs and rewarding them for not laying down; or you can have your friends come over with their dogs and train them this way before taking them out in public.

Dog Refuses To Move When He Sees Another Dog (Why & How To Get The Dog To Move)?

One of the many reasons behind your dog refusing to move when they see another dog is because they feel socially anxious towards other animals. This is all down to the training they receive.

Training your dog to be around other dogs is important if you want them to not fear other dogs. Take them to dog training classes as this will give them the opportunity to be trained alongside other dogs and also means they have the opportunity to be socialised.

Dog Lays Down And Pounces When It Sees Other Dogs?

If your dog is laying down and pouncing, this is more than likely them trying to assert their dominance over dogs. Try and remove them from the situation and ensure they get plenty of training so they don’t do it again.

Why Does My Dog Lay Down When He Sees Me

This is more than likely an excited behaviour as dogs are really attached to their owners and all dog owners know that dogs tend to whimper a bit whenever you leave the room.

You can tell they are excitable because they’ll come bounding towards you as soon as you walk in and will immediately lay down at your feet. This will only likely last a few seconds before they start running around again due to the amount of excited energy they have.

Is My Dog A Fearful Crouching Dog (How To Stop)?

If your dog is a fearful crouching dog, it is easy to tell as you will notice that when they lay down, their head, ears and tail are laying low.

Why Does My Dog Lay Down When I Pet Him?

This may be a either your dog showing friendliness towards you, them being submissive towards you, or a combination of the two. They’re friendly because they love you and they’ll be submissive because they see you as their leader.

Why Is My Dog Crouching On Walks?

There can be a number of reasons why your dog is crouching on walks.

One of the reasons may be because they come across another dog and they want to play with them. They may also be feeling either a bit dominant or submissive towards another dog and in this case, you are going to want to keep a close eye on your dog.

How To Stop My Dog Crouching On Walks?

You can start by keeping your dog at a distance from other dogs. Over time you will learn at what distance you can keep your dog where they won’t crouch and will easily follow your instructions. This can be done by paying attention to where other dogs are and keeping them away.

You can also train your dog by finding a way to change their behaviour any time they exhibit the crouching behaviour. For example, any time your dog starts to crouch because they see another dog, find a cue that gets them to stop and look at you and when they do, reward them.

Why Does My Dog Army Crawl To Other Dogs?

If your dog is doing an army crawl to other dogs, this is more than likely them exhibiting signs of submissive behaviour. It can be used as a coping mechanism as they may feel a little afraid of this dog and hope that by army crawling they are either hiding themselves or preventing the other dog from attacking them.

Why Does My Dog Lay Down And Then Lunge At Other Dogs?

This is more than likely a sign of dominance. They may also be trying to protect you. For example, they see you as their leader and they want to protect you from anything they deem might harm you in some way and they might see other dogs in this way.

Typically, dogs will protect the leader of their pack and as you are their leader, they will protect you. This involves training so you can train them against lunging at other dogs just for your own and other dog owners’ peace of mind.

How To Get It To Stop?

The best way to get your dog to stop from laying down whenever they see other dogs is to train them to ignore other dogs. This isn’t something that will happen overnight and will take quite a while for it to happen, so patience is really important here.

One way is the attention and reward method. Start in the house by saying their name and when they look at you, give them a treat. Then move to outside and keep your dog at a distance and when they see a dog, say your dogs name, when they look, give them a treat. Keep doing this and gradually move closer until they can walk directly passed another dog and not stop.

If you have friends who have dogs, you can get them involved in this too. Ask them all to come to your house with their dogs and have you and your dog stood somewhere outside. Then ask your friends to walk with their dogs past you. If your dog doesn’t lay down or lunge, reward them. If they do, say “NO!”, make them sit and if they do this, give them a treat.

Once they master either of these training methods, you should be able to go out in public and have your mind put at ease that your dog isn’t going to try and lunge at other dogs.

References

https://wagwalking.com/training/ignore-other-dogs

Why Does My Dog Lay Down When He Sees Other Dogs?