Crouching = violence?

[jontiff]

How nice of your neighbor to offer your baby a biscuit over the fence (ha ha). Anyway, I see dogs do this at the dog park ALL THE TIME - and it has never led into a confrontation - I always thought it was smart and very cool to lay back and watch before running full-bore into an unknown situation!

 

[Dublinsmom]

Our 1 year old has done this since he was about 5 months old. I too thought he was "stalking". I asked the vet and he said he is being submisssive. He does this especially with little dogs or dogs much bigger than him. The vet said it is his way of saying " look I don't want any trouble here you can be in charge etc" Its very nice for the small dogs because they can come sniff him and get a polite greeting. Once the greetings are taken care of he's all play!!!!

 

[BroD]

Thank you all for your responses!! I feel much better now. I always supervise Brody in the yard, and I've seen him crouch when our neighbor approaches. It looks to me like he's kind of cowering, but my husband thinks it's more of a play bow. Either way, as long as I can be confident it's not aggression it's all fine with me (I never thought it was aggression, but I still worry anyway). I definately think the problem is not with Brody, but with our neighbor! Brody has been well-trained and well socialized, which is more than I can say for people who screw with someone else's dog over their fence! DH is going to talk to him (I guess I, like Brody, am too submissive to approach the issue) and hopefully that will be the end of it. We'll all be happier once the privacy fence is built. Thanks again for your responses and support!

 

[Biff]

My two crouch down like this if they see someone/another dog approaching, but I think it's more like "an anticipation of fun ahead" thing .
They crouch down like sheepdogs, but the butt is waggling like only a boxer's can!

 

[greenlantern]

"crouching tiger"

King is 7 months and has been a "crouching tiger" since I can remember when we are walking and sees strangers or neighbors approaching to greet him and gets so excited he still urinates when approached. When he first started doing it, I was puzzled. Some neighbors and strangers commented that they were afraid that King looked as though he was getting ready to pounce on them, but when I reassure them that King is just anticipating a greeting and expects to be petted, they are more than happy to comply, making King one happy camper. King expects everyone or anyone to pet him.