Dog-to-Dog Greetings
I'm hoping for some feedback here.
Most of the "dog body language" resources I have seen indicate that when dogs greet other dogs, the more submissive dog will be the one to lay his ears back against his head.
Well, Jack has always greeted other dogs with his ears plastered flat back against his head, back end waggy and loose, generally back end lower than the front end.
The thing is, he's one of the most dominant dogs in the large group of dogs we know. He adores other dogs. He likes to hang out with them, wants to say "hi" to every dog he sees (except the ones giving clear "back off" signals-- he is good at reading other dogs), and loves to make new friends. He only half-heartedly plays with most dogs any more (When he was under three he wanted to play all the time. Now, not so much). But he genuinely enjoys their company. And he is pretty much boss-dog of the group. There are maybe two dogs he shows submission to; one is a German Shepherd that probably weighs over 100 pounds, the other is a similarly huge Lab, and both of them are male. Otherwise, most other dogs show subordination to him.
Here's a typical example: he spies a female lab we know. He runs up to her, ears back against his head, eyes shining. She flips over, shows her belly, he sniffs her, they get up and bounce for a minute and then he wanders away to sniff and roam.
Or, he greets a young Aussie with ears back, they wander their separate ways, the Aussie starts running around and barrels into Jack. Jack corrects him, loudly but with no contact. The Aussie comes up, crouches low, licks the corners of Jack's mouth. Jack deigns to sniff him and play-bow to say all is well, and then they wander their separate ways.
If a ball or frisbee is thrown in a group and Jack wants it, Jack gets it.
So in every other way, he seems to be one of the more dominant dogs. Yet--- all greetings are done with ears well back.
Anyone else notice this? Maybe the dog body language stuff online is over-simplified? I think Jack just enjoys meeting other dogs so he goes in with body language that says "I come in peace" or something like that. Maddie, who IS submissive, usually runs right up to other dogs with her ears forward. It all seems backwards from what I've heard.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Thank you, that makes sense! You are right that it's complicated. For instance, I had heard often that yawning is a calming signal, often a sign of stress in dogs. I couldn't figure out why Jack sometimes yawned when he hardly seemed stressed. Then I realized it was often in circumstances where what he wants to do conflicts with what he knows he should do. So, if I put food on a plate on the coffee table, it might elicit a yawn. "I really want that food but I know I can't touch it. Darn!" Oddly, Maddie rarely yawns.
Is that stress? Well, technically yes: a conflict between desire and responsibility is a form of stress. On the other hand, that's the sort of stress that people go through every hour of every day as a normal part of social interactions. So put in that perspective, hardly a cause for concern. But if your dog is out, say, greeting a yelling toddler and starts to yawn, then it's something to pay attention to, especially if you have a dog that escalates quickly or prone to developing phobias.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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With a car sick dog you quickly learn that yawning comes before drooling and drooling just before throwing up! When I had a dog who was prone to motion sickness, I learned the hard way to pull over and get the dog out of the car when it started to yawn!!! Ah, the good old days.... :-)
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Amy, there are so many interpretations of these words and that adds to the confusion. People often eqaute dominant with aggressive, which is a mistake. IMO dominant means " has leadership qualities " and submissive means " You lead, I'm a follower " and then there are all the umpteen variations. Both can become aggressive for any number of reasons.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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I'm suspecting that Al's aggression comes from insecurity, not confident dominance. Confident people don't have to bully or attack (the biggest boy in the class is seldom a bully, unless he's insecure because of bad stuff elsewhere in his life).
Al's stuff may be male-male aggression; I'm pretty sure it didn't start until he was 2 y.o.
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