Dominance and submissive behavior.
Many people see dominance as a bad thing with dogs which is a shame as it is simply another way of saying that they naturally like to be in charge. Being dominant is the opposite of being submissive which again is neither good nor bad. Being naturally submissive tends to mean that a dog will be more keen to follow than to be in charge. People are no different it is just that we are a little bit more subtle about how we go about it! Not all of us want to be the manager of a large multi-national company with big decisions to make and many people to manage. However there are lots of people who do !
In this video link you can watch the video called called “Dominant dog play”
I have caught on camera two lovely dogs named Sadie and Zoe who demonstrate the beauty of dominant and submissive behavior during play. They live together and so have had a lot of time to practice – to watch it is poetry in motion. Zoe, the Red Heeler is 12 years old and Sadie the Staffy Cross is 14 months old.
In this short dog training video I managed to capture the following dog behaviors and body language:
The activity or body language Reason or meaning in dog language
The play bow – Come play with me
Head over the back of the neck – I am in charge
Roll on the back – You are in charge
Spinning 360 degrees around – Come play, I am so very happy
Sadie jumping towards Zoe’s face – Trying to get Zoe to react
Teeth Baring – To protect the gums during play
Attention Barking – Trying to get Zoe to play
Nose punching – Trying to get Zoe to play
A complete body shake – Relaxing
Growling and a telling off – Don’t do that again
Understanding how dogs view the world is important as so much of their behavior stems from some very simply concepts such as who is in charge. Watching dogs is one great way of learning about them, in this video it is very clear who is in charge and who is the young upstart. Both dogs are very happy in their different roles, which is why it’s lovely to watch.
Enjoy the video and remember, if you need help to stop any unwanted dog behaviors especially getting to grips with any dominant dog behavior and live here in Auckland give me a call
All the best, Doggy Dan
