Why do dogs stand and stare (and their owners let them)?

[fuckoffImcounting]

Experienced dog owner here, recently got a rescue boy (staffie cross).
He can be a bit reactive if challenged by other dogs and I am working on this with food treats. On our walks when passing other dogs on lead, whether close or across the road, many of the dogs stop and stare at him and their owners do nothing to move them on. I would have thought standard practice is to get two strange on lead dogs past each other swiftly and smoothly and not engage in excessive staring. But loads of them do it, admittedly my dog is astoundingly ugly, however, I am not sure that other dogs perceive this. My dog even wears a high viz coat with "Rescue dog in training" written on it - what are these other owners thinking? And why do their dogs stare? I always had German Shepherds before and this did not happen - is it a post lock down thing?

Mine does this. He really wants to say hello so he’ll stop and stare until they walk past and he knows they don’t want to say hello or he’ll wait until he’s allowed to say hello.

He’s really friendly and even many dogs whose owners say they are reactive to a lot of dogs, are fine with him. I don’t want to stop this as he might start tugging and barking to get to them. As it is he just waits to see if he’s allowed to say hello or not. Either way, he’s as quiet as a mouse, despite his breed being known for being particularly barky.

It works for us.

My dog is nosy, and also I've realised going a bit blind and deaf. Things he used to observe in a passing glance now need serious study. He's not at all a challenging kind of dog, but he does like a good look at everyone else.

He'd probably pay more attention to you because of the fluorescent jacket, tbh. Do you get the same reaction when he isn't wearing it?

It's pretty normal for dogs to look others, imo.

If you have a reactive dog I think the onus is on you to keep your dog away from others by crossing the road, and I say that as the owner of a reactive dog.

Other owners aren't responsible for keeping my dog calm or happy. I know his triggers so it's my job to keep him calm and happy.

We are not talking about a casual look. It is proper owner and dog stopped in the street, even if we have crossed the road. My dog does not react to being stared at, but sometimes the other dog will start barking, which can set my dog off, but the owners stay put until we are out of the way, no attempt to stop their dog barking or to move them on.
This morning, we crossed the road to avoid a lively looking dog, owner was on the phone, her dog going off at us, my dog joins in and she stands still laughing. I move my dog on (with chicken) and she is standing there with her dog going apeshit, pissing herself laughing - I wonder if it is post lock down dog owners who don't have a clue.

Well, as someone who owns a dog that sometimes barks at others, I've been known to stop and laugh while the other owner does the same.

I mean, if it bothers you, just continue on with your dog and ignore other owners and their dogs.

My new greyhound stops and stares at anything going by and it’s very difficult to get her to move, so I’ve found the easiest thing to do is just wait until the interesting thing has gone by. I’m not being awkward!

My dog will lie down and refuse to move when on lead and walking somewhere, she will stare but not in an aggressive way. She just really wants to say hello. I’d say it’s normal for dogs to stare at new dogs, but for owners to be weird about their dogs staring is odd.

fuckoffimcounting I agree with you. It is not normal dog behaviour to stare unless the dog is uncomfortable, or a herding breed and then other dogs hate it!

Dogs that are staring are showing a stressed reaction, no necessarily bad stress could be frustration, could be fear etc.

It would be great if dog owners worked on their dogs disengagement from situations to help their own dogs. Hoever it is unlikely to happen!

So you are correct for your dog to acknowledge and move on. Let your dog glance at the staring dog and then refocus on you. Reward for refocus and move on (to the next staring dog!)

I'm laughing at the idea that trying to move my boy along would be swift or smooth! He just wants to suss things out. If he wasn't allowed to stop and stare the alternative would be spinning around on the end of the lead while barking and yapping. Surely that would be far more annoying, and likely to make another dog kick off?

Mine will stop and stare... there’s not really much point in trying to move him in at that point, he’s too close.

I mean I can drag him if I need to make room for someone to pass - he’s not huge about 23kg, but I’d rather not have to do that if I don’t really really need to as that’ll be what makes him start doing things, staring is better than him doing things.

I've always had dogs of herding breeds and staring is just what they do. I do try to move them on and I definitely would if another dog or owner seemed uncomfortable. But the border collie stare is a behaviour that is hard-wired in these dogs.

So this morning you passed a woman having a phone conversation while her on-lead dog barked, outside on a public street.

Yeah, she should be drawn and quartered.

Our dog absolutely loves other dogs, and as soon as she sees one nearby she lies down on the floor until the dog and their owner either say hello or walk on. I'm conscious that not all dogs want to say hello so as soon as I'm aware of another dog nearby I move to the other side of the road or further away in the field so that the dog/owner can choose whether they want the dog to say hello/play. If they do come over then she just sniffs them for a few seconds and if they show signs of playfulness then she will play with them. We've tried everything to get her to move on - high value treats, squeaking her favorite ball to distract her, running in the opposite direction to get her moving again but 90% of the time she just wants to lie down and stare at the other dog. I don't really understand the problem, as long as they aren't coming up to your dog and the owner gives you plenty of space and a choice as to whether you want your dog to approach theirs or not, I'm not sure what more you can expect them to do. Every dog I've seen on walks at least glances over at other dogs, some are more interested in others but generally dogs want to look at and suss out other dogs.

My rescue boy is reactive to unneutered males. He will freeze and stare at them. He can sense them from far away. I've had to he very careful and he is hardly ever off lead even though fine with other dogs. Is your dog neutered? Rescues usually do neuter I think.

It could also be the fluorescent jacket. I’ve read that dogs don’t realise that it’s clothing so they just see disjointed body parts. So maybe that’s why every dogs stares at your dog. Maybe they can’t work out why the thing with no body, that looks like a dog in many other ways, is coming towards them and they are scared?

Definitely try taking the fluorescent thing off.

Just googled and this was the first thing I looked at.

It's normal for dogs to stop and look at each other. If you don't like it, move on. I let my dog do it as he needs and likes the interaction.

My dog is 8 months and used to be desperate to meet every dog and person and we’ve been working hard on this not happening. Currently he will stop and stare - just in case I give him the go ahead to say hello. As soon as he turns to me I reward and we walk on. The time taken for him to turn and look at me is getting my shorter but it does depend on how close we are.

I hadn’t realised that was rude - I was pleased we had moved on from him pulling towards everyone and we’re making what felt like good progress with this.

My dog does this, she’s an 8 month old bull terrier although she looks big, she’s still got a lot of puppy behaviours - she will stop and look until the other dog has moved past. I usually say to the other dog owner that she’s only a pup, friendly and likes to look until they’ve gone past and ask if they can say hello if the other dog is friendly. Sometimes if it’s a small dog she will lie down and stare. For me to try moving her would be to drag her which would make her struggle and yelp - which would surely be more distressing for your dog?

I don’t think OP is talking about dogs or puppies who are excited to meet another dog, I’ve noticed this too, that sometimes the owner will actually stop and stare at another dog with their dog as well. Not sure if they think giving their dog a chance to look will satisfy its curiosity or something. Happy to say my own dog is no longer bothered by other dogs in the street and we now just walk on by. Happy days.

I have a small Jack Russell . Mostly he's not that interested in other dogs (prefers people) but other times wags his tail and bottom sniffs etc . However, near to me there is a young man who walks a couple of large dogs who always seem to be pulling at their lead, have been known to snarl and every time we come across these particular dogs, mine will stand and stare at them ! Of course I will move him on quickly but he is still looking behind and staring at them . Why he chooses to do this with these particular dogs I have no idea .

Thanks for your comments everyone. I will leave off the high viz coat and see if that improves things. Well done to those of you who are actively training your pups. It is sometimes slow going but so worth it - a well trained dog is such a source of joy and pride.

I agree with you OP
I think a lot of owners fail to read their own dog's body language well, let alone looking at other people's dogs and how they are behaving.
I'm working on refocusing the stare with my dog. It's definitely the start of the slippery slope for him.
I'm fascinated by owners who are unable to get their dogs to move on, and might start giving them a good hard collie stare.

Because most dog owners are clueless about dog body language and are only concerned with their own animal.

It's probably the hi viz, my dog is quite obsessed with luminous colours. It's better to let her take it in than drag her off when she might start bouncing around.