Lying down when she sees another dog...

[Changerazelea]

Hi doghouse

Hoping you wise owners may be able to help.

My 8mo Wheaten terrier immediately lies down when she sees another dog when out walking. She is generally very interested in other dogs and playful. Has been off lead quite a few times with other dogs and played well. This makes he think it is playful behaviour.

Unless we wait for the other dog to go past she will not move. I am having some success with "leave" command she will now at least look at me and start to move away for a treat.
Any thoughts on other training tips for this other than keeping working on "leave" command?
Thanks!

Lots of dogs do this. Mine does. I think it’s a combination of playfulness and caution. They’ve realised that not all dogs are friendly so they observe before rushing in. I think anyway.
Why would you want to stop her from doing it?

Yes she's showing the other dog that she's friendly and no threat.

I would practise her looking at you when she sees another dog, then you give permission to greet or play or the command to leave.

My dog is almost 2yrs and does this... to every single dog we see... it take FOREVER to walk around the park! I think he's showing he's submissive... which is a big trick because as soon as the other dog comes over for a sniff my dog jumps up which usually completely startles and freaks out the other dog 🤦‍♀️😆 I have to warn every owner of what will happen.

Haha mine also does this and other owners are like oh what a good dog laying down and I'm like hmmm she is waiting to pounce when you get closer!

Isn't it a 'play bow' - showing the other dog they want to play
Mine does this all the time. Lays down then as they get close enough jumps up and over for mutual sniffs 🤣

It's often a sign of caution - they don't know the other dog so want to observe from a distance rather than go up and greet.

I walk a few dogs who do this and they're all a bit on the nervous side.

I'm not sure why you'd want her to stop doing this, it's perfectly natural behaviour.

My dog does this, its just her way of saying 'I really want to say hello and i'm friendly', personally I think its cute and she isn't being threatening or bad so I just let her do it. Mostly other dog owners smile and have never had an issue with it.

My 10 year old dog has always done this. I think it's a good thing.

She's letting the other dog know she's no threat. When I say "Say hello" she gets up and says hello to the other dog(s)

Yeah my dog has always done this too. Everyone thinks it's cute as she's a massive Lab and probably stronger than 99% of the dogs we meet, but I think it's nice that she's submissive and not the opposite way. Annoying though as it used to take us ages to get anywhere! In the end she started doing it in dangerous places (eg in the middle of crossing a road and the approaching dog was still off in the distance 🤦🏻‍♀️) so I spent some time training her on 'let's go!' command, said in a really excited way, as soon as she gives me attention I gave her a treat then started running with her, so that got her up and moving again and now I can use that if we really need to go. She stopped the lying down at around 12 months but I noticed just in recent weeks she's started doing it again, she's about 22 months now.

Mine does it sometimes too - she did it all the time as a puppy, but seems to reserve it now for dogs that she really really wants to say hello to. It’s a friendly submissive behaviour so it only bothers me if she tries to do it in the road.

My dog does this too. I think it's quite normal.

Exactly😀my one is 5 and even if he doesn't do it all the time now, he still does from time to time

Thanks all helpful tips there particularly on the "let's go" command. I'm just hopeful she will grow out of it as it is dangerous when she lies down in middle of the road when another dog is on the crossing. Will be interesting to see if it lessens with maturity.

Her excitement is off the chart and feels like the anticipation of the lying down and waiting intensifies and she has nipped a couple of dogs she approaches to say hello.

We had a long walk with friends dog at the weekend so hope extra socialization will help also.

Unlikely to grow out of it, it will become more and more ingrained behaviour. You need to train her to focus on you, not the dogs around her, when walking and move when you tell her

Try crossing the road/changing direction as soon as you see another dog, ideally catching/treating her just before she starts to drop, until you resolve the problem.

Why so controlling? You do know your dog is a living creature with its own mind? It’s not just a robot that moves when you tell it. It should be allowed to stop, look at things and sniff.

Why are you making a walk all about you? A walk is a fun thing for your dog, to explore and interact. Its not aggressive behaviour (the opposite), and likely to cause reactivity in your dog in the future.

He has been trained how to behave when on lead, you know, like most responsible owners do, train their dogs..

The op has asked how to avoid her dog doing this, it is unwanted behaviour and now leading to nipping.

My dog gets plenty of time off lead daily, stopping, looking, sniffing and with other dogs. Dog thrive on training, it is a job for them to do and keeps them mentally stimulated. Thanks for you comment but I no idea what the point of it was.

did you read the OPs posts? (there are only two of them so shouldn't be too hard)

and she has nipped a couple of dogs

The OP is being, proactive and trying to prevent her dog continuing to behave unsocially. My 10 year old dog has lots of fun on his walks, he enjoys following his training on lead and exploring and interacting off lead. At his age he is unlikely to suddenly become reactive in the future. Thanks.

Mine does this-she kind of crawls up to them on her belly then sometimes flips over onto her back for maximum submission!
She’s very friendly and always loves running around with other dogs once she’s greeted them-I think it’s just her way of being a bit cautious and polite.

Thanks for the replies.

I just want to keep her safe on walks and try and work on the reactivity towards other dogs as previous poster said surly the ultimate aim is for her to be well enough trained so that she can enjoy off lead time in the future.

All about my dog. Not me. 😊

Just to share an update our girl is doing brilliantly now and a lot less reactive on the lead. We have been on holiday where she has been off lead a lot more and really getting more used or other dogs being around her.
Thanks all.