Why Does He Do This?

[KellyandKris216]

This is more of a curiosity than anything. Periodically, when River is laying down somewhere Indy likes to come and quietly stand over him, getting as far into River's bubble as he can without actually stepping on him. River doesn't seem to care one bit; if his head's resting on the ground it'll stay there, if he's looking at something he'll keep looking at that thing. Sometimes he'll lick Indy's legs, sometimes he'll just look up at Indy or look over at me. Indy will stand like this for a couple of seconds or a couple of minutes and then go find something else to do. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it; it doesn't seem like an act of dominance or seem to happen in one specific location in the house (like on a bed or anything). Do anyone elses's hounds do this? Any idea why?

 

 

[locket]

My uncle had a great pyrenees that used to do that when we were lying on the floor or the grass. It seemed to be a protective behaviour since we were "vulnerable". He would get up to stand over us.

Not ideal for tanning I must say!

Edited February 17, 2015 by locket

[scullysmum]

My two greys that I had from puppies used to do this, I have to admit that I never questioned it as they always had done it but I would suspect that it is a protective/bonding behaviour as dogs that did not feel truly at ease would not accept this....Niles (my friends Grey )tries to do this but although they are good friends Johnny will growl at him when he does, this is just my take on it but I love to try to explore these behaviours.

 

Eta. I do have a picture of my boys doing this but can't share it at the mo as it is not hosted anywhere since the old site went down

Edited February 17, 2015 by scullysmum

[Guest normaandburrell]

We volunteer with our adoption group and I have seen some dogs at the kennel do this. I agree it looks affectionate more than dominant. There are some litter mates in the current group, plus some dogs have come from the same racing kennel. I'll have to ask the regular kennel workers what they think.

[dostacos]

ooh, 50 shades of grey....hound

[greytpups]

our first greyhound did this to me all of the time. It just meant she wanted a belly rub.

[WalterWallerson]

Ernie does this to Walter all the time! Sometimes I get worried because I thought it was a dominance thing but I watched it start to finish and it was nothing as far as I could tell.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

Just to be clear--It can be a dominance thing. My Henry stands over Bree when she has a bed that he wants. Eventually she will move, while grumbling quietly. It is rather funny to watch.

[KellyandKris216]

Bonding/affection/protective makes a lot of sense; they're pretty close, so maybe it's just their way of being affectionate without actually curling up together. It's never seemed like a dominance thing for them anyway; if it is, Indy's doing a really bad job of it because River never gets up!

 

this is just my take on it but I love to try to explore these behaviours.

Me too! That's why I was curious what this behavior might be, it's fascinating to try and figure out why they do what they do.

[GeorgeofNE]

Buck does that to me any time I lay on the floor. I find it a bit odd...but usually if I just reach up and pet him, he moves away. Some things I don't really need to look at from that angle, you know?

[greysmom]

It probably doesn't mean the same thing every time to every dog. Sometimes mine do this when they want a particular bed, sometimes they want attention, sometimes they want to play, sometimes they are asking to lay down next to the other dog. They do it to both other dogs and to people, and even the cat. It seems to be one of thise behaviors that is multi-purpose!

[scullysmum]

Just to be clear--It can be a dominance thing. My Henry stands over Bree when she has a bed that he wants. Eventually she will move, while grumbling quietly. It is rather funny to watch.

You are quite right, having the "higher ground" can be a dominance thing as well as invading the other dogs' space.....but the body language displayed in the photo would suggest they are much more relaxed with each other.