I have a dog behavior question for the experts here.
I have a five year old black female shepherd, and three black and red male shepherds, from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 yrs old.
The boys absolutely do not do this, but my girl ALWAYS tips her head back, as if to protect herself from hurt, whenever I reach to scratch or pet her head.
She has no reason for this, as I have NEVER hit her, I would think it was instinct...... except my guys do not do this! Once I get to scratching, she loves it, (along with belly scratches, and chest scratches, and butt scratches, and.......)
Is this a quirk? Instinct, that the boys resist? Anybody else experience this?
MY lab Elvis does that too, not all the time either
I never hit him, not hit in anger
we wrestle a whole bunch & I swat at him he takes it all,
never backs down or shys away, he comes at me
sometimes when I'm just sitting there in my recliner
he'll come up & I reach out & he closes his eyes & bows his head
(sort of ducks)
'like someone has hit him' or being submissive?
or he's just ducking maybe... or I'm over thinking it
otherwise he'll charge & go after stuff mostly
typical male ego
very territorial, very protective of his humans
I doubt my dad hits him
I know I don't,
I have swatted him on his butt or his side a couple times
not stuff out of the normal, just to get his attention
easily distracted
I don't think the kids next door or neighbors hit him,
that's his only real exposure, he loves all of them too
when he's in the truck nobody can really get to him
he barks at the chainlink fence, it's like a play with me too type deal
when they are swimming a lot
I wonder if it is from before I got him (at less than 8 weeks)
he's afraid of a damn broom too, doesn't like the vacuum, day 1...
I wonder if it was the breeders did something,
that stuff stuck with him
I assume when he was in the pen & whelping area they had
when he was a lil' dude
It took forever before he wasn't afraid of 'the hose'
& he's a dang water dog
(I know they used a hose to spray out the pen, it was always wet when I went there)
I got him just before he turned 8 weeks
I'd assume it's something ingrained in his psyche now
may be the same with your dogs (?)
one sees the other do it & does the same (?)
Bubba the recuse/foster I had, when Elvis was a lil' guy
taught my Elvis a couple bad habits
(he was really hand shy, sad really, I assume someone beat him)
I see, every so often & say that's stuff 'what Bubba did'
when Elvis was just a lil' dude
I love that photo
