# Lying down when people/dogs approach



## Vinny155 (Nov 4, 2021)

Hi the past few weeks our 6 month old has started lying down when he see's dogs or even just people (today a woman with a pram) approaching from ahead and walking towards us on the paths etc. when on a walk. 
Once he has clocked them he will stop dead and sit and will not continue walking no matter how much encouragement i give him, digging his heels in and resisting a tug on the lead and then he lies down until they are basically next to us. Once they are close by he will bounce up towards them. 

What should I do in this instance? Is he nervous and just sussing them out and making sure they are non-threatening or is this a sign of something else? 

Thanks


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I would not do anything. It sounds like he is waiting until he feels comfortable, and then wants to greet them. There is no reason to try and force him, to move in another person’s direction until he is ready.


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## samdora7 (Jun 13, 2019)

If he’s just waiting for the other dog/person to pass by, I agree you should do nothing..let him gain confidence on his own terms.

My 2yr old has always done it, and still does. When off leash everything is perfect. He waits for the one approaching to pass by and he runs straight back to me. Unfortunately, when he is on leash he lunges at other dogs the moment they are near by. I try to avoid as much as possible situations where he wil lay down, but sometimes I’m just taken by surprise. In this case I’m lifting him up on his feet and I walk firmly in the other direction / cross the street. 


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## rubicon (Dec 9, 2019)

When my boy does this it’s a submissive gesture. He has learned that a lot of dogs and people find him a little overwhelming and he has experimented with all kinds of ways to appear non threatening (another one: dogs don’t like him running straight for them so he started running crouched instead. It looks ridiculous and I don’t think goes over all that well 🤣) Until they get close, then he loses his mind with excitement.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

samdora7 said:


> If he’s just waiting for the other dog/person to pass by, I agree you should do nothing..let him gain confidence on his own terms.
> 
> My 2yr old has always done it, and still does. When off leash everything is perfect. He waits for the one approaching to pass by and he runs straight back to me. Unfortunately, when he is on leash he lunges at other dogs the moment they are near by. I try to avoid as much as possible situations where he wil lay down, but sometimes I’m just taken by surprise. In this case I’m lifting him up on his feet and I walk firmly in the other direction / cross the street.
> 
> ...


We are also working on this leash lunging behaviors with Ellie. We are showing good improvement lately and I find that key is timing on a correction to actively preempt the lunge/wild mode. Start to watch for the signs and signals that your dog is building up to the lunge. Take note of the tells, such as stiffened body, tail and ears up, and staring at the other dog intently. Once you can identify this accurately, the next time that is when you give a correction. The dog is building up its energy and focusing on he/she will make their move. This is what you want to correct. Once the lunge and wild-crazy-mode is activated, the correction gets lost.

With Ellie, I see her signs, give a correction (such as a light pop of a sprenger/collar or buzz of an e-collar in my examples), then a command to "Lets go" which for her means we are moving with me. You can see when they diffuse and that energy build-up diminishes as they get the communication that what they were thinking and preparing to do is unwanted behavior. Good luck!

As for the OP, I agree with others that the laying down seems to be a submissive gesture until he has time to process the encounter. Once he feels comfortable he then springs up and tries to initiate play etc.

When I'm alone with Ellie off leash and we encounter another person or dog, typically she will freeze and just watch from a bit of a distance. She is acting apprehensive as to what to make of the encounter. If i stop to speak with the person, Ellie instantly snaps out of it and wants to be the center of attention jumping, sniffing, seeking attention all over them (something I'm working on). Maybe your dog chooses to lay down instead of standing still?


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## samdora7 (Jun 13, 2019)

Dan_A said:


> We are also working on this leash lunging behaviors with Ellie. We are showing good improvement lately and I find that key is timing on a correction to actively preempt the lunge/wild mode. Start to watch for the signs and signals that your dog is building up to the lunge. Take note of the tells, such as stiffened body, tail and ears up, and staring at the other dog intently. Once you can identify this accurately, the next time that is when you give a correction. The dog is building up its energy and focusing on he/she will make their move. This is what you want to correct. Once the lunge and wild-crazy-mode is activated, the correction gets lost.
> 
> With Ellie, I see her signs, give a correction (such as a light pop of a sprenger/collar or buzz of an e-collar in my examples), then a command to "Lets go" which for her means we are moving with me. You can see when they diffuse and that energy build-up diminishes as they get the communication that what they were thinking and preparing to do is unwanted behavior. Good luck!
> 
> ...


Thank you! 
Yes, I’ve noticed that if I get to “snap” him out of his focus he’d be actually happy to walk the other way or something to avoid the interaction. 
It’s work in progress but we’re getting there. 


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## Vinny155 (Nov 4, 2021)

Dan_A said:


> As for the OP, I agree with others that the laying down seems to be a submissive gesture until he has time to process the encounter. Once he feels comfortable he then springs up and tries to initiate play etc.


Yeah I have been following the advice from here to just let him lie down and get comfortable and its exactly as you have said when people get close. He jumps up with excitement and wanting attention or play with the other dogs. I can foresee this happening now so I try to get him to one side and keep him close as to not allow the lunge up to people passing. 

As for his walking in general, I felt we were really getting somewhere and he was doing so well however the past few days he has chosen to not listen to me one bit whilst on leash, pulling with all his might to get to sniff things out the opposite side of the path etc. Is this his teenage phase starting? we were doing so well with heel work and its more or less back to square one haha!! 😅 (still absolutely fine with all commands/training in house and when off leash)


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

From what I understand the teenage phase starts between 1 and 1.5 years. We’re entering this time now with Ellie. I can tell that she is more apt to ignore me off leash. The ecollar really helps remind her she still needs to listen.

Im glad you understand more and are handling your pups behavior with people and other dogs!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just remind yourself, it’s completely normal.
And we just need to patiently retrain everything. 
They are not the tiny puppy any longer, but still not a adult dog yet.
We humans go through that stage too. Most of us at some point in our young life’s thought we knew it all, and didn’t need to listen. Only after maturity, did we realize how wrong we were.
Thank god, dogs don’t stay teenagers for years. 🤣


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Right on @texasred . They aren’t robots and we need to remember that. There are times to be flexible and times to snap immediately in action like emergency recall. It is a dynamic conversation with the dog especially when they are young and still learning while their bodies are maturing.


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