# Submissive to other dogs



## Garey (Oct 17, 2015)

My Vizsla Lucy is 9 months old and is progressing nicely with her obedience training even off leash. We are having a social problem though that we need help with. When she meets other dogs that are larger or equal in size she immediately rolls over on her back and lets the other dogs bully her. How can I teach her to be more confident in herself and hold her own? Of course, being a Vizsla I know she has a sensitive nature. Will she outgrow this eventually? Thanks for any suggestions.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

She's young, and greeting bigger, or older dog in the correct way. She is showing them, she is not a threat. It's perfectly fine for her to do that. But don't let other dogs bully her after they have figured out who is the top dog of the two.
They normally work it out with in a few minutes.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I agree with TR and just wanted to add that some dogs are naturally more reserved/cautious like that. Mine still is at almost 4 years and while she doesn't roll on her back, she will often lie down when meeting new dogs. Give her a few minutes and she'll happily chase or be chased. 

I tend to keep moving while keeping confident and upbeat body language and tone. Reassuring, but not coddling. If needed, you can and should feel free to intervene by distracting the other dog and giving Lucy a chance to stand up. This is something the other dog owner should do, but that doesn't always happen. 

If Lucy is intact, you may find her to be more assertive and confident after her first heat cycle. Mine did not correct other dogs until after her first.


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## Garey (Oct 17, 2015)

Thank you for the advice. We train about 2 hours a day off leash and she is just fine meeting people and dogs on leash. Off leash dogs seem to bully her but it really seems that she encourages it by rolling over. She is so much fun to train and watch perform. I'm trying to find ways for her to socialize with more dogs.


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## nymeria (Jan 18, 2016)

Mia's a really gentle, submissive V. When we first took her to the dog park she'd immediately roll over onto her back when meeting any dog. We monitored and as long as it was just sniffing butts and playing, we allowed it and basically acted like nothing was going on - we didn't want her to think there was a reason to be nervous and if you're nervous, they'll pick up on it. She'd eventually get up and run around. Now, that happens a lot less an she runs right in and starts playing immediately, most of the time.


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## Külli Tõnisson (Oct 9, 2017)

This conversation has been very useful for us. Many thanks! 

We were playing with a boxer puppy 11 weeks, our V girl is 12 weeks (bigger in size) and the Boxer was a dominant one - totally chewing our V girl and sitting on top of her. Our 12 weeks girl rolls immediately on her back and just does nothing!! She does not bite back or even try to stand up for herself.. He bit hard so she was crying a bit and after that we went in between the two. As soon as the Boxer got off leash he again rushed after our girl. She ran away first. She put quickly her belly up and once more the Boxer stood on top of her and started biting. We were worried and went to a weekend training programme, but there we were mostly trained how to handle a dominant puppy. 

After reading this - we will let her be. She is shy first, when meeting other dogs. Older dogs are more gentle with her (I guess better socialised). She loves small kids . Not at all shy with humans or cats. She loves all the cats running around in our garden :nerd we just noticed there are problems with French Bulldogs, Mops and now with the Boxer puppy...


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## Külli Tõnisson (Oct 9, 2017)

Ours even sleeps with the belly up


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Part of it is just her age.
A lot of younger dogs will do this when approached by a new, or older dog.
There is nothing wrong with her showing she is submissive to a new dog. 
Try, and have her play with other good temperament dogs, and she will most likely become bolder with age. 
She's perfectly fine, just keep her away from bullies.


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## Külli Tõnisson (Oct 9, 2017)

Thank you!


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