In order to communicate with each other and with us humans, dogs have a large repertoire of gestures, facial expressions and behavior.
It is possible that there are several meanings behind a certain behavior.
This also applies if your dog lies on its back. What it means?
Find out in the guide below.
My dog always lies on his back: meaning
Does your dog always lie on its back? Then it can be interpreted in different ways. What’s behind it? Among other things the following «statements».
Dog lies on his back when I come
Behind this laying on your back there is a clear meaning: your dog glad you’re home again. Likewise, it may be that here is also the same one Invitation to play and caress is included.
Here you can then scratch your stomach extensively – if you try to scratch your back, it will of course be a bit difficult in this position.
Dog lies on its back and snaps
On the other hand, it doesn’t look quite as friendly when your dog lies on its back and looks for you or another animal snaps.
Because snapping is and remains an expression that can be construed as aggressive. Nevertheless, it may be that your dog is here not planning an attack or wanting to defend himself.
Maybe something pinches him he has pains? Grabbing can also be an attempt to point this out to you as the owner.
Dog lies on his back while sleeping
It continues with the sleeping dog, which «lays down» this «pastime» on its back. In fact, you can assume that Your dog deeply relaxed is.
What that also means: your dog trusts you and his environment 100%. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be presenting his most sensitive and vulnerable part of his body at a stage when he was only semi-alert.
Good to know:
There’s a simple reason why put that on your back the ultimate vote of confidence is.
Then behind the abdominal wall are located all vital organs. In addition, a dog that presents itself to its counterpart in such a way also free his throat.
Dog lies on his back while playing
Does your dog want to play? Here, too, it is not unusual for your furry friend to throw itself onto its back.
Again you will get the vulnerable bottom presents. This can mean two things: First your dog trusts you, he knows you won’t hurt him. On the other hand, here too a form of submission present.
After all, your fur nose knows that You the alpha animal and thus you are the pack leader. You then take on this role when playing together.
Is lying on your back always a sign of submission in dogs?
As the examples above have shown, this is laying on your back not always a sign of submission.
If construed as such, play other factors play a role:
- What is the rest of your dog’s behavior towards you?
- Did he pull in the rod?
- Does he pull his head back?
- is he whimpering
If these behaviors are also visible, your dog feels inferior to you. Or: He admits that you senior are you.
This also applies in dealing with other dogs, and may also be coupled with snapping. This can occur, among other things, when he meets other dogs while going for a walk.
Does your four-legged friend wag against it happily with the rod, seems to have a lot of nonsense in his head? Then it’s more likely that he just wants to play.
Good to know:
Lying on your back has another function. This is to indicate: I come with peaceful intentions, I don’t want to argue.
If there has been an argument between the canines, the dog lying on its back would like to to end the conflict.
When should I stop laying on my back?
In itself, one would think that the habit of lying on your back is not a matter in which you should interfere.
But it certainly can an exception give – especially when when other dogs set the trigger for this.
A dominance behavior or the clear definition of a pack-internal hierarchy is not the problem here.
But what can become a problem is this: If a dog is too dominant, i.e. constantly “butters” another dog, one speaks also with the four-legged friends of mobbing.
This is expressed, among other things, in the fact that the bullied dog submits regularly. He doesn’t know how to stop the bullying.
Do you have the impression that this is the case? Then the first thing to do here is Address the bully’s dominance behaviorto prevent the submissive dog from lying on its back in the long term.
Conclusion
Does your dog lie on its back this can be interpreted differently. It is always important that you take both the situation and other behaviors into consideration.
Then not always does this gesture mean that a dog wants to submit and thus as a low-ranking member of the pack feels.
However, you should intervene with your fur nose when it is on its back as part of canine bullying happens – i.e. in the presence of or with other dogs.
What experiences have you had when it comes to lying on your back? Feel free to share them with us in the comments!