My Dog Constantly Rolls On Her Back And Wants Her Belly Rubbed.?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I recently got a 2 year old Papillon mix. My friend adopted her for my birthday knowing i had been ready for and wanting a dog. however when ever you walk up to her or play with her she rolls on er back and just lays there. this gets in the way of training her to learn to stay and sit when all she does is roll on her back and waits for her tummy to be rubbed. now i don’t know if this means anything but this dog was left in an abandoned house when her last family left her lock in a house. she was only found when someone called to complain of a barking dog. She had several rotted teeth and had many pulled and the remaining where deep cleaned. they told my friend she was most likely abused due to how extremely hand shy she is. Now however she is glued to my hip and never leaves me. i was wondering if her rolling on her back could be what she did when she was hit like playing dead? is there anyway i can stop this act?
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It is anxious behaviour, and possibly the best thing is to ignore it and not rub her belly, until she learns she doesn’t need to be anxious and display like this.
Fear/Anxiety is displayed by:
Fight…..biting, fighting, agressive displays,snarling etc
Flight…..running away,hiding, pulling away from being touched
Freeze…standing still,laying down.shaking,trembling
Fooling around………submissive urination,rolling over,jumpung up, spinning etc………………this is how you dog is displaying its fear.
By rubbing her belly you are praising her for being fearful and anxious, so she thinks that you want her to feel like that, which is not what you want, you want her to feel calm and confident. as this is a behaviour you don’t want you need to correct it or ignore it ( really depends on the dog and you and what is appropriate) and be consistant with what you do everytime,as soon as she is upthats when you praise ( and at first she will just roll over again) because she has been praised for feeling fearful, in her mind praise equals people want me to feel fearful…………so you are going to need lots of patience with this little girl. The nice thing is this dog is calm submissive with this display, so be gentle, however be firm and consistant with her and practice at getting your timing right, because it all hinges on timing, shes fooling around (ignore) as soon as shes up (praise) she will go back down so quick as soon as your hand goes down to praise, so maybe no hands, just voice, and if you are using treats, hold them higher so she has to get up, hold them tight in your finger so she has to touch you to get it….this will help her hand shyness and she has done it herself, rather than you ‘forcing’ her by pulling her up…………so she is learning to do things on her own which will in turn build her confidence.
‘SpeakerBox’ spot on, and by doing this she is changing the fear behaviour herself
‘jdgallagher2001′ is right about “The belly is the most unprotected part of the dog, so they are leaving themselves vulnerable by rolling over on their backs” but she doesn’t need to be rewarded because she is doing it and has learnt to do it from fear, you don’t reward fear. Well adjusted dogs will do it around their owners and its OK to rub their belly……and in time I am sure you will be able to do it with her.
Any time a dog shows you it’s belly it should be rewarded. The belly is the most unprotected part of the dog, so they are leaving themselves vulnerable by rolling over on their backs. Dogs also follow the pack leader wherever the pack leader goes, so by the dog rolling over on it’s belly and following you everywhere, it is telling you that it is submitting to you.
Dogs roll over on their backs to show that they are being “submissive,” basically telling you that you are the boss. As you continue to earn her trust, she may do it less, especially when she realizes you’re never going to hit or hurt her, but it’s also a way she’s showing you her love!
get some doggie treats and hold it above her head kinda far but not like above your head then make her stand up then sit and give her the treat
maybe she was with other people down there or maybe when she was little they used to rubb her belly and she got used to it and she keeps doing it.