# Rolling over on back



## bill_1950 (May 30, 2007)

Our 4 month old Malamute puppy seems to really like to roller over on her back when she greets us. Is this because she is showing submission or just likes to have a belly rub?


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

With a pup it is most likely submission. The abdominal area is the most vulnerable part of the body and therefore is used to show submission. On the other hand, if she was well socialized in her birth home, they may have spent a lot of time rubbing puppy bellies!


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## MyDogShelby (Jan 21, 2007)

Mostly it is an act of submission as briteday said...if she is well socialized and has bonded with you, then she could be doing it because she enjoys having her belly rubbed by you  I noticed when Shelby (our dog) is resting on the carpet or rug, and I approach her, sometimes she will roll onto her back slowly and I'll bend down to rub her belly and tell her she's such a good girl


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

I'm guessing it's an appeasement gesture too. What do you do about it? And what would you rather her to do, if anything?


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## borzoimom (May 21, 2007)

briteday said:


> With a pup it is most likely submission. The abdominal area is the most vulnerable part of the body and therefore is used to show submission. On the other hand, if she was well socialized in her birth home, they may have spent a lot of time rubbing puppy bellies!


 A "mamma" dog would lick the puppy to clean etc- and pups learn to just roll over " when mamma / the boss" shows up. How you stop this is not to pet the pup when the pup does this- but continue to walk through being casual in your talk, put your stuff away etc then take the pup outside. After a while the pup will just follow you when you come in. This teaching will also keep it from progessing such as submissive urination..


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## Debbie1224 (May 7, 2007)

Our new puppy is continually rolling over on his back with the older dogs. He goes after them barking, chasing, and growling-he appears to be playing, then they chase him back. They all have their hair up and now the pupy is starting to hump the larger older female. Is this a dominance thing? She started it with him first. Back to the rolling over, the pup alot of times will go voer to the larger female (who looks just like him) and while she is laying down, chillin gor sleeping, he goes to almost sit on her face, then lays down on his side, starts barking and whining until she is licking his ears, face and then they end up biting each other, that gentle "mouthing thing" they do. He gets like that when he is cranky or sleepy. Is he looking to her for his daily bath? Should I be concerned about the humping and fur up thing? They seem to be in a sort of sorting out the pecking order. He seems like he is going to be a battle for them. He is peristant, and they have been pretty good with him until he jsut annoys the heck out of them. There have been some crying out in pain, the "mommy type" settles down, but the oldest doesn't seem to care that she's hurt him, but he is really tough with her. It seens like he thinks one is the "mommy" and the other one is a litter mate. Am I on board here or just off the wall?


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## skunkstripe (Oct 28, 2006)

Debbie, can you tell us how old the puppy is and how old the older dogs are? 
Normally adult dogs will put up with a lot of silliness from little puppies, but starting at about 4 months, the older dogs being to expect that the puppies start behaving better. And much older dogs (like 10 yrs and up) have little patience with puppy antics.
The humping may or may not be dominance (how's THAT for a non-helpful answer?  ). It could be a hard-wired sex drive.
But like I said, some ages would be helpful...


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## Debbie1224 (May 7, 2007)

The puppy (Stewart) is 17 weeks old and a male - 20 pounds already(lab, pitt, rottie mix-from the shelter). The two older females are 5 yrs old (Missy)and 6 years old (Princess)(5 year old, lab, hound mix-65 lbs)(6 year old is well no one knows for sure-she looks a little shephard, and maybe some terrier type-but no one has a clue-48 lbs). The mommy type is Missy, litter mate is Princess. Princess is the most submissive until it comes to certain chewies (bully sticks). Stewart takes everything from them, until it comes to the bully sticks-those they are protective off. Like I said earlier, Missy is th elicker, cleaner, and is the one who goes running after him, pushes him down and puts him in line, especially when he gets too rough with Princess. Stewart does the most barking, and growling (when playing) with Princess, and Princess takes most of it, but when she has had enough, she is rouogh with him, and doesn't seem the bit sorry about it. Outside in the yard, they end up tag teaming him. I think I worry for nothing because then they are all sweet and loveable with each other. Sometimes it is just really hard to tell whether they are accepting him or waiting for him to get big enough to really get rough with him. Sounds crazy but the girls were so set in a routine and now Stewart has come and disrupted everything. The girls used to have beds in our room, but I have moved them all to the garage (he's in a kennel and they have beds). The garge has central air and heat (so I am not just shoving them outside the house) and toys and food and water. We are getting it fixed up with carpet and a section just for them so I cna park my car back in there. Oops I diverted. The worst behavior seems to be in the morning when they are the most worked up, then throughout the day, the play outside nice. Or they just lounge around the yard. They are only out in the yard when we are home. My husband is usually home a couple of days a week (he's a deputy sheriff) so they get a lot of exercise. Any extra comments would be helpful. I just want Stewart to get to the point the girls are at, very scheduled orientated, happy and content. I am keeping him in his kennel for at least a year or so, then he can have his own bed (he loves to lay in theirs but is happy to go to his kennel also. I don;t trust them together while no one is home and the puppy is safer in the kennel. Can;t chew and get into things while no one is home. They all go to bed at night together and sleep well. Let me know. Thanks!


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## skunkstripe (Oct 28, 2006)

OK Stewart is old enough that the silliness will not be tolerated that much anymore. And Missy and Princess are still young enough that when they have had enough, they can give Stewart a good nip if they want to.
Yes, they get rough, at least by human standards, and will occasionally leave teeth marks, but this is normally not a cause for worry. If it is getting truly ugly, you should know from the sound and from their body language. 
IMO the humping is not acceptable. If you take the course that you "let the dogs work it out", then Missy may well let him have it, but you will likely endup with a grown dog (and a BIG one too!) who will be rude to other dogs when he meets them at the park or whatever. So I think you need to cubr it now-when he starts it, say "no" amd make it clear that YOU do not want this.
As far as him pestering Missy and Princess, my inclination woul dbe to let them work it out. They will show him where the boundary is, and as he gets older the boundary will get narrower.
Good luck!


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## MyDogShelby (Jan 21, 2007)

For me, I don't mind that Shelby displays her tummy as I described in my previous post...she does it sometimes...and she doesn't do it when in the presence of other dogs, ever.


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## bill_1950 (May 30, 2007)

I don't mind Sophie (that's her name) rolling on her back, just wanted to know what the reason was. We just give her quick rub and go on to other stuff. No submissive urination in conjunction with this, that I've noticed. 

Thanks for the comments.


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## MyDogShelby (Jan 21, 2007)

bill_1950 said:


> We just give her quick rub and go on to other stuff. No submissive urination in conjunction with this, that I've noticed.


Well that's good (no urination)...she must really like having her belly rubbed 
Mine doesn't urinate either.


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## Debbie1224 (May 7, 2007)

Thanks for the feedback, it is appreciated. Missy has been humping Stewart too, (what a site-65 lbs on 20 lbs-it's a hoot) so I guess I better start telling them all NO HUMPING!!!! Missy tends to do it more when her anal gland is bothering her. They (the vet) drains it about every 4 weeks or so. I refuse to do this myself, yuuuucccckkkkk!!! I do see improvement in their behavior so that is an encouraging thing. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I will stop them from humping each other. He sits on her face too, and I have been trying to tell him no, and move him off. It seems like he is saying "Take this!" LOL. He is definatley going to fight them some about who is in charge, but I think they'll all learn. I have a a feeling, bigger is going to be the winner, but you never know, maybe the girls will give him a good knocking down, after all, they were here first. Although Princess was here first, she was tough too, well that was until Missy got bigger than her, now they share the role depending on what mood they are in. Again, thank you so much for the feedback.


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## Amaya-Mazie-Marley (Apr 15, 2007)

I have a shy little female that when she meets anyone new she will roll over like that. They think its cute and pet her, when really she's scared and showing submission. Another sign of submission is when they clean each others faces. My puppy (Mazie) will clean Amaya's (other inside dog) face. Amaya hates it, but I've read from people on here and on the internet that it shows submission. The face cleaning usually just starts a fight.


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## Betty (Apr 15, 2007)

Tanner will roll over on her back for us - she loves her tummy rubs. You can tummy-rub her to sleep.  She'll also roll over for strangers, but mostly for women and she'll sit for men. She does not roll over for other dogs. She gives me gentle licks on the face and she turbo-slobbers my husband's. My husband also lets her and I don't let Tanner slime my entire face.


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## LoveLilly (Oct 25, 2006)

My pap rolls over on her back to greet EVERYONE! In the beginning she most definitely displayed submissive behavior. Well we always gave her belly rubs and she sooooo loves them. In fact, I believe she now does it b/c she loves them b/c when I bring out the grooming brush she rolls over on her back so I brush her belly first!!! Its embarrassing to have her greet people that way but she is so stinking cute that everyone just rubs her belly!


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