The Dog Questions You Send
and our humble response woof.
Q. Dear Digital Dog,

We have a great dog, a German Shorthair, named Remington. He is a bright, loving dog. He is 2 years old and we have gotten through the chewing, (a foot off the bottom of the door to the mud room) digging (a hole in the top of the hot tub cover) and have ended up with a wonderful companion. He tends to get a little crazy when hunting season ends. My question is:

He comes up to us with his toys and wants to play. He will turn his back to us and stand with his hind quarters facing us, tail wagging, looking back over his shoulder. One of my friends told me this was a dominant behavior and I shouldn't let him turn his back to us. Since I was told that, I will make him face me when playing. Is this a dog pack behavior showing dominance? What, if anything, should we do about it?

> Just curious

Ans. ~ Hello Just,

Your friend is wrong. Remington is getting ready to work!

To dogs, work and play are so closely related that for him to enjoy retrieving he makes it into a "pointing" game. When he points he has to be facing the quarry. Dog behavior is not the simple x and y that people will often try to make it. Remington's actions as well as his attitude (remember the tail wagging, looking over his shoulder at you?) which is clearly one of a happy dog that is probably pretty passionate about his play time and definitely looks to you as making it possible.

If you aren't having any issues with Remington, I would certainly say you have a great companion and this is not something you should worry about nor cause him any anxiety over.

Please let digital dog know if this advice helped!

Best,

Digital Dog

Do you have a question for Digital Dog? While we can't guarantee that our advice will work 100% of the time for 100% of the dogs and their people, we do find that the approaches offered have been helpful to us in most situations. Write us at DigitalDog@DigitalDog.com.