Is this a dominance behavior and how do I stop it?

**G-Diddy** · 08-26-2002, 09:44 AM

My 15-month old German Shepard absolutely LOVES people. When she greets people she circles around their legs while being petted. After a circle or two she shoves her head between the legs of the visitor and forces her way through so she can do "figure-eights" between the legs while being petted.

This presents a couple problems. #1 When a grandmother comes over, they can not stand up with a GSD figure-eighting through their legs. #2 A lot of people think that when she starts shoving her head between their legs, that the dog is crotch sniffing. As a result, the visitor closes their legs tighter, and my dog just pushes harder so she can walk through the legs.

Gracie (the dog) had a TON of dominance isssues when she was younger, but we managed to break most of them. My question is... Is this "figure-eighting" another dominance trick she's developed? I guess it doesn't matter if it is or is not a show of dominance b/c I probably need to break her of it no matter what and could use some suggestions for that.

Any thoughts?

**mugsy** · 08-26-2002, 01:56 PM

That's a herding thing!! GSDs are herding dogs by nature, I don't think you can break her of it...it's inbred. Good luck though.

**Cincy'sMom** · 08-26-2002, 03:54 PM

My Sadie is a 60+ pound lab/dalmation mix who loves to try to push her way between your legs for a butt scratching. Unfortunatly, I can't offer any suggestions to try and stop it, cause we never have tried to stop her. We did break her of jumping on people for the most part, by making her sit until we came to her to pet her. If she jumped we would just push her away and ignore her until she sat. Maybe if you gently knee you GSD dog away and make her sit before she is petted it would help?

**Dixieland Dancer** · 08-27-2002, 08:14 AM

Basic obedience commands can prevent this from getting out of control.

Have someone you know she will do this behavior with help in you training her to break the unwanted behavior. Before the behavior starts, put her on a sit or down (I would prefer the down because it is easier to she her getting ready to break). Reward her for the sit or down stay. When she starts to do leg curls put her back in the sit or down immediately. When she does, reward her.

If necessary (if the sit and stay are not solid), have a leash on her and step on the leash as close to her collar as possible to force her into a down. This is what I refer to as puppy management. Keep her in this position as long as necessary when you have company or you can simply crate her or gate her off in a different room. You just want to control the unwanted situation so you are in control and not the dog.