Last updated March 6, 2003

This is a real question which arrived in my email this morning from pet owners in California:

"Here is our situation and our question; My husband and I are retired and live on 10 acres in the foothills of CA. We have a 10 year old Toy Poodle/neutered as early as possible,however, he has always humped anything smaller than he is, for instance crawling grandbabies and currently our 2 year old cat. As to the grandbabies, we figured it was the smell of their diapers. He has always been a fairly relaxed dog, not hyper. His (Henry's) only demonstration of intolerance is when young grandchildren surprise him or bother him during eating.

Just after Christmas we brought home an 8 week old Toy Rat Terrier, female. She is at times very hyper but has shown signs of relaxing and setting down. For this we are thrilled. Ever since we have had her we see a behavior we would not expect out of a puppy. She will force her rearend in the face of whoever she happens to be playing with at the time, Henry or our cat. It looks sexual but we think it is probably something else. She is quickly becoming known as our 'LITTLE SLUT'. Henry, who at first would meet her advances with either walking away or growling lightly is now taking an interest in her. He sniffs her all over while she stands very still. Sometimes we have just let Henry teach her who's boss and while we have heard lots of yelps nobody gets hurt. Can you cast any light on our question of her rearend advances?"

Let's hear from ALLLL of you! How would YOU answer this question?

YOUR ANSWER!

OK since the airwaves are dead ... *S*
When a question is posed "why is my dog doing x?" we must look beyond the novice pet owner's
anthropomorphic interpretation of what they think they see, and look at the BIG picture.
Search out the clues. WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY ...

Objectively collect the data. THEN interpret your findings based on previous observation,
knowledge of dog behavior, and how the behavior display fits in context.
Leave out judgement: good, bad, right, wrong, or even "fixing" it ...
and get to the basic ground level: observable behavior.
The answer lies in what fuels the behavior - what are the observable results of the behavior?

Here was my reply to their email::

Hi Peg and John-

I have a standard Rat Terrier who uses the same body language display. I have never seen my whippets display in quite the same way - but then they are too cool to wrestle, so. *S*

We know that looking away, turning away, curving the body into a C-shape are all calming signals designed for peacekeeping and avoiding conflict. Unless she were in season, this would not have a sexual context.

It is my observation that my Rattie does it in the following contexts:

A. When familiar cats or dogs get testy when playing, he will turn his butt toward them and look over his shoulder at them, sometimes alternating with play bowing. He seems to do this as a coy way to keep the play from ending, and to avoid getting slapped or bitten in the face - a safety measure as well as a way to diffuse their temper. (He can be a pest.) He is very skilled at this maneuver, darting in to taunt the cat and then spinning his butt just in time to thwart her claws.

B. He also does it when meeting an unfamiliar animal who doesn't seem comfortable. It appears to be a "this is who I am, and I want you to know I'm safe." He uses it as an appeasement gesture if he greets a new animal too quickly and they withdraw or give warning. He stands very still and looks off into the distance while they check him out, being totally passive. Depending on the signals they give him, he may stand tall or curve away. It's a conversation.

C. Backing up and bumping into can be an attention seeking behavior. My Doberman did it to me all the time. She'd go squinty and flatten her ears and look back at me with a funny grin - a 'play with me' or 'notice me' behavior offered to the higher pack member.

and their reply:

Thank you so much for your reply! I recognized your descriptions of behavior and it was wonderful to be better able to assign a meaning to it all. Since you have a Rattie, I hope that if something questionable comes up again I may ask your opinion?
Yours very sincerely, Peg and John

Just the facts, ma'am:

Who: Young pre-adolescent Toy Rat Terrier - she was 8 wks old at Christmas, so she must be just turning 5 months now. The cat, and Henry the elderly 10 year old, probably dominant, cranky toy poodle.

What are they asking about: rear presentation behavior displays with the cat and Henry.

When/where: when playing

WHY does she repeat this behavior? What is she getting out of it? Henry's response WAS "walking away or growling lightly" but "is now taking an interest in her. He sniffs her all over while she stands very still." (<calming signal - deference to respected pack member) (Added clue to their relationship: "Sometimes we have just let Henry teach her who's boss and while we have heard lots of yelps nobody gets hurt.")

The owners didn't ask the following directly, but bottom line, the request for information was to verify "is it normal?" "what purpose does it serve?" and "does it need to be changed?"

Yes, it is normal. It is a brilliant attempt of a young inexperienced dog to keep peace and make friends with some "hard to win over" new housemates. Absolutely NO it should not be changed. To do so would interrupt some very effective relationship building. Henry is beginning to like her.

Cathy picked up on the submissive nature of the behavior.
Dana pegged it as a polite peace-keeping play invitation.
Good job, guys!

Kim Imel's great answer:
It is funny how people think that pets exhibit a lot of "sexual" behaviors, when in reality they don't. This is an area where people really do anthropromorphize a lot. First, okay, sorry, the poodle is a little twirp! Mom and Dad accept this behavior. It seems their concern is about the little one. What I would guess is that she is just trying to get along with the poodle with a tude. The description of her standing still while he sniffs her all over reminds me of the golden in the Turrid tapes, a calming signal saying "I am no threat" (however the golden was scared). The rear end in the face thing seems to be a "hi I'm so-and-so, lets play". She seems to know she is the new kid on the block and wants to make sure everyone else knows she is not there to cause problems, but to have fun. Now that she is 4-5months old, and has been in the house for a couple months, the poodle is realizing she is not gonna go away, so he might as well start to accept her, as long as she knows her place. I think that the behavior the terrier is showing is a good thing and should not be looked down upon ("little slut"). What a nice thing to see, good calming signals/play inviting behavior from a terrier rather than an in your face terrier. If there is any pet in the house that needs work with, it is the poodle.