Walking

[steph_21]

When walking Max, as soon as he sees strangers he always stands still in a stance kinda thing with his head up. He looks really cute when he does it. Does anyone elses Rotty do this when they are a puppy/adult?

[DORI]

I have a 5 month old who does that too, she wags her tail when she wants to say hi. And for about 2 weeks now, she's doing this grrrr sound, when they don't pay her any attention.

[pupmama]

Kona is a rott/shepherd mix and does the same thing. She takes what I call the "rott stance" and watches, listens. She ususally does this at night when we are taking her out to potty.

[Sargeant_C]

Now does he look cute to others though or does he look like he is "gonna rip them apart!"
Look at this in prejudice eyes now.

Just to give you another outlook to view.

[JeanT]

That alert look is cute, but along the lines of what Sargent_C had to say... Be aware that this could be a sign of uncertainty that you do not want to encourage since it could develop into fearfulness of strangers. Speak in a happy chirpy voice and keep moving along the same path you were following. (That is, don't avoid going toward the stranger if that's where you were heading.) Be aware of any signs of uncertainty or hesitation as you get closer to the stranger. If you see any, then without changing your pace (so your dog doesn't worry more), widen your path so there is more distance, and less stress, on your dog as you pass.

[steph_21]

When he stands still, he doesn't wag his tail at all, he just stares at the people, but as you said Jean I do speak in a chirpy voice then he moves along, I was just wondering if any other Rottys did it

[momasboy]

Mine does this everytime he sees someone, thought maybe he's just expecting everyone to have a dog with them. I talk to him when we pass or just make him sit and he just keeps his eyes on them until we move on, if they are jogging or on bikes, I always make him sit until they have passed.

[ICE Sustanon]

Mine also does this sometimes, but I always say to him cheerfully : who is that? What is that? Sounding surprised, and sometimes I walk up to the person or the firehydrant and let him sniff it or say hello to the people, and when we do I always say: oh it is a tree or whatever it is :) But if it is a man jogging or something similar I do same as Momasboy, make him sit still untill the person passes by and at the same time I talk calmly to him and if he stays still I keep on sayig: good boy! It is not a problem for us, he just looks and sits. Love from Freyja.

[CJsMommy]

CJ does the exact same thing except his little stub goes wild, it's the cutest thing. He loves it even more when I tell him to go say hello.

[ICE Sustanon]

Well here in Iceland it is against animal law to take of the tail, so my Susti doesn´t have a stub to wiggle... only a whole tail and he hits me with it so I have to hold it down sometimes :) Love, Freyja and Susti.