Why Does My Dog Roll Over When I Get Angry?
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Sam Basso
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Why do dogs roll over onto their sides or backs when you are angry?
When dogs roll over onto their backs when you are dominating them, they are performing an appeasement behavior. This is also what submissive urination is all about… it is done to say, “I’m intimidated, I know you are about to hurt me, please don’t.” The purpose of appeasement behaviors is to stop the aggression. Puppies do it to adult dogs, which prevents the adults from harming them. Whenever I am working with a dog, and it is flipping onto it’s back, or rolling over onto it’s side and exposing its belly, then I back off. I’m doing something wrong. I’m not referring to the dog that is looking for a tummy rub. I’m referring to situations that are clearly not that kind of thing.
The bigger question is why are you getting angry with your dog? Why haven’t you gotten a better plan in place to deal with whatever dog behaviors you don’t like?
Dogs can’t handle or understand your anger. It just makes them afraid, and then you get a bunch of coping behaviors as a result, everything from appeasement behaviors to neurotic behaviors.
When I get angry with a dog, if my attitude is going there, I walk away from the situation. I then re-group, and come up with a training plan to prevent that behavior from happening again sometime in the future. In other words, I teach my dog a better behavior. I don’t take my bad attitude out on my dog. I don’t lash out and hit them, banish them, or any other such foolishness. Bad attitudes lead to bad or abusive reactions on your part.
So, go get professional advice, and lay off your dog. You are doing it wrong, and you are making the situation worse.
