What is this behaviour?

N

nbrard

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In the past week or so we have noticed Mikos doing a behaviour that I am curious about. Brie will be laying on the floor in front of the couch and Mikos will come over and get really close and stand there. After a few seconds he will turn around and do it again, then keep repeating this for a couple of minutes. Yesterday he lifted his back leg and I thought he was going to pee but he just put his leg over her and set it down and stood there. It is definitely a stance he is doing. They have been trying to mount each other a bit lately which hadn't really happened since Brie first arrived. She sometimes licks at herself a bit then goes and tries to mount him, then he tries to mount her.

Mikos is 21 months old and was neutered in May, Brie is 7 and was spayed in July, not sure if that matters. The dynamics between them has been changing since Brie is starting to learn to play with him like chasing each other in the yard.

Would like to know if I should be concerned by this behaviour, and trying to stop it.
 
Lexi stands over Bentley like that, too.

I've heard it's a dominance thing, but that's the only "dominant" thing that Lexi does.
 
I wondered about the dominance idea, and like Lexi this is the only thing that Mikos does. I was wondering if they are working out a pecking order now that Brie is settled and Mikos is coming up 2.

Brie arrived just before his 1st birthday so he was still pretty much a puppy and had only been with us for 3 months. I was thinking that perhaps now that he is maturing he is trying to establish his position between the 2 shelties.
 
I forgot to mention that I usually just move Lexi away. I don't correct her because I don't think she's doing anything wrong. And Bentley doesn't ever do anything about it, but I usually feel bad for him (human emotion projected onto dogs) because she is often standing on/over his head :)
 
corbinam said:
I forgot to mention that I usually just move Lexi away. I don't correct her because I don't think she's doing anything wrong. And Bentley doesn't ever do anything about it, but I usually feel bad for him (human emotion projected onto dogs) because she is often standing on/over his head :)
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Wow, that is exactly what Mikos does, and Brie just lays there ignoring him so I move him out of the way.
 
I'm not sure if this is what you're describing, but I think I've seen something similar in my house. Only its definitely not a dominance thing, in my house its to elicit play.

When one of my crew is laying on the floor, Sadie or Ginny will walk over or stand over the other one. Eventually the dog lying down will start nawing on the dog standing up's leg, then wrestling will ensue. Its hard to describe, but its done in a relaxed, gentle, somewhat respectful way (slow movements, no crazy jumping around or stepping on of the dog on the floor, no stiff bodies).

Perhaps Mikos is trying to get her to play with him?
 
OntarioSheltie said:
I'm not sure if this is what you're describing, but I think I've seen something similar in my house. Only its definitely not a dominance thing, in my house its to elicit play.

When one of my crew is laying on the floor, Sadie or Ginny will walk over or stand over the other one. Eventually the dog lying down will start nawing on the dog standing up's leg, then wrestling will ensue. Its hard to describe, but its done in a relaxed, gentle, somewhat respectful way (slow movements, no crazy jumping around or stepping on of the dog on the floor, no stiff bodies).

Perhaps Mikos is trying to get her to play with him?
Click to expand...

That is definitely a possibility because he is always trying to get Brie to play with him.
 
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