Stalking behaviour towards strange dogs

Can anyone explain this to me? I've googled it but it seems to mostly refer to stalking behaviour towards other animals eg cats, birds, sheep. When Cain sees another dog in the distance he will drop to his belly and stare at them. When they arrive he may greet them nicely, he may jump on their backs or occassionally he may lunge. I'm trying to understand the thought process behind this behaviour, why is he doing it, what does he think it will acheive and how best to stop it.

Anyone understand this behaviour please?

what kind of dog is he please is he a collie by any chance

No he's GSD x Akita as has some fear aggression issues, he can be wary and doesn't understand how to socially interact properly. However I've seen a number of other dogs do this behaviour and not just herding breeds but retrievers etc, so I'd like to understand it. Btw he doesn't display this behaviour with prey species, he loves to chase birds and squirells but he doesn't stalk them, only approaching dogs.

it sounds like its just his instincts of the GSD to be honest but this can be nurtured with the right training. i think the best thing to do would be to take the dog for a walk and any time that your dog shows any interest in other dogs try to break the connection maybe tell him to sit and give poor so he is not concentrating on them, and reward good steps but try this for a wee while and make sure you reward and hopefully he will be ok.

id love to see a pic if you dont mind i love GSD crosses haha.

shaun

Dexter does that. When he sees a dog in the distance, he too drops to his stomach and then kind of slinks forward. Then he'll sort of freeze - staring at the other dog the entire time. Then he'll kind of slink forward again, and then stop.

It always reminds me of when you see tigers and lions hunting/stalking prey - that's just what it looks like!

I can only tell you what our trainer has said: that at present Dexter (though totally friendly) has to be on lead firstly as his recall not great and secondly because we want to teach him to approach other dogs in a calmer way.

Have you tried breaking the pattern by distracting him at all?

It sounds to me that he's more submitting to the other dogs not that he's stalking then at all. I think what your seeing is being completely misinterpreted. You said that he had fear aggression issues, now think of the whole scenario in a different context, if he had done something wrong like maybe chewed something he wasn't supposed to or maybe urinated on the floor as soon as you came in he'd lay down to kind of say sorry from a distance or even from behind if you haden't noticed him some one else may think he was stalking you. Its the same with the other dogs he lays down because he does not know how to interact so he lays down to avoid them,encourage him to get up and meet new dogs let them approach him calmly and hopefully he will start to realise other dogs are not to be feared but are a good thing

Hanks for your replies everyone. I'm pretty sure it's not submissive behaviour. I've seen other dogs do it - they hit the ground and get all wriggly and waggy tailed, they tend to curl slightly and roll a little to one side exposing a bit of belly. Cain doesn't, he drops into a solid sphinx position and stares at the oncoming dog, fixated. By this point he proves VERY hard to distract or move. If I do manage to coax him to his feet then he usual greets to other dog ok. Sometimes he's in such a solid down and will not move and he'll usually launch himself into a jump on the dogs back when they arrive - which usually startles the other dog into running out of reach. I *think* thr jump is a misguided sort of unsure play invite, rather than aggresssion, but it doesn't really work!

Louie does this sometimes.
Sometimes playful - sometimes with a back of hair up his back.

Cain could be sussing the dog out from a distance, judging the other dogs body language.

Is it proper stalking? Stalking is very low to the ground, but never on the ground - from what I have observed, is his head really low?

I don't really have much advice. Just sussing him out seems what it can be. However the lunging seems strange..maybe someone more experienced can help you with that..

Lool that sounds nuts, I think my example was a bit extreme but I do think the laying down can either be avoidance or an invite obviously you know if your dog is afraid or excited if he's as excited as you say I think its defiantly an invite to play he's not standing up therefore seeming aggressive toward the other dog he's laying down saying iam friendly come over,the only stalking behaviour I've seen is in collies and that's because they pretty much still are hunting while herding there sheep

Mostly I see it in under confident dogs, they freeze up a little and approach slowly, then explode when they reach the other dog.

I would just redirect/command him into a more appopriate behaviour, such as heel or proper down as a way of breaking the cycle and allowing a normal greeting to occur.

Adam