Why does my dog always put his backside on me?

I have this same question!

I’m also curious!

that is a sign of trust & affection…your dog is letting you know he loves you & trusts you enough to turn his back to you…in other words, he knows you,ve got his back lol

Maybe he is guarding you and wants to be able to see anyone coming at you?

Our rescue dog, Mitzi, had to fend for herself on the streets before we adoped her. I think she sits on us facing outward to watch for danger and to be able to get away as quickly as possible. It’s just an old habit from her “old” days. I’m just guessing on this one.

this a way of saying ..im yours!

All dogs.are decedent’s of wolves. They took shelter in caves so they could face out and see danger coming at them and nothing could sneak up on 5hem. This is still in every dogs genes. But u like a cave or den he is facing out knowing you will not let anything attack from behind.

My border collie does the same. As someone said previously, I think it’s a sign of love and devotion. He also wants to be wherever I am, so I think he likes to stay so close in order to feel if I move or get up. He has a serious disability now, but he never fails to follow me around the house.

DOMINANT DOGS DO THIS AS THEY SAY THEY OWN YOU AND THEY ARE SHOWING THEIR DOMINANCE SO JUST PUSH THEM OFF UNTIL THEY REALIZE YOU WON’T PUT UP WITH IT I HAVE A BORDER WHO DOES THIS AND I HAVE NEARLY CURED HER SHOW THEM WHO IS THE DOMINANT AND LEADER OF THE PACK

i feel there are two things that a dog will never do if there is no trust ( 1 ) flip over and give you thier bellies and ( 2 ) give you there backs. my dog does the same thing then i will start petting him and he flips over. i delivered this dog when his mother was having problems and we have been together ever since.

My 11yo labmix do this oftenly, I took it as request for back massage or back rub. So everytime she gives her back to me I reply with through back/body massage and she never complain. She complain when I stop massaging.. Hehe.. Clever dog always has a way to abuse her master without her master knowing/realization. But when she ask me to do something not connecting with her body (i.e food, dog walking, open the door) she will face me and giving me constant eye contact, if I ignore her she will start to grab my hand or bark. I like tease her by pretending to ignore her of pretend to be busy, but oddly she can tell the difference. What a crazy smart dog heh..

One basic understanding about my dog giving me her back (only 1 out of 3 dogs I have now do this) is that she want attention and security. The dog want us to touch them, to pet them. The dog want to lean on us means it trust us with its life, the dog is comfortable with us (in some cases the dog treat us like a lazy chair). One thing that I object when my dog gives her butt to me is sometimes she fart silently on me, just the awful smell is the proof. And she will give me her innocent puppy stare when I smack her butt.
Well that’s was based from my personal experience, others may have diferent opinion.

Both of my dogs, with their opposite personalities, sit against me at night before sleep. Sometimes I wake up during the night and either one of them are sleeping back-to-back against me. I always go along with it, their trust and protection. They are also a nice spot of warmth while the cold A/C is running.

I was wondering why my oldest Lola keeps putting her butt on our yown gest and newest Lexi. It makes me laugh but Lola seems very like annoyed while she does it.

Bear is doing it, right now. He’s a rescue Pekingese… I definitely think it’s a trust, loyalty and protection thing.

I have a 129 pound, 9 year old Italian Mastiff (Cane Corso) named Max. Often when I’m cooking or doing dishes, etc, he’ll sit with his back to me, pressed against me so hard he sometimes manages to squeeze between my feet, lol. While he does this he watches everything behind me. If someone enters the room I feel him tense for the briefest moment. I’ve come to deduce he’s literally getting my back. He also, for no reason, will come up to me and lean his head against my leg when I’m sitting and look up at me like “If only someone was rubbing my ears… sigh… if only”

All these things are signs of affection and trust. Yes, even the sitting on your feet with their bony butts, lol. Sometimes even the strongest of us need a hug, or an intimate moment with a trusted friend. The difference is we can call someone, or ask our loved ones for a hug. Dogs can’t so they do the best they can to express their desire for affection. I would no sooner turn my dog away than I would a child with out stretched arms.

Max also uses his paws to literally pull me in closer so that he can slather my face with big sloppy mastiff kisses. I’ve never had a dog as “handsy” as Max.

Take it as the greatest tribute to you as a dog’s human that you raised them with enough encouragement, love, and stability for them to feel safe expressing their love and affection for you.

I have a chiuaua and I’ve noticed this also but after thinking about this I thought she’s actually facing the door so after I moved my bed around she literally changed her position to continue facing the door

Have the same question!

I am repeatedly gobsmacked that old school people still think this is a sign of dominance. In rare instances, maybe, but the early comparisons to wolf behaviour lose validity year by year as emerging studies reveal domestication has gone on so long now that dogs really are evolving their own rules as part of successful adaptation to co-habitation with humans.
Generalising this behaviour to all dogs as dominance and rejecting it is exactly equivalent to locking a crying baby in a nursery, as used to be advised years ago when we knew far less about psychology and trauma. To do so displays a major problem with affection and bonding, most likely within the person.
In the majority of instances, this is exactly what many have written. A display of trust, a checking of proximity, a liking of closeness and affection, a protective watchfulness and the simple pleasure of companion body warmth and togetherness. Unless the dog gets aggressive if you try to move, celebrate because you have established previous trust. Nurture it, not to make the dog think it is more important than you because a healthy bond is balanced, but to go forward in life together with that ideal connection that dogs are so good at.
If you have to shut off and reject, maybe you should choose a reptile our fish in a tank as pets instead. Dogs are very tactile. They reach right to our emotions. As such they can be wonderful teachers. The question is whether the human is ready for that journey. If they are fixated on dominance and issues of disciplining etc., it says far more about them than the dog.
A healthy bond will show strong calm and affectionate human leadership, and the dog will respond to that. It will sense the inner strength and feel safe alongside it. Aggression is only really likely in cases of previous abuse orwhere the human is overly vulnerable and it erodes the dog’s sense of safety over time, causing it to feel it has to defend against everyone or everything.
Seriously, this habit is a beautiful thing. If the position annoys you for any reason, just pat on the head and gently reposition to form a new habit of closeness which is preferable. Dogs want to please, ultimately, so you can work together, especially when this habit is displayed.

Trying to answer this question so broadly is ridiculous. There are so many scenarios where your dog will do this and each dog and behavior will differ. Typically if working the dog and the dog begins to turn their back, it’s absolutely not a trusting position. Rather, a lack of respect and understanding of your requests. If you’re dog is lying on the couch with it’s butt touching you, it is not necessarily a dominant position. However, stubborn dog will say F you with a similar behavior. If the dog is stressed out and clinging to your legs it is an unacceptable outlet of their anxiety and should be corrected before it becomes habit. There are so many reasons and a great majority of the responses are total bs from people with one to two dogs of experience.

It’s not a disrespect thing. It makes the most logical sense of a pack thing the dog is bonding taking a protective posture and trusts you. Totally wrong to break a dog of this.