dog staring contest

Hmmmmm, I don't know about your breed but we never allow a staring contest with Rhodesians. It can escalate into a full blown battle very quickly. Maybe because your dog is still a puppy it was only a test. At dog shows we are very careful about eye contact a little oes a very long way and all of my dogs are temp tested and very well socialized. Be concerned, it may be a habit you won't want your dog to get into.

Bonita of Bwana

 i really am starting to watch my dog more, he is a lot bolder with otherdogs. i have never seen or heard of dogs getting into a staring contest. is it a showdown to see who is bigger and stronger or what? i would have stopped it right away if i knew it was a bad thing, but i have never incountered it. my dog is fixed but seems to be in this stage where he tries to mount every male dog, he tries to mount them from all angles and kind of pin them down, even big 100 pound dogs like shepards and so  on. i always stop him asap but maybe its just a growing thing, leaving his adolescent stage behind?

Visually locking on is not a good behavior to ignore.  It easily escalates in to aggression behaviors depending on the recipient.  It is all about pushing buttons.  You dont want to punish this behavior, redirect it.  Knowing what happens when your dog gets in "stare" mode is an important cue that it is time to leave the dog park, or at least break off into serious training exercises to redirect attention.  I would not allow this behavior to continue and would prepare for other avenues of exercise or significant changes in schedule (times when lots fewer dogs are present) if the behavior continues.  Yes it is related to his age but it can also be a sign of a less confident temperment (meet my terv Dess).  I must be quite vigilent about his eye contact and must be very careful about his off lead interactions with unfamiliar dogs.

ok thanks a lot! very helpful 

our two previous aussies did this as part of their play ritual

however, it's you that needs to determine if it's a "stare down" that could lead to agression or a "play ritual"

easy to do.... and if it's a stare down, divert their attention as was already mentioned.

 I have 2 things to add:

1. Sometimes a stare contest is not really a full on stare. You have to watch the exchange very carefully. Sometimes you will miss a break in the stare by one dog - which is a submissive response. Also, it may look sometimes like 2 dogs are having a staring contest when in reality one dog is looking every so slightly away and the contest is more of a play invite. Body language is important too. Like this pic, for example

 It looks like these 2 are having a stare down and it looks like my aussie is about to be aggressive. But what was really going on was a play challenge/invitation to run and play. A play bow came right after this followed by a chase.

It also comes down to breed and play style. The aussie is showing that herding stare, like "pick a direction and run, I dare you!" while the husky is ready to bow, shift directions and try to high tail it outta there (if you've ever see a husky run you know what I'm talking about - they have a rear motor so to speak). 

My point is to pay attention to the body language, the position of the stare and the breeds involved.

2. I agree with what was posted above. A stare contest can escalate very fast. You have to know how to redirect the dogs (every dog is different). I learned the hard way what not to do when my husky was giving another dog the stare. If I tried to get between the 2 dogs, or if I tried to physically remove my husky from the situation - she attacked (In essence I caused the situation to escalate by forcing her to back up her stare). However, if I distract the other dog making the other dog look in the other direction, the situation is defused (the other dog submitted so confrontation over). So you need to know how your dog will react to interference from you and be really careful about it. You don't want anyone to get hurt in the process.

Keeping your dog away from the dog park during this teenager time might be a good idea. 

yes, that's it. thanks for posting the picture.

yaz gotta watch what the lips be doing and see if they move forward (sign of a dog getting pssd'off.

 Apologies if someone has already touched on this, but are you talking about your pit? If so, I would not allow staring until you can read him 100% of the time, and even then I would be really careful about who and what he can stare at.

I have had my pit since he was 4 months old and around 6-8 months he started to be more dominant, lots of humping with dogs he knew, more severe stares than a play invitation. It wasn't just his teenager phase, it was that his dog aggression was starting to kick in and it became really important to carefully supervise all his interactions with dogs to encourage good behavior and modify bad behavior.

5 years later the result is an awesome dog who is great with 90% of all dogs, so long as he has a proper meet and greet. That initial training when he was a pup was critical to nipping the dog aggression in the bud, and now when we see him look at something with even a hit of a stare starting, we know it's time to redirect him, focus on training, get him to offer behaviors we want and reward the heck out of those.

 

Bonita of Bwana

Hmmmmm, I don't know about your breed but we never allow a staring contest with Rhodesians. It can escalate into a full blown battle very quickly. Maybe because your dog is still a puppy it was only a test. At dog shows we are very careful about eye contact a little oes a very long way and all of my dogs are temp tested and very well socialized. Be concerned, it may be a habit you won't want your dog to get into.

Bonita of Bwana

Staring is a no-no with Pharaohs as well.  Even from over 50 feet away.  I've seen Xerk pick up on another dog's signals from over 50 yards and then sprint over to confront the offender.  

Our female peke would attack our little male over "the look."  And this would be from across the house. 

So no staring in my house between dogs and, like Bonita said, I try to avoid it at any other venue possible.  Pharaohs don't back down and can go from calm to full-blown battle almost as quickly as they can accelerate to top speed from a dead stop.
 

californiaglock

a staring contest. is it a showdown to see who is bigger and stronger or what?

The way I put it into perspective is this:  A predator will stare and stay focused on his prey.  If a prey animal makes eye contact with a predator it will look away almost 100% of the time immediately.   So, in my perspective, by looking away the looker acknowledges a less aggressive posture.  

The pics that were posted, clearly show body language that is non aggressive.  Mock aggression, if you will.  

I was going to say what Julie said (and posted the great pic).  Kenya and Coke often instigate play by running up to each other, freezing, and staring, but NOT into each other's eyes.  They are usually not head-on either.  They look *just* off to the side, sometimes flick their glances at each other until someone gives in, play bows, and then they are off!

I agree with others, I would NOT allow a head-on stare.  I see this stare from Coke with one of my cats he fixates on.  If I don't block this stare or redirect him, the result is always the same....he chases the cat.  If my dog was staring directly at another dog, I would not allow it.  If it lasts longer than a second or two, it means neither dog is backing down and I don't want to see how that can end... 

We joke that Rosco is socially inept, but in a lot of ways he is which can lead to fights.

 i think he initally humped the other dog and than the dog did not like that and snaped at him to let him know and i think max snapped back again and tried to mount him again.

I call that kind of staring "throwing gang signs."   I'm humorous about the title, but pretty much on track with everyone else that (serious) staring is a no-no.

Even when two dogs don't lock eyes, one dog staring in a challenging manner can set off a fight.