To expose themselves, their underside in general, their genitalia in particular.
While “submission” may at first appear to be fundamentally different from “dominance,” in reality they are opposite and yet equal expressions of the same urge to make contact (indirectly, i.e. via sexual contact) with something they are attracted to but, have associated a strong feeling of resistance toward. A state of sexual arousal is the common denominator in both reflexes tracing back to the same physical memory of being stimulated by their mother as infant puppies when they were unable to eliminate on their own. We could say they are presenting themselves to be cleaned.
But on a deeper level what we call submissiveness is actually dogs acting “prey-like.”
Why would a submissive dog act prey-like: what’s the advantage to this behavior? Because in the natural scheme of things, the prey-controls-the-predator by which I mean that the predator can’t act like a predator unless the prey acts like the prey.
When a dog rolls over, tail wagging intensely side-to-side, squirting urine, lip licking, it is “vibrating” like prey and being emotionally attractive gives it leverage, if that is, it can feel how to exploit being the object-of-attraction. (Watch a cat train a dog if one wants to see a master in action.) Once a dog feels its leverage, it then quickly learns to press in and exercise its “control” over its so-called superior. So while we tend to think of the dominant animal as in control over the so-called submissive one, we would be well advised to look again. Who is really in control of whom?
By going belly up and vibrating intensely, and then pressing in on the dominant individual, the “prey-like” individual is taking over the dominant dog’s nervous system. This is exactly how infant puppies enervate and “control” adults. The mother is emotionally attracted to the pup given that it is the pure embodiment of prey energy, but then the infant pup acts like a predator, i.e. it goes toward the mother and squeals when disturbed (prey animals typically die in silence which is why the American Indian revered the deer, as opposed to the bear or mountain lion, as the model in stoicism and courage that warriors should emulate) and so the mother is induced to tend to it in order to keep it calm.
On the other hand if the pup doesn’t generate a predatory nature to inhibit the mother’s urge to make prey on it, it is therefore sickly and the mother will eat it. But in the case of healthy pups, by ingesting the placenta and umbilical cord, and then thereafter the urine and feces, the mother’s attraction to the pup as prey is satisfied and so their relationship will continue to evolve into a deep emotional bond as the pup matures.
And so it goes full circle. As adults the softer natured dogs when they become the object-of-attention in the face of pressure; roll over to expose themselves in order to gain “control.”
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To expose themselves, their underside in general, their genitalia in particular.
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I was just told that Kevin Behan is into the old wolf pack theory etc…
Actually, I may be the first one to discredit the “old wolf pack theory.” Rather I am into the canine “group theory” and the first to posit the distinction between pack and group, and that there’s no such thing as Alpha-Leader-hood. In 1991 David Mech wrote in “The Way of the Wolf” p. 36: “Perhaps [...]
You talk about the vibration of the prey. I see my dog vibrate most intensely when she is eager to hunt. She stares and quivers and starts to yelp, shivers, shivers when she’s leashed in sight of moving prey.
Yes, the predator vibrates also when energized and when output (action) can’t match the input (stimulation). When a predator is emotionally paralyzed in the presence of prey, then you see stalking, pointing, setting, quivering, whining and so on. This is adaptive because then the prey can’t see the approaching predator. When a predator is emotionally paralyzed in the pack, then we see what has been labeled as “dominance.” This is adaptive because it gives the individual being “prey-like” (and mislabeled as submissive) the opportunity to exploit its incapacitation and thereby mitigate aggression.
Kevin, So the dog’s ability to be comfortable as prey is also what makes them so socially functional with humans who tend to approach and treat dogs in a very predatory manner (eye contact, hugging, looming over them, grabbing for them, etc). If they are comfortable as prey they can process their energy in a way we interpret as friendly, including rolling over?
When they don’t have this behavioral prey template to fall back on, they exhibit what we would consider anti-social behaviors?
Exactly right. By becoming prey-like, a dog is in counterbalance to our intense human, predator-like energy and the dog can then enjoy emotional leverage over someone attracted to it. If that is the dog can feel its body, its “preyfulness.” On the other hand if an individual can’t feel its body, then it goes by instinct. So a healthy prey animal that stays in its body will “outsmart” or overpower the predator. But if it loses contact, it becomes con-fused and flight takes over making it fair game.
If a dog can’t “flip polarity” and go from intense predator energy to soft preyful energy, then it will go by instinct or by habit and this is invariably what we would perceive as anti-social.
Kevin;
I don’t know if this is related to what you’re talking about in this post, but what does it mean when dogs mount each other? My four year old spayed female has occassionally mounted other dogs. It’s been a while since it happened (before I was turned on to NDT) and I can’t remember if the dog she was doing it to was in a tense state or not (i think at least one of them was). I know one time she did it to a puppy – that ended up giving out a loud squeal. If my understanding of NDT is correct, then this would be another calming behavior to release tension, would it not? If so, who’s? My dog’s or the one she’s mounted?
Expressions of sexual energy, such as mounting, occur when emotion that is fundamentally attracted to a preyful essence runs into enough resistance. So when one dog stops moving, which means it is not conducting emotion for the other dog, the other dog experiences resistance. Then it mounts the object of its attraction in order to get the energy moving again. This isn’t cognitive, there’s a deeper emotional dynamic going on inside the “mounter” that I’ll cover in an upcoming post (“Why do dogs mount other dogs, and owners’ legs?”) which inspires it to do this, but that’s the basic linkage. So yes the mounter is trying to release tension, but this isn’t in and of itself calming. Rather, if the two dogs can align with each other by virtue of their bodies becoming sensualized in a complementary pattern, then the system will get moving again and this experience is what’s calming. For example, if the dog being mounted felt an arousal in its neck region, then it would like what’s happening. The reason the puppy squealed was because it was experiencing being mounted through its balance circuitry (vulnerability )without its hunger component (arousal) of consciousness being invoked and thus it was experiencing a physical memory of being hurt. The mounter was knocking the “mountee” out of balance. Whereas if the mountee experienced that same degree of physical pressure through its hunger circuitry, then it would feel good. Tension is when balance outweighs hunger. Sensual is when hunger outweighs balance. Animal consciousness is an emotional rheostat. The key to success is to cultivate our dog’s temperament so that the hunger component will outweigh the balance component even when the dog is energized at 200,000 volts of stimulation.
Okay, I see this behavior at times between Duncan and Bodie. Today it was Duncan mounting Bodie. Duncan was really trying to “play” with Bodie today. It was wonderful to watch. Duncan was doing his usual chasing Bodie chasing the ball and body-slamming, growling ferociously and then Bodie turns away and/or slows down (is this what you were referring to as the “opposite”?). All the while Duncan is very relaxed and his whole body is supple; he does a “play-bow” to Bodie and when Bodie stops moving, Duncan mounts him. I just stand back and let it all play out as I don’t want to interfere and muddy the waters for them.