My dog always has her tail tucked under and between her legs, especially when we walk her at night only, why?

Question

She doesnt seem to be in any pain, and plays normal and wags her tail when she comes in, but every single time we walk her at night time, she takes a really long time to go, and she stays close by me in a half sitting position with the tail tucked under between her legs. Does anyone know why she may be doing this? She does her business, but it can take a long time for her to go.

She is four months old and i have had her and another pup from the litter since they were both 10 weeks. The boy seems fine and very sociable, she was the runt of the litter. No one abuses them, and gives them attention, and my 12 year old son always plays with her because he says she does seem like she is always scared. The boy is a tough one. I noticed today when i fed them, she did not want to eat when i gave her her food in a bowl, I had to feed it to her in my hands, and after several times doing this, I put the bowl down and then she ate it.
The boy is greedy, and I have to keep him seperate from her until she is done, or else he will eat it. When we are at work, we leave them both in the garage, they have their own beds, fresh water and get fed and walked before I go to work.
Her behavior is worrying me. How can I make her feel more relaxed and sociable?

Answer 1

This is a sign of stress, other :symptoms: include ears back, pupils dilated, mouth back, lowered body, and sweating through pads. You should praise try to make it as quick as possible, holding a treat up and saying go pee, when she does, treat and say good, then get in the house. soothing a dog doesnt exactly do much in a stressful situation....so keep doing this until he loosens up, when he starts loosening up give him 2 treats instead of one, then if he doesnt do it at all...jackpot him with a new toy or a nice stuffed kong to play with..... but keep using the word good when you treat him...so when you no longer want to use treats, the word "good" means just the same thing! good luck!

Answer 2

Dogs don't have the capabilities like humans, they cannot speak to tell you something. Instead, they use their body to tell you stuff. When your dog is tucking his tail between her legs it means that they are afraid, anxious, and submissive. Maybe she's suffering from some kind of anxiety disorder, because if she's acting that way, something is defenitely going on. Has she ever had a bad puppyhood experience? My next door neighbor's Black Lab acts the exact same way. He takes about fifteen minutes to go to the bathroom, always has his tail inbetween his legs, and he's also always on the lookout and getting startled at everything. All of this is happening to him because of what happened to him when he was a puppy. He was the runt, and he was just thrown on the street because his owner didn't really care and just wanted someone else to find him. He's an old dog right now, and he is remembering that experience and goes crazy because he's afraid that's going to happen again.

Give your dog a big hug for me, pet her, tell her that every little thing is gonna be alright, and sing her a soft, gentle, relaxing lullaby.

Answer 3

Dogs like this have been abused in the past. They tuck in their tail between their legs because they feel very insecure. Your dog may be afraid of the dark, therefore she feels very insecure when you walk her at night.

Dogs tend to act like that if they have been physically abused. Maybe there was a previous owner? Maybe your spouse or kids abuse the dog when you aren't home?

Answer 4

This situation is actually happening with my dogs now, they're actually starting to get over it because of the steps we've taken. The problem sounds like the male dog is asserting him dominance over your female dog. Her tail is between her legs because she's telling him she's "lower" than he is according to pack ranking (dogs live in a pack and they're always "ranked"). What I did in a situation like this is given both dogs separate food dishes away from one another, spoken to the lower dog in a soothing voice and made sure she got to eat. You also need to tell the male dog no or uh-uh when he tries to assert his dominance (ex: growling, showing his teeth to her, humping her) It should melt away, just make sure you're giving her lots of love and attention.

Answer 5

She is scared. That is the classic position for a dog scared of it's surroundings. Reassure her continuously when out at night.

Answer 6

She is scared.

You may want to talk to a dog trainer about what to do. The Dog Whisperer (Cesar Milan) does not recommend comforting a dog that is in this state b/c it confirms for them that they should be scared - it does not help them to get over it. I never thought about it that way until I caught his show. But it makes sense.

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

Answer 7

She is scared. My dogs do this when there is storms! It is just a clear sign that the dog is scared. It would be a good idea to walk her during the day.

Answer 8

SHE PROBABLY IS SCARED SOMETIMES DOGS DO NOT OVERCOME THEIR FEARS. WE HAD A DOG FOR 11 YEARS THAT ACTED THAT WAY AND NOTHING WE DO COULD CHANGE IT. I TALKED TO A DOG TRAINER, AND HE SAID THAT WE COULD DO NOTHING TO CHANGE HER HABITS OR FEARS. HOPFULLY SOMEONE ELSE HAS AN IDEA ON WHAT TO DO..GOOD LUCK.

Answer 9

Maybe She's scared of the dark?

Answer 10

for some reason she is scared. if anything happened during a walk, she remembers it and is scared