# The "GSD Stare" what does it mean?



## Anthony8858

There's a GSD owner a few blocks from my house. Her GSD is a stunning WGSL female about 80 lbs.
Whenever I bump into the owner (whether in my truck, or on foot), I always stop to say hello.

However, her dog freaks me out. The dog does not take her eyes off my face. I can "feel" her staring at me, but I refuse to engage. 
She'll sit there and just stare, never removing her eyes. No movement, nothing.


Scares the crap out of me.

Now of course, the connection here is that I've witnessed Kira do that to certain people, and wondered the same.


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## hunterisgreat

Anthony8858 said:


> There's a GSD owner a few blocks from my house. Her GSD is a stunning WGSL female about 80 lbs.
> Whenever I bump into the owner (whether in my truck, or on foot), I always stop to say hello.
> 
> However, her dog freaks me out. The dog does not take her eyes off my face. I can "feel" her staring at me, but I refuse to engage.
> She'll sit there and just stare, never removing her eyes. No movement, nothing.
> 
> 
> Scares the crap out of me.
> 
> Now of course, the connection here is that I've witnessed Kira do that to certain people, and wondered the same.


Jäger does that.

Its either suspicion, or just curiousity... judging from how you describe how it "feels", that dog is probably suspicious of you. Does the dog ever greet you? Does the stare give you the same sort of "feeling" as this pic of Jäger? You can subconsciously pick up on their body language, posture, and the eyes... this is what you "feel" or why you are at unease from the stare... as apposed to the second picture (same dog), you can see there is no tention in this stare


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## Anthony8858

OMG jager nailed it, without the posture. It's more relaxed, but a cold stare.


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## llombardo

My dog does this all the time. I can tell that the people she does it to get nervous. She will stare at them until they are out of sight. It gives me chills. Her presence is enough to make people think twice.


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## Kyleigh

It means you haven't fed her enough and she is pondering if the person could be her next meal ... ha ha ha

Kyleigh does the same thing at the Tim's drive thru ... she just stares at the guy - no noise, not a whine, not a growl, not a bark ... he says she terrifies him! And we see him every day!


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## lkellen

Remington does the same thing when she sees someone far off and won't drop her gaze until they're gone. Not even a treat gets her to move her head! She also freaks me out when she walks to me sometimes, she drops her head real low and kind of lurks slowly. It's weird, but all in good fun, as she covers me with kisses when she reaches me!


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## AJT

I know your dog's name is Jager. It totally should be BANE (from Batman)!


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## Sunflowers

It means she is waiting for you to make a wrong move.
Just one.


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## Magwart

Try this: *without looking at the dog*, do some very exaggerated yawning. It's a calming signal that most dogs understand well, to communicate you are not a threat. My hunch is that after doing this a few times, the dog might watch you with a more relaxed posture. (Try to do it each time you see the neighbor, and tell your neighbor you are doing it, so he doesn't think you are being goofy.)


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## katdog5911

Stella does the stare down too. I sure would like to know what she is thinking... Is she just curious and taking it all in....or is she waiting for one false move!?


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## Magwart

The meaning depends on very subtle body language cues. It sounds like Anthony's seeing a suspicious, alert dog evaluating whether there is a threat to his owner. OTOH, I had a lovely dog who used to nose her ball at someone's feet, step back a bit, then hunker down and stare intently at the face of the person nearest the ball. It weirded some people out, as it was an _intense _stare. The ball was Serious Business to her, not play. All it meant was, "Throw my ball." My husband used to say she was practicing using her Jedi mind powers: _"You will throw my ball now."_


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## Scarlettsmom

Growing up in Hawai'i, that was called "the stink eye". Scarlett does it to people and if she detects they are nervous because of it, she will give them that big, loud, meant-to-scare-you, Bark. She gives squirrels a different stare. I have seen her stare down a man and NOT bark at him...just never took her cold, icy stare off of him. It was a penetrating, don't-make-a-sudden-move-or-I-will-take-you-to-task kind of stare. She definitely displays different body language depending on the stare. 

She is a very good communicator IF you can read her body language with the stare. Most of the time she is totally happy go lucky.


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## llombardo

Mine doesn't make a peep or move with her stare downs. I feel like she knows she is intimadating???? And she doesn't do it to all people. She definitely picks and chooses, but I'd have to agree with who she has given the stare downs too.


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## msvette2u

> I feel like she knows she is intimadating??


Our last GSD would actually stop people he didn't know at the door, bump their arm with his nose, then wait there in front of them until we moved him or put him up.
Never bit, but did like to intimidate people that way. 
Like..."go ahead, make my day". 

I think it's the natural suspicion this breed is supposed to have?


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## onyx'girl

Onyx does the classic border collie herding stare, you can see her doing it in my profile photo. She'll slowly crouch, move forward as she's staring.


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## KayleeGSD

My personal experience with the stare downs can mean different things and the entire body posture has to be included. Shadow was the top dog in our pack and she would give Tori "the look". Her mouth was closed, tall stiff body posture, tail straight up and some times a low growl was made. Eventually this would lead her becoming aggressive and challenge Tori which was not acceptable behavior. 

Now we have Kaylee who does a lot of staring for different reasons. The most common stares are alert, curious, friendly, playful, and submissive. Her body language will tell me what mode she is in.

When she was younger there were many times on the walk when she displayed anxious & unsure behavior around different objects. I made an effort to show her whatever she was unsure about is no big deal and as we worked she became alert and curious as we faced it. 

It took me a while to read my dogs but the way they communicate is interesting.


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## Anthony8858

Hmmmm. I didn't realize so many experienced the stare. Interesting 

I'm gonna try the yawn / calming signal. 

I absolutely love this breed. . 





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## Scarlettsmom

KayleeGSD said:


> When she was younger there were many times on the walk when she displayed anxious & unsure behavior around different objects. I made an effort to show her whatever she was unsure about is no big deal and as we worked she became alert and curious as we faced it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I forgot about the "OMG, what is THAT?" stare. Inflatable lawn ornaments and anything that resemebles a ghost gets *that* stare. Scarlett is really anxious around "ghosts" for some reason. We always allow her to approach the "ghost" and see that it it OK...otherwise our walks for the rest of the season are unfun. Once she understands that the "ghost" isn't scary, she is OK. Unfortunately, every year, we have to reintroduce the same "ghosts" to her. It's a dog thing. (Plastic bags blowing in the wind, brick mailboxes covered with plastic sheeting, scarecrows...those all qualify as "ghosts".) :/ Goofy GSD.
Click to expand...


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## KayleeGSD

Scarlettsmom said:


> KayleeGSD said:
> 
> 
> 
> When she was younger there were many times on the walk when she displayed anxious & unsure behavior around different objects. I made an effort to show her whatever she was unsure about is no big deal and as we worked she became alert and curious as we faced it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I forgot about the "OMG, what is THAT?" stare. Inflatable lawn ornaments and anything that resemebles a ghost gets *that* stare. Scarlett is really anxious around "ghosts" for some reason. We always allow her to approach the "ghost" and see that it it OK...otherwise our walks for the rest of the season are unfun. Once she understands that the "ghost" isn't scary, she is OK. Unfortunately, every year, we have to reintroduce the same "ghosts" to her. It's a dog thing. (Plastic bags blowing in the wind, brick mailboxes covered with plastic sheeting, scarecrows...those all qualify as "ghosts".) :/ Goofy GSD.
> 
> 
> 
> LOL! I swear the best incident was during leash training/observation in the town of Milton, DE we had to deal with the evil flag stores. They had a bunch of flags hanging outside making noises. The wind was blowing and she jumped back with the OMG look and was unsure with a slight whine and a quick bark. During incidents like this I remain calm and unemotional. I do not want to influence or project anything to her except calm, confident, and this is no big deal come check it out with me.
> 
> I had her sit and observe and we slowly made our way closer to the flags. The whole exercise took nearly 30 minutes but I did not want to overwhelm her. She was about 4 ft from the flag and all eyes were on me. I went up to the flag touched it and let it go and I kept doing it until she approached to investigate. Then she was curious sniffed it and understood it was not a threat or anything to be fearful of. We went on through the town and ran into another store with flags hanging out. I did the same exercise but it went much faster. She went up checked it out and was fine with it.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


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## KayleeGSD

Check this article out about yawning. It is a interesting read. 

What Your Dog's Yawn Really Means | PEDIGREE®


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## llombardo

msvette2u said:


> Our last GSD would actually stop people he didn't know at the door, bump their arm with his nose, then wait there in front of them until we moved him or put him up.
> Never bit, but did like to intimidate people that way.
> Like..."go ahead, make my day".
> 
> I think it's the natural suspicion this breed is supposed to have?


I do think its the natural suspicion and a little bit of fun for them. Mine is literally in high alert, very focused, and in a very nice stack in most of these situations. With the cats its a different stare, not intimidating but very focused and more in a position like the herding one, this is when I do tell her to leave it. Not even a month ago I was sound asleep and something woke me up, when I focused it was her sitting as straight as a board just staring at me...it was very creepy and I know she would never hurt me. She also spends a lot of the time watching the door in my bedroom, for a long time I swore she didn't sleep at night because everytime I got up she was up and just watching everything.


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## onyx'girl

Turid Rugaas also has a great read on it. I would look at her site for more on body language/communication.


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## KayleeGSD

onyx'girl said:


> Turid Rugaas also has a great read on it. I would look at her site for more on body language/communication.
> 
> Turid Rugaas Calming Signals DVD - YouTube




:thumbup: Thank you for sharing this video!


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## doggiedad

are you one those that buys a GSD is a good judge
of character? 



Anthony8858 said:


> There's a GSD owner a few blocks from my house. Her GSD is a stunning WGSL female about 80 lbs.
> Whenever I bump into the owner (whether in my truck, or on foot), I always stop to say hello.
> 
> However, her dog freaks me out. The dog does not take her eyes off my face. I can "feel" her staring at me, but I refuse to engage.
> She'll sit there and just stare, never removing her eyes. No movement, nothing.
> 
> 
> Scares the crap out of me.
> 
> Now of course, the connection here is that I've witnessed Kira do that to certain people, and wondered the same.


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## Anthony8858

doggiedad said:


> are you one those that buys a GSD is a good judge
> of character?


I'm sorry, I don't understand the sentence.

If you're asking if I'm a good judge of character, yes I am.
What that has to do with buys a GSD, confuses me. 
Please clarify.


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## onyx'girl

I think he meant~ is the dog the judge of the character? As we read so much about~ Trust the dog, because he has that inner sense of *what is or is not* thinking?


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## Anthony8858

onyx'girl said:


> I think he meant~ is the dog the judge of the character? As we read so much about~ Trust the dog, because he has that inner sense of *what is or is not* thinking?


LOL.. I don't understand you either LOL

What the heck are you saying?

Am I the type that buys a GSD for the dog's judge of character?
No. I think I'd be committed to a crazy house if I needed my dog to make character judgements for me


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## onyx'girl

do you think the dog was staring at you because the dog thought you were 'shady'? That is what daddiedog was getting at, I think? daddiedog, correct me with a prong if I'm wrong!


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## DharmasMom

doggiedad said:


> are you one those that buys a GSD is a good judge
> of character?



Do you "believe" a GSD is a good judge of character? I think that is what he is trying to say.


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## doggiedad

that's it.



DharmasMom said:


> Do you "believe" a GSD is a good judge of character? I think that is what he is trying to say.


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## msvette2u

But Anthony is a good guy, or at least presents himself as one here 

The problem is, people who don't socialize their GSDs enough so they can figure out who is good and who is "bad", I think.


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## Anthony8858

msvette2u said:


> But Anthony is a good guy, or at least presents himself as one here
> 
> The problem is, people who don't socialize their GSDs enough so they can figure out who is good and who is "bad", I think.


Thank you. I consider myself a good guy. I wear my heart on my sleeve. 

As far as the other dog goes, I just heard she's attacked someone on more than just one occasion. 

I think the dog senses that I'm leery of her. 


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## Catu

onyx'girl said:


> Turid Rugaas also has a great read on it. I would look at her site for more on body language/communication.
> 
> Turid Rugaas Calming Signals DVD - YouTube


Do you want to see calming signals? Enter to an elevator and stare at a randmom stranger right in the eyes...


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## Justaguy

lkellen said:


> Remington does the same thing when she sees someone far off and won't drop her gaze until they're gone. Not even a treat gets her to move her head! She also freaks me out when she walks to me sometimes, she drops her head real low and kind of lurks slowly. It's weird, but all in good fun, as she covers me with kisses when she reaches me!


Thats funny you should say that because last night for the first time my 6 month GSD stood at my gate watching the guy across the street come out of his car and go inside. He just stood their giving him a stare without budging till he was out of site. Then he came galloping to me only to lick me lol. Im guessing its out of fear?


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## Anthony8858

Justaguy said:


> Thats funny you should say that because last night for the first time my 6 month GSD stood at my gate watching the guy across the street come out of his car and go inside. He just stood their giving him a stare without budging till he was out of site. Then he came galloping to me only to lick me lol. Im guessing its out of fear?


No, that's not the "stare".

The stare usually occurs within close range. I've seen my dog single out a person in a room of 10 people, and just into a trance for that person.

The other dog I'm referring to, does that to me. Maybe no more than 10 feet away, she'll just lock into me, and won't take her eyes off me. No expression, no movement. ... Just a cold stare.


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## Justaguy

Anthony8858 said:


> No, that's not the "stare".
> 
> The stare usually occurs within close range. I've seen my dog single out a person in a room of 10 people, and just into a trance for that person.
> 
> The other dog I'm referring to, does that to me. Maybe no more than 10 feet away, she'll just lock into me, and won't take her eyes off me. No expression, no movement. ... Just a cold stare.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


So what is that just looking out of curiousity?


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