# My pup stalks like a cat, is this a GSD trait?



## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

So every time we go to an off leash area of the city, my dog stalks other dogs. She crouches down to make herself seem very small, then she slowly and quietly starts heading towards the other dog until she's close then she sprints towards the other dog. 

She literally looks like a lion while hunting for prey. She only does it for fun and myself and other dog owners get a good laugh out of it. 

Is this a normal GSD trait or is Cedar one of a kind? I've never seen a dog do that before and most other dog owners I come across say the same thing.

I'll get a video of it one day soon.


----------



## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Oh yes, Lucy is a big time stalker when it comes to other dogs. She'll just crouch down and pounce once the time is right. She's got it down to science at this point.


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

look up videos of border collies herding sheep. I bet you'll see the same thing there. Its a herding thing. Its pretty funny to see this big ol dog trying to be sneaky!


----------



## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Good point KZoppa. It definitely comes from their natural herding instincts.


----------



## mel hunter (May 15, 2009)

My dog Buddy does this too...he is the first one of my shepherds to do it and I had not seen it before. It's funny...we call him "the panther" but I've had other owners whose dog he is stalking be a little frightened when they see it.. They soon realize he's a very friendly boy 
Melinda


----------



## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

Koda stalks too. Alot. Especially little kids (never hurts them just stalks). I think it comes from the herding background? Right? Lol!!!


----------



## Hansel & Gretel (Oct 26, 2010)

Both my 10 month old GSD's do this with other dogs they like to play with. It is cute to watch, especially when they work as a team (or pack)

John


----------



## Lesley1905 (Aug 25, 2010)

Brody does that too to my other dog...it cracks me up!


----------



## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

I found these pictures of Anka when she was small...She loved to stalk Argos. 

She would stalk. (Argos was pretty unimpressed with her super stealthy sneaky mode)









Lie in Wait.









And then POUNCE.


----------



## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

JKlatsky said:


> I found these pictures of Anka when she was small...She loved to stalk Argos.
> 
> She would stalk. (Argos was pretty unimpressed with her super stealthy sneaky mode)
> 
> ...


 Awwwwww!!!!!! SOOOOO CUTE!!! I woulda stollen her! :wub:


----------



## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

Yeah, this isn't a hunting type thing like a cat, it's a herding instinct related behavior. Remi "stalks" my Pom outside all the time, he loves herding him around in little circles, it's precious.


----------



## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

Ozzy does this all the time. Haha.

The stalking









The attack


----------



## DarkestUnicorn (Sep 6, 2010)

Diego's attempt at stalking our neighbor,


----------



## Sigurd's Mom (May 12, 2009)

My neighbours female GSD is the stalking queen. She does it constantly, especially to Sigurd. It's really cute, sometimes she will even "hid" herself behind a tree/bush and do it. Sigurd loves it when she stalks, he stares her down and hops in the air. I haven't seen Sigurd do it much, he sometimes does it to a ball or toy.


----------



## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

hahaha, awesome pics JK!


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Actually it is a body language based on fear/aggression. I see it often when walking my GSD. Another dog will see her coming and crouch/lie until she is close then charge. Seems other owners don't know this about their dogs. I tell them "Your dog is about to charge." and they look at me like I'm nuts ... then they are totally shocked when the dog charges. It's not usually extreme aggression, it is simply an aggressive move following a fear posture. Fortunately my GSD never does it. If I were to see her go into that posture I would make her stand up, it's not a behavior I would approve of because you never know how the other dog is going to react.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

when my dog was younger i saw him stalk a few times.
i've seen other dogs do it at the dog park. i didn't know
it was fear/aggression untill i read PaddyD's post. i've never seen a fight
start stemming from stalking.


----------



## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

Wolfie stalks the seagulls on the beach. He gets so close to them and then charges.


----------



## Sigurd's Mom (May 12, 2009)

I didn't realise it was fear/aggression when a dog stalks. I would never have guessed, whenever my neighbours dog does it it seems more out of play. I think it's just her herding instincts kicking in personally, because when Sigurd hops/initiates play out of the stalking, they chase each other, and she does the nipping on the bottom/shoulders to get him to go where she wants him to!

It probably differs between dog and situation...


----------



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Yeah, my two will do it in play, never before a fight (they've never fought). It's not exactly like a cat though, not as crouched down. Niko will stalk his Jolly Ball sometimes, and pounce on it. Rosa will crouch down and wait for Niko to notice her, and when he gives her some signal like a head lowering, she'll race towards him and bite on the back of his neck. Much merriment ensues.


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Sigurd's Mom said:


> I didn't realise it was fear/aggression when a dog stalks. I would never have guessed, whenever my neighbours dog does it it seems more out of play. I think it's just her herding instincts kicking in personally, because when Sigurd hops/initiates play out of the stalking, they chase each other, and she does the nipping on the bottom/shoulders to get him to go where she wants him to!
> 
> It probably differs between dog and situation...


My bad, I might have confused it with a similar behavior. Stalking is neat.
I was thinking of dogs that lie down and charge when you approach them.


----------



## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

I don't think Ozzy is afraid of his ball when he's stalking it, personally....


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh does the low staking thing to Uschi and his friend Kobe, then he gives three jumps and pounces. He's done that since he was just a tiny pup. I took him for a herding evaluation last week and he did the same posture in the pen with the sheep- without the Ninja pounces- and the herding trainer loved it.


----------



## vat (Jul 23, 2010)

Max loves to stalk the squirrels in the yard. It is very funny to watch a large GSD try and be sneaky.


----------



## DharmasMom (Jul 4, 2010)

HA! Dharma does this at the park with her doggie friends. It is sooo funny to see. She will spot one of her playmates across the park, crouch down, watch for several seconds then go chasing after them. They either get pounced on or take of running and a game of tag will begin!


----------



## szariksdad (Jun 25, 2010)

I don't think it is a fear more of a stalk to dominance thing. After all my dog is not afraid of a rabbit but he loves to stalk them to pounce and try to eat. When he does do it with other small dogs I know he sees them as food to so I slow him down on them. For the bigger dogs his size he is trying to pounce and start a session of rough play.


----------



## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Jamie Lee does this to Victor all the time. She does not lie down she will get real low and slowly stalk him and then POUNCE. It is really funny to watch. The constant biting at his sides/neck when he is running or even moving is my problem with her. She is obsessed with him. I had to teach her to down,stay to tone it down a little but it is a constant battle with her. I guess that is also part of that herding instinct too.


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Sigurd's Mom said:


> I didn't realise it was fear/aggression when a dog stalks. I would never have guessed, whenever my neighbours dog does it it seems more out of play. I think it's just her herding instincts kicking in personally, because when Sigurd hops/initiates play out of the stalking, they chase each other, and she does the nipping on the bottom/shoulders to get him to go where she wants him to!
> 
> *It probably differs between dog and situation*...


 
i agree. 

with herding dogs, its a natural instinct to stalk/crouch because of the possibility of the animal they're herding to kick. You dont want your head higher because that increases the chances of getting kicked in the head which can be severely damaging. I think with other breeds the stalking could be fear/aggression based but with herding breeds i really dont think thats the case. Herding breeds stalk, read the situation and act accordingly. If that means a charge, thats what they do. I've never seen a fight break out or aggressive posturing result. I've only ever seen playing.


----------



## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

PaddyD said:


> Actually it is a body language based on fear/aggression. I see it often when walking my GSD. Another dog will see her coming and crouch/lie until she is close then charge. Seems other owners don't know this about their dogs. I tell them "Your dog is about to charge." and they look at me like I'm nuts ... then they are totally shocked when the dog charges. It's not usually extreme aggression, it is simply an aggressive move following a fear posture. Fortunately my GSD never does it. If I were to see her go into that posture I would make her stand up, it's not a behavior I would approve of because you never know how the other dog is going to react.


It's definitely not a fear posture, and I'm not about to stop her from doing it. She does it while playing with other dogs. I know when she's scared, because she'll run to me and hide behind me. This is different than what you're thinking


----------



## CaliBoy (Jun 22, 2010)

My previous GSD was from working lines, and she had a real hunter-killer predator instinct in her. She stalked, pounced, killed, and then ate, if the animal was tasty. I don't know how many birds she killed in the yard, and then ate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. With her black hair, she blended into the bushes and could be perfectly still until her prey was close enough for the kill.

Unfortunately, she also killed two cats who didn't know to stay clear of the yard. She didn't eat them, just left them to die (it was horrible). She would have killed a possum if I hadn't gone out to the back yard and caught her sinking her teeth into him and rescued him.

What was weird was that to me, she was the most loving and affectionate animal I have ever known. But in her yard, she was a vicious killer.


----------



## oldskoolsmg (Sep 14, 2016)

Your dogs look just like my dog Luna. My dogs from czech working lines. Are yours?


----------



## thiara99 (Jan 1, 2019)

So I don't have a German Sheperd, but rather a Pit/Lab mix and she does the same thing at least oncewhenever we go to the dog park. She'll get really low with her back legs slightly in a position to generate force to pounce exactly like a cat hunting, and when the dog she's staring at comes by, she'll pounce and start playing. I was curious to see if this was something other dogs did as well or if it was unique to her (first time dog owner). Most people who see her do that are amazed as I was because I've never seen any dog act like a big cat (tigerish) does when hunting.


----------



## asibley (Jul 19, 2017)

A collie at the dog park starting doing the stalking thing to my last dog over the course of a month or two. There were also a lot of other warning signs with this particular dog.

It ended with a stealth attack on my dog and a really awful bite to his side.

He needed a lot of stitches but was completely fine in the end.

Vet told me it looked like the other dog was going for a belly-area kill. 

The incident did end the tenure of that sociopathic dog at the dog park, which was a long time coming.


----------

