What Causes Rescue Dogs to Cower?

Rescue dogs come with a heavy load. What causes rescue dogs to cower differs depending upon the dog and upon the situation. There are some things all rescue dogs who cower do have in common, however. That is, post-traumatic stress disorder. Most often, dogs cower because they are fearful, anxious or scared. They do not cower out of anger or aggression. When dogs cower, their head is lowered, their ears are flattened, their tails are tucked between their legs and the white of their eyes sometimes is showing. They are making themselves small in order to go unnoticed.

  1. Ignorance

    • Dogs will flatten their ears when they cower.

      Sometimes, people who know nothing about raising dogs will acquire one. Imagine if you were placed in a room with an alien being with whom you cannot communicate. Their facial expressions mean nothing, their language is foreign, and their mannerisms are strange. Yet, if you do not fully understand and do their bidding within a few moments of having met them, you will be severely punished. Now you understand what a dog goes through. Some people will punish a dog harshly for perceived slights such as peeing on the carpet or jumping on the bed. There is a correct way to teach a dog the manners you want it to learn and if you don't teach them correctly, you will cause anxiety, frustration and fear in the dog. This makes it cower.

    Children and Families

    • Sometimes children can be very rough with dogs.

      Children, particularly toddlers and adolescents, can be very rough on dogs, especially small dogs. Dogs who have been teased, treated harshly, chased and harassed by children may cower in their presence, even if the child who has him now is gentle and humane. It is important that children be taught how to treat animals with respect and compassion. Couples who fight or argue loudly may cause a dog to cower, because the last family the dog was in, this heralded a new spate of abuse visited on the dog. Raising a hand over the dog, appearing with a broomstick, or even a slight stiffening of your body can all be triggers for cowering, as these things may have been red flags that alerted the dog to possible trouble in his former life.

    Cowering Triggers

    • Dogs rescued from tragic situations have a lifetime of memories with which to deal.

      Dogs are very forgiving and allow humans to get away with mistreatment, but it does not come without a price. Dogs who have been rescued from puppy mills, hoarders, hurricane-stricken areas or other disasters pay an emotional toll. Though they may appear to have "gotten over" whatever it is that spooked them, there is always that psychological damage that will not go away. Dogs who have lived through a hurricane and watched their home destroyed will spook over the sound of thunder. Dogs confined to small spaces, such as breeding dogs rescued from puppy mills, will cower when forced into a crate or small cage. A greyhound who has been tied up and beaten for not winning a race will cower when tied to a tree. Dogs engaged in a dog fight will fear other dogs. These are all demons with which rescue dogs live.

    That Guilty Look

    • Some dogs will cower when they have gotten into the trash can, piddled on the carpet or wreaked some other kind of havoc while you were at work and they know they will be punished. This is a learned behavior. You may have never raised your hand to a dog, but certainly if a dog is reacting to your raised voice or body language in a way that shows fear, someone, somewhere in his past may have used physical violence to hurt him. Dogs will cower before people wearing hats if his last owner, someone who punished him harshly, routinely wore a hat. People of a different race than yours may trigger a cowering behavior because his last owner, someone who hurt him, was a member of a different race.