Does he seem like a fearful dog at all? My male is a little kooky and if we make him do something he dislikes-go in his crate when we leave or clip his nails he will slink away and refuse to move or hide/run away and he will pout for awhile about it too. My b/f can always tell if I have clipped his nails because he avoids me like the plague and god forbid you look at him while holding anything that could be the clippers. Leaning over them tends to be something fearful dogs can't stand and he may not be used to handling too. Or maybe some pain is bothering him. Hard to say.

 

I would say he is a little fearful, I never know what it will be that triggers it, Babs slinks away when I make her do something she does not want, and I get an occasional grumble out of her, but Capone gives me a low growl, if I look at him or talk to him he will growl, if I go about my business and ignore him he will come find me and lick me like he has not seen me a day. He is a kook!

he was a bit hand shy, that is getting better. At my daughters if he did something he was not suppose to he would find a corner to sit in and growl and shake, the finding a corner has stopped (course his dog bed is in the corner of his room) but he does not shake anymore. I am hoping he just has not had a good beginning and it will get better over time

 

I have a dog who cowers every time someone picks up a fly swatter or a broom. We've never beaten him with anything so it had to be someone else, but he was definitely knocked around at one time with those things because he is an otherwise happy and outgoing little dog with no fear of anything. Maybe your dog has some bad memories of something.

I do know that leaning over a dog can be a sign of domination that most dogs don't like. I try not to do that to my dogs, just as a matter of good manners. It's difficult when you have a dog that's about five inches tall but for the most part I think we do ok with our body language, let him come to us, hold our hands at ground level rather than come down on top of his head, etc.

 

If he is fearful, leaning over him is threatening behavior. Looming over a dog is pretty scary, especially if they're already unsure. I would avoid reaching over his back, sides, or head until he has more trust in you. He is saying, "I am not comfortable with this, please stop."

 

My dog does not like eye contact. So if he's feeling uncertain and I look at him in the eye he slinks away. He's done it a couple of times over the last few months, the first time being the worst. And the only reason the first time was the worst was because I got emotional, I tried to coax him out of his "episode". The key for Avery was/is when he's feeling uncomfortable, ignore him, he doesn't want the extra attention he wants space. So every episode since, I simply walk away and he's fine.

I've had Avery for 3 years and these episodes just started. Dogs are weird, and a gamble, you rarely know what your gonna get..

Avery has some fear issues that I'd like to believe were from lack of socialization as a pup..

 

No matter the size of a dog, I would never bend over a dog. To them you appear to be looming over them. Dogs are more comfortable with someone who kneels down to more their level.

 

I get that some dogs could feel threatened by the leaning over thing, however its not just then like i said it also happened when he rolled over for me to rub his belly, after a few minutes of rubbing he did the same growling thing, most of the time the bending over him thing does not phase him in the least. I have come to the conclussion he is just not 100% sure about us and our house yet, since being neutered he is also better. He seems to get over stimulated very easy