Let's assume you don't know that dog. You don't know his breed, but you might be able to guess it. You can only judge his characteristics from what you observe in that situation.

Situation:

Doggie hears the voice of his owner, who is sitting in neighbour's yard. He finds a loophole and goes to neighbours yard, where the door is open. But there are two big Filas Brasileiros, who are not really aggressive but are barking in a territorial manner. Doggie hesitates, then passes by the Filas deep on his knees and crawls to his owner.

Question: How would you characterize Doggie? Is he courageous, submissive, dominant, crazy, or any other particularity?

He's just a dog that doesn't want trouble that day.

Submissive and the owner could easily loose that dog on a given day.

Territorial barking can easily become aggressive with the right trigger.

Thanks Cathy and Bob for your frank opinion.

I am the owner. The dog was Slippie. At least it wasn't my fault. The gardenkeeper had opened our door fo a moment,, not prepared that Slippie would bolt out, which she normaly doesn't do. I was very scared when she entered. Fortunately the Filas
didn't bother about her any more when the neighbour stood up and told them to shut up.

 Quote: Cathy Goessman

He's just a dog that doesn't want trouble that day.

Yep, I was going to say something similar. I think Slippie was being mindful of the fact that she was entering the other dogs' territory, and she was doing her very best to say in clear and obvious canine language that she was no threat.

She was being submissive AT THAT
MOMENT but that does not mean that any other day things would have been the same - the other dogs may have tried something if their owner had not been there. Slippie may have acted differently since you were there as well.

I would have a talk with the groundskeeper as things could have ended VERY badly...

Good point Kelly!

Being on the other dog's property could also be a reason Slippie was submissive.

I've seen a St. Bernard give ground to a Cocker Spaniel simply because it was on the Spaniel's yard.

It doesn't always work out that simple.

Thanks for your opinions guys! I think you're all right. It was a question of that speciqol situation. Things could have ended very awfully. I had a talk with the yardkeeper, but he knows about all this since years. It was a mistake, ok, but not really negligence. So, I couldn't blame him.

I told also the neighbour, he shouldn't leave the door open while his Filas are loose. He understands, that this could have ended badly. Nevertheless a big applause to him for handling his dogs so well. He doesn't train them with tricks and such, but they know some rules and listen to him.

One thing I don't understand. Why behaved Slippie so submissivly? Like you said, Cheri, she must have been mindful to show the other dogs, she was no threat.
But why? It wouldn't have been necesssary to enter. When she saw the Filas, she could easily have gone back into her own yard.

She is as far as I can judge the dominant dog within our pack, but on the other hand she is the most fearful one of all four outside her territory. So, why did she dare to come in and pass by those barking Filas? This is for me somehow a big contradiction.

In a single litter of any and all dog breeds there will always be a pack order worked out among the puppies.

Some folks will want the biggest, most dominant pup in THAT litter and others may choose the calm, easy gong pup form THAT litter. Puppies do that with lots of had play and reading one another's body language as this develops.

Even when choosing the most dominant dog in THAT litter is no guarantee that pup will be dominant outside THAT litter.

How it's raised and what it's allowed to do can be completely different when it gets around a lot of other dogs. WAAAAY to often people that think they have a dominant dog it's nothing more then a spoiled pup that has been allowed to run the household. I think thise is what people don't understand about dog parks. To many dogs that don't know one another and all it takes is ONE dog that wants to rule and that can create a pack mentality and a free for all. Count yourself lucky that the your dog showed submission to the Filas and also that they recognized it. EITHER side could have made a mes out of the situation. They understood one another.

Yes, I damned glad ahe showed submissness to the Filas. What I don't get is why she entered at all. As I said, she is the most craintive one of all. When I go for a walk with her I regularly try desensitze heragainst the barking of teritorial dogs barking behind their fences. I started with going only to a certain threshold, which she could support, made her sit a short while or played with her.

She is meanwhile able to walk the whole stretch of that street without pulling back, but still with fear, always tucking her tail between the legs. That's why I don't get it, why she dared to enter neighbour's yard voluntarily. Those behaviors for me somehow don't match.