This is my first posting, so if I'm missing something here, please be patient. I foster an almost 2-yr old Leerburg GSD for Ed. When she plays with my older Bassett male, and sometimes with other dogs, she will run at them at full speed, then drop her shoulder and ram them. She knocks the 50 lb bassett totally off his feet and rolls him over. What is the pack behavior that underlies this? Is it pack play, a dominance thing, or something else? Thanks.

I see this same behavior in my herding GSDs. I do boundary herding which means that the dog is shown a boundary and he is supposed to keep the sheep contained within it. The dogs patrol back & forth along the boundaries making sure that the sheep are inside. If sheep go outside the boundary the dog puts them back with whatever means necessary to do it. Often just the presence of the dog coming toward the sheep is enough to get the sheep to move back inside on its own -- sometimes the dog needs to grip -- sometimes the dog body slams the sheep back inside. My first herding GSD used to enjoy body slamming stray sheep outside the boundary on the top of a hill & watching them roll down the hill <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> -- I called it "sheep bowling" & got a good laugh out of watching the enjoyment the dog got from it. Dog's do have a sense of humor -- BTW no one was hurt & I'm sure the sheep appreciated the "knock" as opposed to the grip.

From my observation this behavior is used to control or contain another but I would assume it can also be effective in serious combat. I would also imagine that different breeds use the same behavior for different purposes. Your dog sounds like it is using this behavior in play to test its effect.