I was over in the park today and there was a dog there and his owner let me play with him. As I was playing with him. He seemed to be in a real playful mood and I was throwing him a ball and he wanted me to chase him. He would run and look back over his shoulder to see if I was following him.
Then he did something odd. He picked up speed to get way ahead of me and then he turned around and ran full speed at me and head butted me.
He was definitely playing, his tail was wagging and he was jumping. Then after I grabbed him and wrestled with him, he took off again, looking over his shoulder to make sure I was following him, then again, he turned around, went full speed and head butted me again.
He did this four times, before I said, my leg can’t take your head butts anymore and I went back to throwing him a ball.
I’ve seen a dog accidentally head butt someone when they’re walking him and the dog is going faster than the walker, but this dog was charging.
He looked like those big horn sheep, you see on nature shows, that lower their head and run and head butt each other with their horns.
As I said, he was a Boxer and he was definitely playing, there was no aggression at all. I just never saw a dog lower their head and charge and head butt someone before.
So has anyone else heard of a head butting dog? Is this common for Boxers?
I have two boxers and I don’t know if it’s a breed characteristic but Kaia’s move is similar but sneakier. Her signature is headbutting behind your knee. You know the spot that makes your leg collapse? That one.
My dog (not a boxer) really likes to play chicken with you. It really hurts if he miscalculates (he’s 84 lbs. of solid muscle).
One of our former neighbor’s dogs (a Shepherd mix) really enjoys body slamming you as a method of play. She’ll jump up in the air and broadside you. It’s actually really funny - she’s about 30 lbs. so no harm done. I also took care of a client’s Lab back when we did pet sitting that liked to do this. He was a big dog but also overweight so it was like being hit with a giant pillow.
I think some dogs just enjoy bodily contact. How they manage that depends on the dog.
I didn’t ask the owner if it was usual. I didn’t really think about it, till I was walking home. Boxers are pretty playful anyway, and not too bright
It was just funny 'cause unlike the normal dog wrestling where they make it up as they go along, this was like a cold calculating strike. But as I said, he was clearly playing.
I’ve encountered this with a boxer, he was a BIG old puppy with a BIG old head and just wanted to lick my face of and sit in my lap so yep, knocked me over with a head butt and sat on me and licked my face. scary to me since I was coming out of the vet’s office with my BIG old kitty. Definately a freindly dog though.
Different dogs play different ways, and different people play differently with their dogs.
I’ve had 4 pit bulls over the years. All of them have a general set of characteristics that I find (mostly) pleasing, thus me continuing to get more of them, but each of them had/have a special “game” all of their own that they like. I’ve definitely encouraged these games, usually by finding them funny or adorable and encouraging the dog to repeat it.
This isn’t always a good thing, as sometimes it results in a dog who thinks that pouncing on the front of your foot and slapping it with their feet is hysterical fun (which it WAS when I was in boots, and ISN’T when I’m in sandals, dammit!) or when my current pit surprises my mother by actively soliciting a punch in the face by leaping into your hands until you swat her.
It is a play style of some dogs. In one of the training books I have (can’t remember which one…) it details the play styles and talks about the play styles that are usually compatible with each other.
