My 5 month old beagle (male) and my 8 year old German Sheppard (female) play a lot. This usually consists of the beagles running around in circles around my German Sheppard who is laying down and doing quick bites. My question is sometimes he will stop at her head and back up and put his ass in her face. Is this some type of dominance thing?
Beagles are weird. When they are older the butt is big and they shove it in each others face when they fight.
I’ve noticed both dogs and cats are occasionally prone to using “hip feints” when they wrestle. They bend their body into a u-shape and lead with their ass, hoping to provoke an attack which they can then devastatingly counter with their toothy end. Sometimes the opponent even falls for it, dogs and cats not being noticeably bright much of the time ;).
Not sure if that is the same thing you are describing, though. Sounds more like general weirdness :).
My dog does that too. She’ll also turn around and offer her rear-end up to us, although she can’t reach our faces. She’s very much a beta personality, and I think she’s just giving a friendly acknowledgment of submission to us or the other dog.
If I recall dog behaviour correctly, offering the ass is more of a submission move than a dominant one … as if to say, “Here you go. Mount away, sir.”
but the genders are wrong. would a male dog “offer” himself to a female dog like that? Both are fixed
Not a beagle, but I sometimes do the same thing. Sometimes I get lucky.
We have two female springer spaniels, ages 6 and 8. The younger one, Dottie, likes to do what we call “butt-slamming” – she’ll bend herself into a U as described and WHAP her back end against us, or against Phyllis’s (the older dog’s) face as she hangs her head off the edge of the couch. Dottie will repeat this action, WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP – while growling, her head down, and sort of stomping her hind feet up and down. She does it more/longer if you sort push/wrestle back at her.
We always think of it as trying to “start something,” but I would be surprised to learn that it’s really submissive behavior, because she tends to be the more submissive dog.
I have got to get a video of it sometime. It’s the craziest thing and funny as hell.
Oh, you stick your ass in ChrisBooth’s dog’s face, too?
Thanks for that tidbit. I never was quite sure what to do when the bitches did that with me. Now I know. 
It’s the canine equivalent of “Pull my finger”.
It is a play-soliciting gesture, usually. One that says - C’mon, I’ll give you a good target!
Presenting the rear is a way to say that a dog is not interested in fighting, but would be amenable to being chased. I see it all the time in playing dogs. Perfectly normal behavior.
Yes, both genders mount in dominance displays, and both genders present hindquarters as a sign of submission. Nothing to do with sex, just looks like it.
ETA: Not saying this IS submission, mind you. I’d have to see them and look for other cues to know. Could just be playing, or being goofy.
I really only know what I know from The Dog Whisperer and practical experience, but yes. A dog will show submission identically to either gender. In fact, many pack leaders, male or female, will mount a submissive pack member, male or female, just as a show of who’s in charge.
Or, what **WhyNot **said.
Corky, a female Corgi, will do something kind of similar: She, being a Corgi, lacks a tail, and therefore wags her whole ass when she greets someone. When greeting a new person, or someone she hasn’t seen in a while, she’ll wag so enthusiastically she’ll be coming at them sideways. I wonder if that behavior has elements of this.
Because dogs, like preteen human males, think it’s funny to fart in someone’s face?