The hip nudge is a typical canine behavior. Dog owners often think their dogs are pushy or impolite when they turn their backs to them, sometimes even pushing them. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

A hip nudge is a behavior a dog shows when it nudges another with its hip or rear end. Dogs often use this behavior towards us during greeting ceremonies when we show them passive friendliness by crouching down to it. The dog will walk towards us and turn round. Then it will either nudge us gently with its hip or rear end, or stand passively with its back to us.

This dog shows a half hip nudge, still a sign of friendliness. Both the human and the dog are relaxed and show their peaceful intentions and trust in one another (photo by Lisa Jernigan Bain).

The hip nudge functions as a pacifying behavior. It signals friendliness. By turning its back to us, the dog shows it doesn’t intend to attack—it directs its teeth away from us. It also indicates it trusts us.

Dogs use a variation of the hip nudge behavior during mating rituals, in which the male nudges the female.

I first described this behavior in 1987, in the original edition of “Dog Language,” after spending several years observing, photographing, and filming dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), wolves (Canis lupus lupus), and foxes (Vulpes vulpes).

There are only minor differences between wolf and dog, which we can describe as dialects. The fox differs because, although it displays many behaviors common to the other two, it is less social than its cousins.

 References

• Abrantes, R.A. (1992/1997). Dog Language—An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior. Wakan Tanka Publishers, Naperville, IL.
• Abrantes, R.A. (1997/2005). The Evolution of Canine Social Behavior. Wakan Tanka Publishers, Naperville, IL.
• Fox, M.W. (1971). Behaviour of Wolves, Dogs and Related Canids. Harper & Row.
• McFarland, D. (1999). Animal Behavior. Pearson Prentice Hall, England. 3rd ed.
• Scott, J.P. and Fuller, J.L. (1965). Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog. University of Chicago.
• Zimen, E. (1981). The Wolf—His Place in the Natural World. Souvenir Press.

Featured image: The hip nudge functions as a pacifying behavior. It signals friendliness (illustration by Alice Rasmussen from “Dog Language” by Roger Abrantes).