I just spotted a neighbours Staffy had escaped and was enjoying wandering aound the front (open-planned) lawns, having a sniff. I then spotted it start to wag it's tail in an 'appeasing' way (held tight over bum, end of tail frantically swishing), then noticed the owner marching towards it.
The closer the owner got, the lower the dog got to the ground, untill it had pressed itself flat to the floor, with it's tail tucked under it and ears back in a very nervous way :( :( :( :(
It was then dragged by the collar (front feet off the floor), back to it's home (about 20ft away).

It all happened so quickly, but I can't get the image of that dog out of my head and am worried about what it has to 'look forward to' once in, behind closed doors :(

Is there anything that can be done??
I know that talking to this person will not achieve a thing, he will be lovely & polite to your face and act the complete opposite when nobody is looking, so a friendly word will not help the dog (nor will threatening to wring the blokes flippin neck for him - ohhh how tempting!!!). ......

Poor dog :(

It doesn't have to mean anything at all so fingers crossed. One of my Papillons wasn't socialised before I got her aged 9 months -she's now 4. She will flatten herself to the floor when you walk towards her with the intention of picking her up, it's just something she hates having done. If you sit on the couch and call her she'll come happily and can be picked up!

> She will flatten herself to the floor when you walk towards her with the intention of picking her up, it's just something she hates having done

Ahh bless her. I bet even a non-dog savy person can see that your body language is perfectly friendly though :)

Sadly I think this poor dog is reacting to the way the bloke treats it, he is a complete & utter bully and gave the dog a string of verbal abuse as he was dragging it away. This is the staffy that I posted about several months ago, it ran out of the house as bold as brass, strutting it's stuff up to Buster & me, 100% confidant (I posted regarding how to deal with potential problem dogs). I've seen the blokes' kids herd it in when it's been loose and it's always been happy. The bloke was acting like CM in a baaaaaaaad mood :(

ETA, this bloke is also known to the local police for his threatening behaviour towards people.

I know how you feel, whether it was a correct perception or not it breaks your heart to see it.

I once was driving home from the school run and saw a man walking a boxer pup, approx 6 months, the dog was happily walking almost to heal on lead down a pathway, I saw the man speak to the dog and the dog hunched so low almost to the ground with his eyes firmly on the mans face in appeasement, it upset me immensely, for most of the morning I couldn't think of anything else but those eyes from that dog. I would be horrified if any dog/pup I trained cowered at my voice, I know many breeds are sensitive, but even so never to this day has a dog (no matter what breed) felt the need to cower.

I would have been upset to see that too ML.

The bloke was acting like CM in a baaaaaaaad mood :-(

Oh dear. :( :(