[Jessneff5]

Hi there! My husband and I rescued our 1 year old American bully Athena about a week ago. She came to us malnourished and scarred up from a pretty awful abuse situation, but she's already made so much progress in terms of putting on weight and learning how to live in a home where she is loved and adored. When she met us, our kids, my brother in law and even a few people at gas stations on her ride home, she was very calm and friendly.

My question is more out of curiosity than anything. I've noticed when Athena notices a person or another dog close to our house, she will perk up and want to trot over to them. Ears forward, tail erect, weight center-balanced, just overall on alert and intrigued by them. After a few seconds of curiosity she quickly relaxes and goes back to sniffing the ground for the perfect pee spot or playing with her ball or whatever she was doing before.
Does anyone else's dog do this? Should I be worried, or is it fairly normal to notice these things this way?

 

[JoanneF]

I wouldn't be too concerned about that, she sounds like she is just investigating. Don't make a thing of it though, you don't want her to become over-a!ert to strangers and visitors. It's going to take time for her to settle anyway, they say it takes around three days to decompress, three weeks to learn the routine and three months to feel part of the family.

What you might need to be aware of though, is that not all people will feel comfortable being checked out by a fairly large dog.

 

[emeraldecho]

Given the dog's history, a certain amount of caution toward unfamiliar things/people/etc can be expected. From what you've described, it doesn't seem like anything to worry about though.

If you're concerned the behaviour may escalate, you might consider building her confidence by gently reassuring her or pointing out approaching people in a 'happy voice' when you see them first. Alternately, distracting her with something interesting can help to associate seeing new things with fun activity.