Low posture

Head held lower than the shoulders, tail down, ears down, legs bent. If the dog is sitting, its head will be lowered and will appear to be pulled back towards its chest. If the dog is moving, its forelegs may be lowered and its hindquarters may appear to be held higher than its shoulders.
(Murphy, 1998; Beerda et al., 1999; Tod et al., 2005, Capra, 2011)

This female Jack Russel is exhibiting a low posture as she encounters the male German Shepherd. She stares directly into his eyes, stopping him.

This female German Shepherd is exhibiting a low posture and airplane ears as she approaches an unfamiliar dog.

This male Belgian Malinois is performing in a Mondioring trial. In the retrieving exercise, he is returning to his handler with ears back, tail down, and forelegs lowered.

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Upon entering a strange room, the adolescent Cane Corso exhibits a low posture. The dog is pulling on his leash, and exhibiting a fearful expression towards the people in the room as he puffs his cheeks.

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A female Airedale Terrier approaches a female Czech Wolf Dog. When the Wolf Dog raises her head, the Airedale changes the direction of her approach and lowers her head. When the Wolf Dog approaches, the Airedale stops and stands still, lowers her head and tail, averts her gaze, adopting a low posture. The male Australian Shepherd and the Czech Wolf Dog sniff the Airedale. The Australian exhibits anal-genital olfactory exploration of the Wolf Dog, who turns her ears sideways and moves away. The Airedale leaves, maintaining a low posture, and the Wolf Dog shakes her head and approaches the male dog. The Airedale leaves the interaction.

lifting front paw<>lowering hindquarters