Why Dogs Dig at Blankets: Comfort or Nesting?
You smooth out the blanket on the couch, and a few minutes later your dog climbs up and immediately starts undoing your work. One paw hooks the fleece and drags it backward.…
Dog Behavior Explained
Why Dogs Rest Their Head on You: Comfort or Connection?
There is something unusually quiet about a dog placing his head on you. He walks over while you are sitting on the couch, lowers his chin across your thigh, and stops.…
Why Dogs Sit Close to You: Affection or Security?
A dog doesn’t have to touch you to choose you. He can settle on the floor beside your chair, leave several inches between his body and your feet, and stay there while better-padded beds sit unused across the room.…
Why Dogs Sit in Your Spot When You Get Up: Claiming or Comfort?
Some dogs can identify the best seat in the house in the fifteen seconds it takes you to get a glass of water. Conveniently, it’s the one you just left.…
Why Dogs Boop You With Their Nose: Communication or Curiosity?
The room is dark except for the blue-white glow of your phone. You’re halfway through reading something when a cold, damp nose presses into the back of your hand.…
Why Dogs Tilt Their Heads at Certain Words: Sound or Memory?
Some dogs seem to save their best head tilts for a remarkably short list of words.
You can talk through an entire story and get nothing. Then you say ‘ball,’ ‘walk,’ or the name of a favorite toy, and your dog’s head tips sideways almost on cue.…
Why Dogs Hold Onto Random Objects: What It Really Means
Your dog trots past you with a balled-up sock in her mouth. She isn’t chewing it. She isn’t hiding it. She’s just carrying it, head held a little higher than usual, like she’s won something.…
Why Dogs Sit on Your Lap: Comfort or Claiming?
A dog sitting on your lap isn’t claiming ownership of you. The position can look possessive because the dog is literally occupying your body, but location alone doesn’t tell you whether she’s trying to control anything.…
Why Dogs Love Car Rides: Adventure or Comfort?
The house is quiet, and then it isn’t. A drawer opens near the front door, metal jingles against metal, and a dog asleep on the rug moments ago is suddenly upright, tail going, nails clicking toward the sound.…
Dog Behavior Explained — Complete Guide to Understanding Your Dog
Your dog did something today that made you stop and wonder. Maybe they followed you into the bathroom again. Then they started pacing for no obvious reason or dropped a toy at your feet for the fourth time in an hour.…