Why Dogs Sit on Your Hand: Attention or Comfort?
Of all the places your dog could put his rear end, why choose the four-inch patch currently occupied by your hand?
You are petting him on the couch. Your hand pauses beside his hip.…
comfort
Why Dogs Bring You Their Blanket: Comfort or Sharing?
The house has gone quiet. You’re stretched out on the couch when your dog appears in the doorway with a blanket gathered awkwardly in his mouth.
He walks over, climbs up beside you, turns twice, and drops onto the cushion.…
Why Dogs Sit on Your Back: Play or Affection?
Most furniture does not suddenly get down on all fours. Your dog may consider this a design flaw.
You crouch to pick something up, stretch out on the floor, or lean over during play, and suddenly there is a dog on your back.…
Why Dogs Sit on Your Chest: Comfort or Attention?
There are easier places for a dog to sit. The couch has cushions. The floor is spacious. Your lap was specifically engineered by human anatomy to be available while reclining.…
Why Dogs Twitch in Their Sleep: Dreaming or Instinct?
Sleep doesn’t switch your dog’s nervous system off. His brain moves through different sleep stages, muscle tone changes, breathing shifts, and small bursts of movement can slip through even while the rest of his body is deeply relaxed.…
Why Dogs Walk Between Your Legs: Comfort or Habit?
Some dogs see the narrow gap between your legs and apparently think, “Excellent. A hallway built specifically for me.”
You are standing at the kitchen counter, waiting at a crosswalk, or trying to have a normal conversation with another human when your dog walks directly into the space between your knees.…
Why Dogs Scratch the Floor Before Sleeping: Instinct or Comfort?
The strange part isn’t that your dog scratches before bed. It’s that sometimes he does it on a floor that’s not going to budge.
He walks over to the hardwood beside his bed, lowers his head, and gives the boards three determined scrapes.…
Why Dogs Bring You Your Shoes: Helpfulness or Excitement?
You’re standing by the front door looking for your other shoe when your dog appears around the corner carrying it.
For a second, the scene looks almost impossibly helpful.…
Why Dogs Choose One Spot to Nap: Comfort or Habit?
By the third or fourth time you notice it, the choice starts to feel deliberate. Your dog has the whole room available to him, yet when he gets sleepy he wanders past the couch, ignores the dog bed, circles around the coffee table, and settles in the same corner beside the window.…
Why Dogs Hump Blankets: Play, Habit, or Comfort?
If blanket humping were simply sexual behavior, a fleece throw would be a strange target. It doesn’t move, respond, or participate, yet some dogs repeatedly seek out the same blanket after rough play, during an excited evening, or just before they finally settle down.…