A dog owner has taken to Reddit to ask why their pooch always greets them with a toy in his mouth when they come home – and other users were quick to explain why
Coming home to a wagging tail is the best feeling, but some dog owners are left scratching their heads when their pooch greets them with a toy or slipper instead of a sniff.
A puzzled Reddit user queried: “When I (or my wife) come home our dog always grabs a toy out of his toy box and greets us at the door. What’s he telling us? He showing off his toy? Does he want to play? Something else? Help!”.
Wisconsin Pet Care suggests it’s a positive sign if your dog brings you an item, no matter how peculiar it may seem. They clarify: “The art of ‘gift giving’ does not happen in every domesticated canine, but for those dogs that do exhibit this behaviour, it’s downright endearing.
“They add that this could be linked to natural hunting instincts, where wild dogs carry food and cache meals for lean times, similar to squirrels stashing nuts.”
“A wolf mother will bring her prey back to the den, retrieving and carrying a meal home to her pups. So it appears that the domesticated dog retrieving is a simple variation of this prey-carrying behaviour.”
However, vets believe much of this gift-giving trait has been learned from humans themselves, reports the Express.
The statement continues: “Selective breeding has encouraged this common retrieving behaviour in many of our beloved dogs today. For example, the retrievers are generally taught to ‘soft mouth’ prey (usually birds), and carry it back safely to the human hunter.
Dogs often get excited when their owner returns home (stock photo)(Image: Getty)
“Many of our terriers were bred to kill and dissect small vermin, and this carrying behaviour may represent the proud retrieval of a kill out of the ground.
“Depending on the dog’s genetics, there could be a strong predisposition to this charitable gift giving behaviour. Genetics or not, there is still a large part of me that believes dogs develop this altruistic behaviour simply because it makes us happy!
“Think about how your pitch heightens, and your voice is filled with excitement and gratitude when Fido brings his bone to your feet as you walk in the door.
“Perhaps you bend down and give your pup an extra ear scratch for such a thoughtful donation.
“Our gleeful reactions strongly reinforce the dog to perform this behaviour again in the future, as they learn it’s beneficial and can lead to extra snuggles and doting attention.”
Commenting on this, one Reddit user said: “Some dogs will get the urge to hold things in their mouth, especially when excited. Just go with it. If he wants you to throw it, okay. If he wants to keep it away from you, cool. It’s just a quirk.”
Another user chimed in: “Our dog does this. I think it’s because when we were training her she would often get too excited and start jumping all over us and nipping so we would redirect her to a toy.
“As a result, I’m pretty sure she just thinks that’s what we want, for her to bring us toys when she feels happy/excited. I think it’s pretty cute even if it wasn’t the intended result.”
Another person with first-hand experience added: “My Samoyed does it too. She greets us, then runs back to her place and bring her favourite toy. We have to throw it once for her, then the greeting is complete for her and she wants to see if we brought any food.”
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