Have you ever woken up to find your dog staring at you? Many guardians say that their dogs stare at them while they sleep or even when they are awake, but… what is the reason for this behavior?
If it's happened to you too, don't miss this article on our site, where we'll explain why my dog looks at me when I sleep.
How do dogs communicate with people?
Over the years, dogs have developed various ways of communicating with us. In this sense, the eyes as a whole (eyelids, eyeball, pupils and muscles that allow them to move) play a very important role. They are a very obvious and efficient way to communicate to your tutor the emotions you are feeling at that moment.
The dimensions adopted by the eyes (wide open and round to smaller and slanted) are the product of a voluntary act of the individual through the movement of all the muscles that surround the eyes. These muscles, known as the palpebral muscle group, are responsible for the different shapes that the eyes can take. It is a totally voluntary fact on the part of the animal that according to its state of mind it will move the different muscles of the group named above, this whole process being handled through the central nervous system of the dog
Regarding the pupils, that's another story. The larger or smaller pupillary diameter that a dog can present in its eyes no longer depends on it, at least voluntarily. A dog cannot decide “I am going to dilate my pupils”, it is something that occurs due to internal processes motivated by the emotional moment that is happening and managed by the dog's autonomic nervous system
This combination of eyelids and pupils together with the different positions of the ears and lips is what is known as facial communication and it is the one that gives us the greatest idea of emotional state of the dog This facial or gestural communication added to all the expressions of body communication of a dog means that with a little will, practice and patience one can understand when our dog "speech".
For more information, see this other article on How do dogs communicate?
My dog looks at me when I sleep, what does it mean?
On the other hand, dogs have a highly developed protective instinct, so it can "stand guard" when it senses that we are in a very vulnerable situation, like when we go to the bathroom or, in this case, fall asleep.
It is likely that you have also noticed that your dog lies down next to you when you go to rest, or that he stays near more vulnerable people, such as babies or the elderly. Even if he doesn't stare at you, staying close to you or other people he considers "weak" is his way of protecting you from possible danger and showing you that you wants
Why is your dog staring at you?
Now then, what if you're not sleeping and your dog is still staring at you? What does his look mean on these occasions? It may be due to these reasons:
- He doesn't understand you: it is very easy for a dog to communicate with a fellow dog, but with people it becomes more complicated, because most of the time they do not understand what we are telling them, and it is in that situation where the animal, somewhat perplexed by the lack of understanding of its human companion, stares at it. The animal enters a state of confusion where it does not understand the situation well, and it is then that, perplexed and confused, it insists on continuing to try to make itself understood.
- Watch what you're doing: It can also happen that your dog simply stays absorbed in looking at what you're doing and trying to understand the type of activity you are doing.
- Look for your eye contact: if the dog is also interested in doing some physical activity with his companion, such as playing, going out to walk or has simply passed his meal time, the more insistently the dog will seek eye contact with his guardian to ensure that the latter understands what he is "saying" and acts accordingly.
- Warning Look: Do not rule out this other type of look. When there is a conflict situation between dog and guardian, the gaze of the animal will mean something more than a call for attention. In this case, the look towards your companion is mainly to convey your anger. Staring is a way to avoid major conflicts between dogs. It is a challenge where forces are measured and, when one of the two participants understands that the other is in a superior or advantageous position, he accepts said situation and lowers his gaze. At that moment, the potential conflict ends without the thing having to go to great lengths. Almost always when a dog stares at its guardian in certain circumstances and, also evaluating the other communication parameters of dogs, it could be inferred that it is the prelude to an aggressive behavior of the animal towards its caretaker with the pertinent consequences.
Well, there are many reasons why a dog can become absorbed in looking at its human companion, but the main motivation of the animal is always to communicate with its esteemed life partner.
