If you thought that humans are the only ones who do weird things, you've never had a canine. If you did not believe it, it is because you are used to seeing your dog doing nonsense things and that, a priori, there is no logical explanation. Things that are sometimes funny and you won't be able to stop laughing and other things that you will be constantly wondering why he does them
That's why in this article on our site we're going to reveal a few weird things dogs do, so you know exactly what it is the reason for these strange behaviors and understand why they act like this. Here we show you a few weird things that dogs do but surely yours does many more, right?
My dog moves his paw when I scratch his belly
One of the weird things dogs do is quickly move their paws when you touch a particular spot on their most vulnerable body part. Despite what most people think, if your dog moves his paw agitatedly when you scratch his belly, it is not a sign that he likes what you do to him but that you are bothering him
And you will say: And that? Well, because when you're scratching or tickling your dog, you're actually activating the nerves under their skin, like when they have some parasite scurrying through their fur or the wind blows in their face. This produces what is known as the "scratch reflex", which is nothing more and nothing less than the action of shaking your potatoes to get rid of that "discomfort" that we are causing them.
So the next time you scratch your dog's belly you'd better be careful and if he starts to move his legs, stop and change the area or decrease the scratching and start petting him with softness to continue providing your love.
My dog walks in circles before lying down on his bed
Another of the strange things that dogs do is to turn around in their bed or in that place where they are going to stretch before lying on top, since this behavior comes to them of their wild ancestors.
In the old days wild dogs that needed a place to sleep usually did so somewhere with vegetation. To squash those weeds and make sure their "nest" was safe and contained no insects or reptiles, they would go around in circles and eventually stretch out on it to sleep comfortably. In addition, the fact of walking on his "bed" showed the other dogs that that territory already belonged to someone and thus no one else occupied it.
So don't be surprised when your dog walks in circles before snuggling up on the sofa with his blankets or in his warm bed because it's an old behavior still ingrained in his brain and they're not going to change it though now they no longer need to make "nests" to sleep.
My dog takes his food somewhere else to eat it
Taking away the food that we have put in its bowl and eating it somewhere else is another of the strange things that dogs do, and in this case there are two theories to explain this behaviour.
One of them says that this behavior comes to them, as in the previous case, from their wild ancestors: the wolves. When the wolves hunted a prey, the weaker and lower-ranking wolves could choose a piece of meat and take it to another place to eat it, so that the alpha male and the higher-ranking wolves would not take it away and could eat it in peace. This would explain why domestic dogs have this behavior today, since even if they are not in a wolf pack, unconsciously for them we are their alpha male.
The other less confirmed theory, since it does not happen to all dogs that wear them, is that the sound of the identification tags or decorative collars can bother him when colliding with his metal or plastic bowl and that's why they take the food to another place, so they don't sound.
My dog chases his tail
It has always been said that dogs that chase their tails is because they are bored or because they have an obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes them to have that behavior. But, as research progresses, it has been discovered that this behavior may have its origin in a genetic, nutritional or even childhood problem
At the genetic level, studies suggest that this behavior affects different generations of some same breeds and even several litters. From what is intuited, this behavior affects certain breeds more and many dogs have a genetic predisposition to do so.
Other studies found that this behavior may be occurring due to a lack of vitamin C and B6 in the dog. Finally, others conclude that it may be due to an early separation of the puppy from the mother and that these dogs are more fearful and reserved with people in the long run.
We don't know exactly why they chase their tails, but what we do know is that this is another one of those weird things dogs do.
My dog paws the ground after pooping
Another weird thing dogs do is paw the ground after they do their business. While it is true that on the one hand they do it to "bury" their waste, the truth is that thanks to the American Animal Hospital Association's, we now know that they also do it to mark territory
Dogs have smell glands in their paws and, when they finish having a bowel movement, they kick their hind legs so that the scent pheromones his body spread around the place and the other dogs know who has been there. So in addition to covering their waste, dogs paw the ground for territorial and identity reasons, like when they smell each other.
My dog eats grass
The next weird thing dogs do is eat grass. Some do it to purge and thus relieve their digestive system, which is why dogs often vomit after eating it. Others eat it to meet their nutrient needs vegetables it provides. But unfortunately, currently the grass in the places where we walk our dogs contains many external contaminants such as pesticides, or waste from other animals and is not very nutritious.
If you want, you can visit this article about the best balanced foods for dogs and find out how to feed your pet. Finally, some dogs eat grass for pure pleasure and because they like the taste of it, so next time you see your dog doing it don't worry.
My dog buries objects
Even if you think that burying objects in the garden are weird things that dogs do, don't worry because it is very common. As we have discussed several times before, dogs have certain ancient behaviors that are still ingrained and this is one of them.
Wild dogs hid food under the ground so they could eat it later. So, if your dog tends to bury some of your objects under the ground, it is because he has the need to store them.
My dog smells other dogs' pee
Surely you have seen more than once that your dog smells the pee of other dogs and you will have thought that it is one of the strange things that dogs do. In this sense, your dog smells the pee of other dogs because he gets a lot of information
Your can can know the sex of the dog that has urinated, the reproductive state, if it is stressed, etc. That way, the next time you see your dog smell other dogs' pee, you'll know why he does it.
