My dog (English Springer Spaniel) is doing here? She has a soft football toy, she puts it in her mouth and it looks like she is nursing it while she sleeps.
Is this some kind of insecure thing? She is a pretty balanced dog, not insecure at all and has no issues with rersource guarding her toys.
I would love to hear anyones ideas of what this is. BTW, the football is the only toy she will do this with. She has done this for years and never destroys it.
Reg: 01-23-2006
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My new puppy does that when he is putting himself to sleep. At first I was horrified because it looked like he was trying to nurse, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> (which had a sort of ick factor to me), but upon closer examination, I realized he ws just rhythmically, lightly chewing! He does it for about a minute, his eyes close, then falls over asleep!
LOL! My partner's doberman, Agir, does something that sounds like that as well. He'll seriously do it for over an hour and then finally crash. We like to say he's working on his grip. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> A few of his progeny do it as well with other toys or blankets. We have a litter of 3 wk old puppies on the ground right now from him and some of them look just like him after they settle in while nursing. He's 8 yrs old, in good health, very socialized, and still kicking some butt in schutzhund competitions so as long as she doesn't pluck or rip it open, I wouldn't worry about it meaning anything temperament-wise. I think it actually seems to work as a relaxing and calming behavior for him.
I have a 2-year old dog (a GSD-Mali cross) who will "nurse" on a dog bed, towel, blanket or fleece toy whenever he's really frustrated. It seems to have a calming effect on him. I've always viewed it as his alternative to shredding or chewing to relieve boredom or frustration.
The great thing about it is that I can trim his nails and clean his ears while he's doing it and he doesn't move a bit. Otherwise those tasks are a wrestling match!
Kristina, Thats exactly what my dog looks like. She uses her front paws like that. So now I know it must be some time of outlet to relieve frustration. She only does it when I first come home and she's excited.
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Does anyone know what my dog is doing when she
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