Did you know that dogs can understand human linguistic clues and physical gestures? They may not perceive love as love but they have evolved to sense or read human emotions. In this article, we will delve into dogs “love language” and learn the 5 ways to tell a dog you love them.
Let’s dive in!
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Does my dog know I love it?
To be honest, there is no answer to the question of whether your dog knows that you love it or not. It is less likely that your dog will contemplate the question or even the concept of love. What we know is that there is an attachment bond between dogs and humans that is founded on need rather than love.
In fact, the bond that dogs and humans share is as strong as the bond that a parent and its infant share. Just like an infant, dogs rely on their humans to provide them comfort and security. This attachment bond is the strongest and most dominant feature of a human-canine relationship.
All this is to say is that your efforts are not in vain. Although your dog may not know that you love it, it can understand linguistic clues and physical gestures that demonstrate your love. However, dogs may not always catch on to the human ways of showing love like hugging, for example.
Dogs have their own “love language” that is easy and simple. If you want to strengthen your relationship with your dog, speaking their love language is a must. So, here’s 5 ways to tell a dog that you love them in their own love language.
You may like to read:
5 Ways To Tell A Dog You Love Them
After reading through reviews and articles, we have come up with the following:
Spend time with your dog.
Dogs are collectively drawn to humans. It’s in their genes, study shows. Based on the study, dogs exhibit the same genetic markers that people with Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WS) have. WS is a disorder that causes hyper-sociability or heightened tendency to seek social contact.
This is what separates dogs and wolves. Dogs tend to seek human companions while wolves lacks this propensity in human environments. This separation which took place at the molecular-genetic level occurred sometime thousands of years ago when humans domesticated dogs.
To cut the story short, dogs became a man’s bestfriend since then. So, if your dog follows you around or want to be near you all the time, it’s natural. They are wired that way. It might also be their way of telling you that you are their human, hence you are the person that they wanna spend their time with.
All this is to say is, if you want to tell your dog you love him, spend time with him. You should make sure he feels that there’s nothing else that you would rather do and nowhere else that you would rather be. After all, dogs are like humans. They want their human’s undivided attention.
Ways To Spend Time With Your Dog
- Play fetch
- Stroll down the beach
- Play hide-and-seek
- Go on a hike
- Walk on the park
- Tell a bedtime story
- Snuggle up on a bed
- Watch a movie
- Exercise at K9 Fit Club
Let your dog sleep in your bed at night.
You might have probably seen a dog and her newborns huddling together. It’s cute, right? This might be due to the cold and newborns needing warmth and protection. Or, it might simply be because dogs have a strong pack mentality. They are protective of their pack members which in this case includes you.
So, if your dog wants to sleep beside you, it could mean one of those things mentioned. Most likely, your dog is just yearning for protection, closeness and warmth. And what is more loving than giving in to these yearnings? Well, if you’re comfortable having your dog on your bed every night, then this could be the most loving thing you could ever do.
Is it normal for dogs to pee in bed?
Yes. Dogs mark their territories with their urine or feces, and your bed is not an exception. However, for dogs who have been potty-trained, this instinctive habit is less likely. If it isn’t so, you should train your dog to stop peeing on your bed. And, if you prefer sleeping alone, you should start training your dog to sleep on a dog bed before it becomes a habit.
If your dog has peed on your bed, you can deodorize the scent and clean the stain with a pet deodorizer.
Hold eye contact.
There’s a saying, “Eyes are the windows to the soul”. Like humans, eye expressions in dogs can offer a glimpse of what they are feeling. For an instance, when dogs are feeling stressed, fearful and angry, their pupils tend to dilate. When they’re relaxed, happy, and comfortable or, they make this so called puppy eyes or infant-like eyes.
Those puppy eyes are also an expression of affection in dogs. So, if you want to tell your dog that you love it in a way that it would understand, give it a big puppy eyes. It is simple but very meaningful gesture. Hold the eye contact longer than you can. Perhaps, you can also give your dog a pat or a scratch or a gentle massage to create more loving feelings.
How does gazing enhance relationship?
Study shows that holding eye contact is good for you and your dogs health and relationship. It releases oxytocin hormones- also referred to as “love hormone” or “cuddle hormone”- a neurotransmitter that is mainly responsible for reproduction and possibly for relaxation, trust, and psychological stability.
Oxytocin may also enhance relationship fundamentals. One review in 2013 gave a summary of the possible relationship enhancing effects of oxytocin which includes trust , empathy, gazing, positive communication, to name a few. Just make sure that you look your dog calmly otherwise it may come across as an aggression or challenge.
Lean on your dog.
Dogs especially giant breeds love leaning on their humans. Small pups usually want to be held or carried. Some dogs love to sit on their humans lap, lean against their legs, and huddle on the couch or bed. Sometimes this gets too much they always follow you around and wanna snuggle as though they want to be one with you.
If you have a dog like this, it’s a sure sign that your dog really loves you. Touch, physical closeness and other forms of physical contact is one of the most common love language in dogs. So, show your dog that you love them just the same by leaning and snuggling with your dog on bed!
Is it normal for dogs to be overly clingy?
If your dog becomes overly clingy when you are around and becomes agitated when you’re not, it could be a sign of separation anxiety. Separation anxiety refers to extreme fear or worry when separated from home or a loved one. This is not common in dogs, however. Only 20% of dogs may be affected by it, according to American Veterinary Medical Association.
There is no definite explanation why this happens but there are situations that could trigger separation anxiety in dogs. Some of this are a change of family, change of schedule, and change of residence. If your dog is showing symptoms of separation anxiety, consult a vet or a certified dog behavioral consultant.
Talk to them like a little baby.
As mentioned earlier, dogs have the ability to understand linguistic clues- Thanks to evolution! Dogs have been with humans for too long that they have evolved to read the wide spectrum of human emotions. They can interpret moods and emotions and can sharply sense when you are feeling happy, sad, angry or tired.
So, if you want to express your love to your dog, you can use nonverbal and verbal clues. One easy way to execute this is by using a soothing tone of voice when speaking to them and only using kind and loving words. Easily put, talk to them like how you would talk to a baby.
You can do this when going about everyday activities like trainings or when correcting your dog’s behavior problems.
Things you should never do to your dog
The following are the things that may make dogs feel unloved and uncared:
- Overfeeding them
- Allowing bad behavior
- Forgetting about vet visits
- Rough and unpredictable petting
- Aggressive eye contacts
- Forcing to engage in activities
- Not prioritizing potty-trainings
- Unwelcome snuggles and cuddles
- Leaving your dog home alone
- Letting them chew on dangerous stuff
Conclusion
Dogs have become part of our lives for too long that they have evolved to become sensitive with human emotions. They can read a wide spectrum of linguistic clues and physical gestures, however they may not perceive some in the same way that we do like love, for example. They may feel it, for sure.
But as we mentioned, dogs and human relationship is based on an attachment bond that is founded in need- not love. However, this bond is as tough as the bond that a mother and her infant share. And like an infant, dogs need their humans to survive. Humans, on the other hand, need dogs as companions, to feel happy and less lonely.
But, whether your dog knows its love or not doesn’t matter. Life’s too short to delve into that question. What matters is, you continue to show it in ways that they know and understand. We hope that this article gave you a boost to give some and spread some puppy love today!