6 Must Know Reasons dogs With Their Butt Facing You
Why do dogs sleep with their butt facing you? Dogs do plenty of strange things, but this behavior may seem like one of the weirdest. Most dog owners have experienced this behavior at some point. It can be a startling experience to wake up with your dog’s tail and butt region in your face, but this is not abnormal behavior in dogs.
Of course, not all dogs exhibit this tendency. However, owners who have experienced this behavior will surely want answers. Continue reading to find the answers that you seek.
6 Reasons Your Dog Sleeps With Its Butt In Your Face
If you are lying down and your dog lies down with its butt facing you, you may wonder what triggered this behavior. The truth is that there are dozens of reasons why dogs sleep with their butt in your face. Let’s take a look.
It Trusts You
If your dog sleeps with its butt facing you, you may be able to consider yourself lucky. Dogs tend to sleep with their butt facing you if they trust you.
If a dog doesn’t trust you, it will sleep facing you so it can look and listen for any movements that you make. Shelter dogs and other dogs that may come from troubled backgrounds may have an especially difficult time learning to trust their owners.
A safe dog is not afraid to face away from you while they’re sleeping because they trust that you won’t hurt them. Therefore, if you wake up with your dog’s butt in your face, it may simply be an indication that your canine companion trusts you.
If your dog seems relaxed as it’s dozing near you, you can read your dog’s body language and confirm that it trusts you.
It’s Protecting You
A trusting pooch that loves its owner will have the inclination to protect them. The best way for a dog to protect an owner while taking a nap would be to face away from them. Why, you ask?
Well, if a dog sleeps with their butt facing you, it can keep an eye on potential danger that would approach.
If you have a positive relationship with your pup, it may consider you a pack member. Your dog may even consider you to be its pack leader. If your dog has this mindset, it will want to keep you safe when it’s sleeping.
Your dog would have a challenging time keeping you safe if it were facing you, as it would not be able to see potential threats that are approaching.
Even though you may think it’s silly that your dog would be concerned about danger in your house, dog brains are wired to constantly be alert. Therefore, your dog’s innate desire to protect its human family could be why its butt is in your face when sleeping.
It’sAvoiding Eye Contact
If you own a timid pup, sleeping face-to-face with you may not be comfortable. Instead, your dog may face away from you so it can avoid eye contact.
Most dogs are not uncomfortable with eye contact. In fact, many dogs use the practice of maintaining eye contact to reinforce the bond that they have with their owner.
However, some dogs are hesitant to make eye contact. Is this behavior normal for dogs? The answer is yes-dogs that come from an abusive background are especially prone to exhibiting this behavior.
Therefore, making direct eye contact is typically avoided by such dogs. If your dog seems shy, it may sleep with its butt facing you so it can avoid looking into your eyes.
If you think that this may be the case, just try to give your dog space and patience. Don’t get frustrated by your dog if it seems that they never look you in the eyes.
If you continue to grow the bond between you and your dog, your pooch may learn to trust you enough to make eye contact with you.
It’s Comfortable That Way
You may be worried that there may be something wrong with your pet if they have their butt region facing you. While it is possible that this behavior could be an indication that something is wrong, it is more likely that your pooch is simply comfortable with this sleeping position.
There are plenty of sleeping positions that a dog can use to get comfortable, but being curled up with their butt facing you is certainly a comfortable position.
A dog owner should not be offended if their canine companions don’t face them when they sleep. After all, dogs are more sensitive to noises and movements than humans.
A dog may not tolerate their face being breathed on by their owners during sleep. This could cause a dog to face the opposite direction of its owner while sleeping.
Moreover, many people make noises and movements unconsciously while they sleep. Your dog may find this distracting and this could cause them to face away from you as they try to relax and sleep.
Breed Characteristics
Dogs that sleep with their butts facing their owners is a common behavior that is observed. It turns out that most dog breeds exhibit this behavior.
A dog’s behavior is often partly influenced by the specific breed of dog that it is. Some dog breeds are more likely to sleep with their butt facing you than others.
In general, a dog sleeping with its butt facing you is noted more often in small dog breeds. However, this could simply be due to the notion that small dogs are more capable of cuddling with their dog owners than large dogs.
Scent Marking
Your furry friend may be sleeping with its butt facing you because it wants to share its scent with you.
A dog’s scent glands are located on its rear, so it makes sense that dogs would want to have their butt facing their owner if they want to scent mark.
There are lots of reasons that your pet may want to share their scent. If a dog detects the scent of another dog on you, it may want to mark you with its scent. This is a way for dogs to communicate with one another.
If a dog routinely smells the scent of another dog on you, it could make it distressed and prompt it to frequently scent mark you.
Dogs may also be interested in marking you with their scent simply for the reason of sharing a familiar smell with you.
Owners are not likely to detect when a dog has scent marked them, as dogs use their acute sense of smell to pick up on this odor.
However, dogs may occasionally make potent scent marks on their owners. During such instances, people may catch a whiff of this unpleasant scent.
Scent Gland Warnings
If you suspect that your dog may be trying to mark you with their scent when they sleep with their butt facing you, it is a wise idea to take a whiff of your dog during this time.
This may sound off-putting, but it is an effective way of checking the health of your dog.
It’s a good sign if you can’t detect much of a smell coming from your dog’s scent glands. However, if you do detect a smell, it could mean several things.
Internal Parasites
A foul smell coming from your dog’s butt could mean that your dog has parasites. Parasites actively impact the internal functions of your pooch. Many of the
parasites that impact dogs are intestinal parasites. If your dog has a persistent bloated stomach, it could mean that they have parasites.
A dog can get parasites in several different ways. For instance, your dog could get parasites from the droppings of another creature. They could also get parasites when they interact with a dog that is already infected. Whatever the case may be, a dog with parasites should receive treatment to rid their body of the intruders.
It is a good idea to regularly get dogs screened by veterinarians for parasites.
Flea Infestation
A foul smell near your dog’s glands or excessive licking by your dog could suggest that they are infested with fleas. Fleas can be irritating and persistent once they infest a dog.
Luckily, this problem can be solved with assistance from your local vet.
How To Stop Your Dog’s Butt From Facing You
Many pup owners are understandably not keen on having their dogs sleep with their butts facing them. If a dog sleeping with its rear in your face bothers you, keep reading.
Get Your DogAComfortable Dog Bed
There are plenty of reasons why dogs with their butt facing their owners, but a nice dog bed can help your dog to stop this behavior.
If you position a dog bed near where you’re sleeping, your dog will likely be happy to sleep there. Remember to offer positive reinforcement to your dog when it is first getting used to the bed. Doing this will help your dog to feel comfortable sleeping in a dog bed.
Stop Sleeping With Your Dog
A dog owner can simply prevent their dog from sleeping with them if they find the act of a dog sleeping with its butt facing them to be unappealing.
Some owners will not want to sleep without their precious pooches. Indeed, some may even say it’s cruel to prevent a dog from sleeping with them. However, it can be healthy for both owner and dog to have a bit of space every now and then.
Your dog will likely be content to sleep in the same vicinity as you. Therefore, if you encourage your dog to sleep near you rather than next to you, they will no longer sleep with their butt facing you.
Conclusion
A dog that sleeps with its butt facing you may seem like a very strange behavior, but it turns out that such behavior is quite normal.
There are more than a handful of reasons that can explain why your dog might be displaying this behavior. For instance, your dog could be conveying that it trusts you and that it wants to protect you.
Dogs that sleep with their butts facing you could also mean that they are trying to scent mark you. Of course, such behavior may also just be a characteristic of a particular dog breed.
On rare occasions, dogs may be sleeping with their butt facing you because they have something that is bothering them. Internal parasites or fleas can be troublesome for dogs.
Dogs that have a bad smell coming from their butt when it’s facing you could be infested with such problems.
If you think that your dog might be suffering from some sort of infestation, it would be a wise idea to get them checked out by a veterinarian.
Remember that it is normal behavior for your dog to sleep with its butt facing you. You may find this behavior to be unappealing, but you could instead consider this behavior to be a compliment. It could mean that your dog trusts you and they want to protect you. Visit their petspetz today to learn more.