There is nothing quite like coming home after a long day at work to find your dog wagging its tail, thrilled that you have finally arrived. However, some owners are puzzled as to why, instead of simply greeting them with a sniff, their dogs present them with a toy, slipper, or newspaper when they walk through the door.
The Curious Case of Canine Gift Giving
One Reddit user shared: "When I or my wife come home, our dog always grabs a toy out of his toy box and greets us at the door. What is he telling us? Is he showing off his toy? Does he want to play? Something else? Help!" According to Wisconsin Pet Care, it is a good sign if your dog meets you at the door with an item, no matter how unusual that item might be.
A statement from the pet care experts reads: "The art of gift giving does not happen in every domesticated canine, but for those dogs that do exhibit this behaviour, it is downright endearing. It can be theorised that carrying and retrieving stems from natural hunting behaviours in canines. Wild dogs learn to carry their food, such as prey, and cache meals much like a squirrel would hide its nuts all over the forest in case of times of famine."
The statement continues: "A wolf mother will bring her prey back to the den, retrieving and carrying a meal home to her pups. So it appears that the domesticated dog retrieving is a simple variation of this prey-carrying behaviour." Nevertheless, the vets suggest that much of the gift-giving behaviour is actually something they have learned from humans.
The Role of Selective Breeding
The statement adds: "Selective breeding has encouraged this common retrieving behaviour in many of our beloved dogs today. For example, the retrievers are generally taught to 'soft mouth' prey, usually birds, and carry it back safely to the human hunter. Many of our terriers were bred to kill and dissect small vermin, and this carrying behaviour may represent the proud retrieval of a kill out of the ground. Depending on the dog's genetics, there could be a strong predisposition to this charitable gift giving behaviour."
However, the experts also note: "Genetics or not, there is still a large part of me that believes dogs develop this altruistic behaviour simply because it makes us happy! Think about how your pitch heightens, and your voice is filled with excitement and gratitude when Fido brings his bone to your feet as you walk in the door. Perhaps you bend down and give your pup an extra ear scratch for such a thoughtful donation. Our gleeful reactions strongly reinforce the dog to perform this behaviour again in the future, as they learn it is beneficial and can lead to extra snuggles and doting attention."
What Dog Owners Say
Weighing in on the matter, one Reddit user commented: "Some dogs will get the urge to hold things in their mouth, especially when excited. Just go with it. If he wants you to throw it, okay. If he wants to keep it away from you, cool. It is just a quirk." Another user added: "Our dog does this. I think it is because when we were training her she would often get too excited and start jumping all over us and nipping so we would redirect her to a toy. As a result, I am pretty sure she just thinks that is what we want, for her to bring us toys when she feels happy or excited. I think it is pretty cute even if it was not the intended result."
A third user said: "My Samoyed does it too. She greets us, then runs back to her place and brings her favourite toy. We have to throw it once for her, then the greeting is complete for her and she wants to see if we brought any food."
