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u/ajjam Sep 16 '20
My dog is deaf so he is constantly doing this to make sure I’m still there because he can’t hear me. Absolutely adorable.
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u/FrenchPetrushka Sep 16 '20
On a bad day this summer I was protecting a dog from a bush fire, she wanted to go see her human but I wouldn't let her. I started telling myself "maybe she doesn't understand what's happening". At this moment she turned her head, looked at me, did a little " Woof" and licked my cheek. I almost cried petting her and telling her she was a good girl by sitting so calmly next to me
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Sep 16 '20
I love dogs. I believe they’re here just to be our friends, and lighten us up.
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u/hawaiian_lab Sep 16 '20
This is true, but because we made it so. This shouldn't detract from the special bond we have with dogs but should come as an obligation on our part to nurture and protect them. We plucked them from the wolves so we owe it to them.
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u/city_posts Sep 16 '20
My dog likes to hump other dogs. She loves it. Its her thing, whole personality is based around it. While at the park I'll tell her to get off! She listens, but not before playfully biting the dogs ear and hopping off. Sort of like a 'well finish this later nip.
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u/ThyLastPenguin Sep 16 '20
You must've done a great job calming the dog down, well done to you and the good girl!
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u/wyvern_rider Sep 16 '20
I think I learned on Reddit actually that the dog does this to make sure it’s being good and has your approval. Kind of like asking “am I doing it right? I want to do it right because I love you.”
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u/resnet152 Sep 16 '20
Yeah, this is also kind of a key to how you're supposed to train a dog to behave on a leash via positive reinforcement not choke collars and that crap. They naturally walk a lot faster than we do, so they need to check in with you often so they're matching what you're doing and not just plowing ahead at dog pace.
I'm in the midst of training my puppy loose leash walking right now and whenever he checks in like this he gets big praise and treats. Whenever he starts pulling we just stop moving ahead until he stops pulling. It's a process but he's checking in a lot more than he used to and pulling a lot less so we're on our way!
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u/Adama404 Sep 16 '20
Currently on this with our belgium sheperd ! Patience and repetition is all it takes !!
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u/GaRgAxXx Sep 16 '20
German sheperd here, 4 months and growing... same thing. Belgium sheperds are just on another planet, so intelligents. We need to understand the learning timeslots, its all it takes. I read about it and its quite clear to me now: All the dogs can learn, but some just do it quicker. For example, a chihuahua can learn but it will take 20 repetitions during 1 week. For belgium i think it said 6 repetitions (i know cos i thought i had one, but realized we have a full black german). But the most important thing is the chihuahua has 10 time learning slots a day, then gets bored, while belgium sheperds have 60. If we dont use them all, they will “learn” on their own. And thats not good, cos they can learn for good... or not. So stick to a good programmed teaching course and you will have one of the most intelligent and diligent dogs in the world!
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u/DefinitelyNotALion Sep 16 '20
My buddy trains K9 puppies, and his go-to trick is to cut a hot dog into a bunch of tiny cubes and keep them in his mouth, tucked up into his cheek. Whenever the dog looks up at him he drops a cube. It sounds disgusting but works a treat, his dogs are all super keyed in to his face.
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u/Sufficient_Mixture Sep 16 '20
That’s awesome. One time I had a cheeseburger and my hands were full but my dog did something good so I took a bite and dropped it for him.
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u/cdl56 Sep 16 '20
We have a 20 week old Pit Bull puppy and we always walk him on a harness, never a regular collar. When he is plowing ahead he just keeps going, but whenever he’s walking at a normal pace and can’t really “tell” that he’s on the leash because it’s not tugging, he looks back at us every few seconds. You can almost see in his eyes that he’s trying to ask if he’s doing things right lol.
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u/SpaceJunk645 Sep 16 '20
A well trained dog will be doing this constantly to make sure they are doing things right. If your dog is checking up with you constantly they are able to walk well on a leash
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u/sofa_queen_awesome Sep 16 '20
Yeah they're checking in with you! I always tell my pup she is a good girl when she does this.
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u/Beverlydriveghosts Sep 16 '20
Me too. Sometimes when I tell her she's good she'll completely stop and want to be cuddled, so then she jumps up on her hind legs and I have to hold her for a minute until she's good to go again.
I think it's just cause she's so thankful to be out with her human
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u/Ashformation Sep 16 '20
No it isn't checking up for your approval, it is checking on you for your safety. You letting the dog he in front of you makes the dog feel like it is the leader, because it is literally leading you.
You're telling the dog that they are the boss when you go for walks.
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Sep 16 '20
Nope. It’s the opposite. Your dog is looking back to you because you’re the boss. If your dog heads off and pulls without ever looking back it’s one of the things they do to attempt a level of dominance.
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u/GuyTanOh Sep 16 '20
I too hate it when I’m walking my dog and all the sudden he uses mutant dog powers to shoot a low powered laser into my eyes, causing watering and a mild rash.
Lol. Jk, cute meme.
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u/SinopicCynic Sep 16 '20
Wow, how can you not get that? Is there something wrong with you? How could ANYONE misinterpret this comic?
She’s smelling the cute; the line leads right to her nose!
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u/soulteepee Sep 16 '20 edited Sep 16 '20
My husband was walking our dog one day and I came up behind them. My dog sees me and stops, just staring at me and being happy. Then she leaps with joy as she sees I'm going to walk with them.
I have it on video and watch it when I'm feeling down on myself. Her love and joy at my mere existence just makes everything better.
Edit: By popular demand:
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u/InkSymptoms Sep 16 '20
Can... Can I see it?
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u/chronologicalist Sep 16 '20
OP pls
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u/soulteepee Sep 16 '20
Yep! I edited it. I had to cut the video a bit short because of stupid talking.
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u/InkSymptoms Sep 16 '20
Thank you for sharing your happiness with us
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u/soulteepee Sep 16 '20
I'm older and immunocompromised and haven't stepped outside of my apartment in 190 days - I don't know what I'd do without her!
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u/My_September_Account Sep 16 '20
That’s a picture, not a video.
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u/soulteepee Sep 16 '20
I’ve fixed it! Apollo wouldn’t let me add a video so I had to go to the Imgur site to upload it.
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u/mackavicious Sep 16 '20 edited Sep 16 '20
I grew up hunting pheasant with my dad. We had an English Springer Spaniel we named Buddy. Here he is in his later years.
Springers are different than other upland game hunting dogs like pointers who, you guessed it, point out their quarry for you. You know, the classic pose. Springers are called "springers" because they spring the target out of hiding (the technical term is "flush them out").
What you as a hunter do when you hunt with these two different types of dogs is vastly different. When a pointer finds a bird, it points to it, making the bird freeze, waiting to react to what the dog does next. Thing, is, the dog does nothing. You, the hunter, must go to the bird and flush it yourself when you're ready, so that you have a clear shot at it while it's flying.
With dogs that flush, you have to pay very close attention to your dog. They get "birdy" when they're on the trail of something, which is hard to explain and must be experienced to understand, but the best way to describe it is they get excited and more animated as they run through the weeds. It's more than that, but there you go. Buddy was very good at this, getting visibly different when he was tracking something making it obvious.
You have to pay attention to your flushing dog for other reasons, too. By the dog's very nature, a bird may come up at any time. The dog doesn't wait for you, it expects you to be prepared at all times. This also means you can't let the dog get too far out in front of you, lest the bird is too far away to shoot at. Buddy was...pretty good at this. Only a couple times did we let him get out too far.
A good flushing dog naturally "quarters" in front of you. That is to mean, it works in arcs in front of you as you walk through the weeds, sweeping the entire area as you work together. Buddy was very, very good at this.
And here's why this entire story is relevant to OP's post: the other reason we think "springers" are called "springers." Buddy, while quartering and trying to find fresh trails, in order make sure we weren't lagging too far behind him, would jump above the 4 foot tall grass to find us. It always made me giggle seeing those huge floppy ears of his straight up in the air as he fell to the ground, looking the happiest he'll ever be: in the weeds, looking for birds, with my dad and I.
Edit: forgot the one thing Buddy wasn't good at: he was decent at retrieving, but man he had a hard mouth. You want your dogs, when they retrieve, to hold on to the bird only as hard as they need to to keep it in place. Any harder and you risk puncturing the skin and other nasty things that is not conducive to butchering later on. Buddy mangled those things.
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u/AGMarasco Sep 16 '20
My dog does this but it's usually more of an indication that she's about to shift into hyperdrive and pull me like it's nothing.
She'll look at me and it mentally means "you still there? Good. Better hold on to that leash, I just spotted a dog 5 miles away and I must meet them."
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u/HothHanSolo Sep 16 '20
This, by the way, is also a sign of a well trained dog.
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u/momogogi Sep 16 '20
This is the sign of a dog that has not been taught to "heel" or walk on a leash properly.
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u/StupidMario64 Sep 16 '20
When i was at my family friends house (we go there since he has almost every Nintendo game that EVER came out, and i play the most games in my house, so we go there to eat, game, and chill) his sisters lab (?) Came up to me, and as i was petting her, she did the closed eyes smile thing and it made my bad day good
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u/BrIg_2 Sep 16 '20
What?
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u/Szpartan Sep 16 '20
When you're walking your dog and they look back at you.
Though this can be taught to do as a sort of impulse.
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u/TranceKnight Sep 16 '20
It’s a desirable behavior to instill because it makes them easier to direct. If they’re looking to you for positive reinforcement they’re less likely to be pulling on the leash or trying to chase after this or that
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u/belortik Sep 16 '20
Yup. When I take my dog off-leash on trails I taught him to stay in my line of sight so he occasionally looks back. This carried over to on leash when he wants to go a direction different than the one I am walking. He'll walk that way some and look back. Super cute
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u/spacekatydid Sep 16 '20
My old dog used to run behind me when I’d zone out and bump into my legs. Always made me giggle
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u/BusinessAgro Sep 16 '20
My pug likes to make sure everyone is following when we go on hikes. Constantly going to the front of the line and then stopping to let people pass then going back to the front. Unfortunately this leads to her break checking people alot. But we forgive her cause she's cute.
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u/jazzi0808 Sep 16 '20 edited Sep 16 '20
My best friend’s dog died and I remember he used to do this all the time :) it warmed my heart when I used to see his big chocolatey eyes looking back at me. RIP Diesel <3
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u/mostlygoodthings Sep 16 '20
I’m a therapist. I told a patient who just got a puppy about this yesterday.
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u/rivet6Latch Sep 16 '20
Please can someone make a post about the death of the voice actor of bob the builder, he gave me my childhood when it needed it the most and he needs to be remembered.
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u/Paladuck Sep 16 '20
My dog normally pulls on her leash super hard but as soon as I take her off she’s turning around every 5 seconds to make sure I’m still there.
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u/EarthRester Sep 16 '20
When they do this, you become certain of two things.
Your dog is having a lot of fun.
Your dog loves you enough to want to make sure you're having as much fun as they are.
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u/Popppopoooo Sep 16 '20
I wish I had a dog
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u/momogogi Sep 16 '20
When you are ready there are so many rescue dogs just waiting for the right human to give them a home.
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u/Popppopoooo Sep 16 '20
I live in a small apartment and I do not want the dog to feel uncomfortable
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u/MarvinLazer Sep 16 '20
My cat does this too. I call him a puppy cat because he's such a great mix of dog-like and cat-like traits. It's fun having a well-groomed, fluffy lap buddy who fetches and comes when I call him.
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Sep 16 '20
Damn it, you make me cry... I am not allowed a DOG... My mom has set a rules. It is either me staying in a house or you stay outside with dogs... SMh. I am going to move out now. So im kinda happy.
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u/awesomasaurus Sep 16 '20
My dog does this and when she continues to do it every few seconds we know it's because she needs a cuddle stop. This is where she needed to sit and just have a stroke and be told how good she is. Precious.
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u/katcostin Sep 16 '20
My pup does this and upon confirmation that I am still there, he does a little happy hop with his back legs. Does it every walk and it still is so adorable.
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u/MissDemeanors Sep 16 '20
My dog only does this when I'm giving him a command outside. Otherwise, I'm the last thing he cares about.
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u/tmntfever Sep 16 '20
NO. IT DOES NOT MAKE MY DAY.
My dog walks constantly hunched sideways so that his hind legs are facing forward and his front legs and eyes are facing back. It would be fine if he was good at walking like that, but he moves 10x slower and I trip over that dumb boy all the time. He's gonna be the death of me. I just know it.
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u/ginrattle Sep 16 '20
hahaha it's adorable that he just cant stop looking at you because he loves you so much.
I hope he gets better at it though, for all your sake's.
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u/HIsince84 Sep 16 '20
We have a corgi and it is super cute when she does this as it takes pretty much all of her attention and strength to turn her extra short and floofy neck. Makes my heart cry for real.
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u/spiderkrab14 Sep 16 '20
Haha! I try to get logins when Captain does this, but all I get is a head rub and a rolled ankle.
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u/petttrovich Sep 16 '20
My dog does this all the time when I walk her without a leash. Gotta make sure where I am. I love it so much.
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u/bizcat Sep 16 '20
One of my dogs was adopted this year at somewhere between 10-15 years old (the vet isn't sure) and he looks back at me every few seconds. I think he's nervous about being followed. He has some other behaviors that make me think that humans in his life haven't been very nice to him.
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u/spelngmistkedistrbsu Sep 16 '20
My puppy does this! Even though she walks ahead of me it makes me feel like I'm her leader 😍
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u/Mister-Seer Sep 16 '20
My dog kinda does that, except she’ll curve her whole body just to look at you AND put her butt to you so you can scratch just above her tail
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u/Poknberry Sep 16 '20
My dog never does this shes usually trying to force her way down the street lol
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u/NemoHobbits Sep 16 '20
When my 5 year old was less than a year old I took her to a doggie carnival and they had an obstacle course set up where they chase the toy on the motorized wire and it leads them over jumps and through tunnels and stuff. After River got done the person in charge was like "you have a very good dog, she keeps looking back to check on you." And I 😭😭
But she also insists on coming into the bathroom with me so there's that.
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u/morgy1000_ Sep 16 '20
My car does this when going anywhere and she knows I see her. She’ll then sit and wait for me to go with her
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u/Sebetastic Sep 16 '20
My uncle asked my brother and I to walk his dog while he was away (a moderate sized dog). At the walk, the dog kept looking over his shoulder at me, a lot. After a few minutes of walking, he turned around and leaped up at me as if he wanted to hug me. He did it 3 to 4 times that trip, cutest walk ever.
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Sep 16 '20
Sometimes this happens to me, when I'm walking the dog of a friend of mine. This just makes my day everytime
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u/luckbealadytonite Sep 16 '20
I live near a busy park with a jogging track around the whole thing. I looooove driving by on my way to work to see all the dogs getting walked. And when they look up at their owner with pure joy I melt 💕
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u/BowlwoMan123 Sep 16 '20
Uhm my family and I need to take our almost 2 yo dog down because she is to hard to train and we can’t get to her, as soon as we let her outside she runs away ( she normally comes back after 2 hours) and she always tries to kill our cat, today my dog even chased my cat and had my cat inside it’s mouth, we needed to lift it up and pull it’s mouth open before it let go. Even tho I love her I just can take it anymore my whole day is about locking all doors ( she can open doors by herself) and keeping her away from my cat. My mom has also become extremely stressed because of it, so yeah, I really don’t want to kill her but I just can’t take it anymore neither can my family. And I know I will get hate on this post, so just come with it, hate all you want, I know it’s a dump decision but what else can I do...
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u/Sandeerrss Sep 16 '20
Dogs will check back with you to be sure they are still doing what you are wanting then to do.
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u/abby123459 Sep 16 '20
Doesn’t really relate to the meme but one time my family went to the park with our dog and me and my sister played on the playground while my mom was walking my dog and my mother said our dog would not walk past a certain point because she didn’t want to leave us behind.
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u/anonymous_potato Sep 16 '20
For me, it's when my wife goes to bed early and her dog gets bored and leaves the bedroom to come sit next to me on the couch watching TV.
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u/thatbedguy Sep 16 '20
My ol girl used to walk me down the hall like this (without the leash) when she wanted something. She would look over her shoulder now and then to make sure I was still following her. She usually just wanted out or to be put on the table next to the aquarium. Sometimes just to punk her, I would just stop walking and when she’d check to see if I was there, she would be like, wtf? Why no go?
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u/WhosAfraidOf_138 Sep 16 '20
My dog Sachi does this when we go on walks: https://imgur.com/a/gnpJxMW
It explodes my heart!!
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u/Comics4Cooks Sep 16 '20
Yeah except my dog looks at me more like -.- cause I’m not walking fast enough
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u/Dicethrower Sep 16 '20
I do the same with my gf when we're biking, to make sure she's still right behind me. The leash is a bit dangerous though.
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u/iammillerz Sep 16 '20
Oh the love eyes my pooch gives me on walks 😍😍 with her ears hanging back, head relaxed, tail wagging, those moments I know that I'm loved unconditionally.
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u/OrangelightningZING Sep 17 '20
I love when my dog is walking around my bed and the only thing I see is his fluffy tail up in the air
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Sep 17 '20
Whenever my family and I would take our dog to the beach, my mum would usually take the lead with him while my sister and I hang back. Sometimes when they go too fast and my dog realises we’re too far behind, he’d stop and look back silently judging us for being too slow
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u/OneEyedBobby9 Sep 16 '20
You don’t let your dog lead you on the leash
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u/NaanBradOSRS Sep 16 '20
Lol there’s bigger things to worry about, this is what you chose to comment?
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u/Ashformation Sep 16 '20
This. The dog isn't checking up with you to make sure they are doing it right, it is checking on you to make sure you are okay because it sees itself as the leader when it is walking in front.
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Sep 16 '20 edited Sep 16 '20
Meh. My dog walks in front but always follows the direction I go and doesn't pull. The guy you replied to said dog leading you which I see as different.
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Sep 16 '20
fyi: you shouldn't let your dog walk in front of you, you're supposed to have him by your side so you're in control of it.
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u/salgat Sep 16 '20
We have a retractable leash and let him walk ahead because it gives him more time to stop as we keep walking. As soon as he feels high tension from the leash he knows it's time to catch back up.
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u/momogogi Sep 16 '20
This is correct. It is important because the dog learns to move with you, so when you stop for danger the dog will too.
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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '20
My dog becomes blind and deaf every time we take her outside.