Have you ever woken up in the morning to the startling sight of your dog’s butt being held so close to your face? Although this behavior may seem disgusting, it is actually quite common.
That being the case, why does your dog sleep with his rear in your face? What you need to know is right here!
Is The Behavior Normal?
You might be wondering if this behavior is typical or if it needs to be stopped through training. Actually, for the majority of dog breeds, it’s normal. There are many reasons why dogs prefer to sleep with their backs to you.
Reasons Why Dogs Sleep With Their Bums Facing You
Show Trust
Dogs can show their trust in a variety of ways, one of which is by lying on their backs and facing you. As soon as he perceives a threat, a dog’s instinct is to move his body into a ready position.
He trusts you enough to lie in this exposed position, even though he turns his back on you. Additionally, he might lie on his side or his back while you’re doing it, showing that he trusts you enough to lower his guard.
To Avoid Eye Contact
Dogs interpret eye contact differently than humans do, who use it to convey respect, affection, and comfort. Dogs may try to avoid it as much as possible because they see it as a sign of dominance. Your dog feels uncomfortable or irritated because they perceive you as the dominant person in your relationship.
As a result, he turns so that his bum is facing you and not his face.
It’s also possible that your dog prefers to face away from you because they aren’t well socialized. This is especially true for dogs in shelters who are still getting used to their new owners and surroundings.
If so, it’s critical to use positive reinforcement to reassure your dog. To help him understand that eye contact isn’t a sign of dominance, for instance, encourage him to stare into your eyes and reward him for doing so each time.
Seek Affection
Like young children, dogs seek affection, and one way they encourage you to do so is by turning their bums in your direction. Dogs engage in this action, known as the hip nudge when a pet owner gives them passive attention.
Because it contains so many nerve endings, a dog’s bum is one of the body’s most delicate areas. He feels loved and appreciated when this area of the body is massaged, which makes him wag his tail or lean in. Additionally, he might lower himself so you can rub his body.
Scent Marking
Dogs turn their bums toward you while they sleep in order to leave their scent on you. Scent-marking is a behavior used by dogs to mark their territories during mating and to defend their loved ones.
The most sensitive scent glands are found in dogs, and some of them are near the tail and the bottom. Each dog has their own pheromones, which are chemical signals produced by these glands.
When they lay on their bums, it’s possible that they’re leaving their scent on you to serve as a signal to the other dogs who live in the house.
To Avoid Ventral Contact
Dogs dislike ventral contact, such as being face-to-face or chest-to-chest, just like humans do. According to a study in the Journal of Neuroscience, dogs’ brains are not wired to look at human faces; rather, they become alert when they see another dog. In order to avoid looking at your face while they sleep, they turn their bums toward you.
To Protect You
Being man’s best friend, dogs are fiercely loyal to their owners, even when they are sleeping. They regard you as the alpha dog and develop a protective instinct for you and other family members. They adopt a stance that facilitates quick reactions to danger.
Your dog is ready to jump to any threats to protect you with its back facing you and its front-facing away.
To Feel Safe
Dogs don’t worry about their sleeping positions because they feel safe with their owners. Because they feel safe around you, they might sleep with their bums facing you. As a result of their perception of you as a pack member, they are not afraid to show their vulnerability.
To Indicate A Problem
When they have a problem with their bums, dogs also take to sleeping in this position. Indications of a flea infestation include bumps, rashes, and a bad odor near the bum.
In order to feed on a dog’s blood and lay eggs, fleas hide in the coat near the bum and latch onto the skin. They itch and irritate the area around the anus, which frequently results in excessive licking. It would be best to see a vet if that were the case.
It’s Comfortable
Your dog may occasionally act strangely or oddly for no apparent reason. At the very least, that is how it might appear.
It could be that your bed is comfortable or that they simply find it more comfortable to sleep with their bum toward you. If they don’t typically sleep with their bum toward you, they probably didn’t do it on purpose and just thought it felt great.
While it may sound great to have your dog by your side while you’re lying in bed, there are times when you just don’t want a furry butt facing you and taking up most of the bed. If so, a really comfortable bed might be a good alternative for your dog, and this bed is a great way to get that dog butt out of your face!
For added warmth, you could also try to persuade your dog to sleep somewhere else on the bed, like between your legs. If you offer them another cozy spot, they might stop showing you their behind!
Your Dog Has Fleas Or Ticks
One of the common enemies of dog owners is fleas and ticks, which may explain why your dog prefers to lay with their bum toward you.
Around your dog’s tail area, fleas and ticks frequently hang out. It’s crucial to watch your dog’s behavior, even when they are not sleeping, to see if they exhibit any signs of discomfort in their behind. This is similar to how you should do with a problem with your anal.
While they’re sleeping, your dog may expose their butt to you in an effort to alert you to an uncomfortable situation. It is best to make sure there aren’t any creepy creatures accompanying your pup if they don’t typically sleep with their bum towards you and you notice an increase in scratching when awake.
For your dog to feel at ease going outside and being themselves, it’s important to look into flea and tick prevention. You never know what could eventually end up on your dog, even though it might not seem necessary right now.
You’re Encouraging Its Behavior.
Positive reinforcement affects how dogs behave and helps them learn. You could unintentionally be encouraging a particular behavior if you’ve been stroking your dog’s bum and talking sweetly to it whenever it turns away from you while it sleeps.
Your dog will want to keep its bum facing you because it always receives a satisfying bum massage when it does so after repeated practice.
Your dog won’t mind if you don’t mind that it sleeps with its bum facing you if you don’t mind that it does; your dog will likely take any opportunity to get a good rub now and then.
However, if you don’t like the way your dog sleeps and want to change that behavior, you shouldn’t try to reposition your dog on your own or punish it for how it sleeps.
Instead, every time it adopts a new sleeping position, use positive reinforcement. You should pet your dog to encourage more of that behavior if it settles down by your feet or turns its belly toward you.
How To Stop The Behavior?
Some dog owners may find this posture uncomfortable, which leads them to search for solutions to stop it. Here’s how.
Identify Underlying Issues
Start by addressing any factors that might be motivating the behavior. Train him to look at you fearlessly, for instance, if he is a timid rescue dog.
Avoid Encouraging The Behavior
Aside from that, you must refrain from supporting the behavior. If, for instance, you have been patting his bum each time he turns away from you, you are encouraging this behavior and he is less likely to stop. Use encouraging words each time he snoozes in a different position if you don’t like it.
Correct The Behavior
It’s possible that your dog needs to be trained to stop sleeping with his back to you. Every time he lies in this position, tell him to turn around. Give him a reward if he completes it successfully.
Be dependable so that he can quickly master the art of falling asleep.
Train Your Dog To Sleep On His Bed
Teach him to sleep on his bed if he doesn’t learn to face you while he sleeps. To ease the transition, start by instructing him in a space other than your bedroom. You could make this a comfortable place for him to sleep if you also created a familiar atmosphere.
Add his favorite toy to the bed to make it cozier, then rub your hands over it to give it a cozy scent. It’s best to establish familiar commands because you don’t want to cause conflict when teaching him to sleep in his bed.
When used repeatedly, easy commands like “bed,” “go to bed,” or “down” ought to work. To get him accustomed to sleeping on his bed, make sure to practice the training in various rooms of the house. Training him to stay off your bed is also a great idea at this time.
The success of your bed training depends on your choice of comfortable dog bedding. Consider the item’s dimensions, construction, design, and how accommodating it will be for your dog to stretch out in. Dogs sleep 12 to 14 hours per day, so a comfortable bed is essential to the quality of their sleep.
Final Thoughts
Dogs prefer to sleep with you because they feel secure, safe, and at ease around you. You could say that it is your puppy’s preferred method of communication.
Try your hardest to see it from the dog’s perspective and take it as a compliment. Your dog letting its guard down in your presence is a clear indication that it loves, trusts, and feels secure in your company.
If you enjoy using the bed, there’s no need to train him, but if you don’t, try teaching him to sleep in other positions. Alternatively, get him a bed and teach him how to use it.
