A Happy Greeting
In these cases, you’ve probably either been away from home for a couple of hours, or your guest is new and exciting. Your dog is simply happy and excited and wants to greet you!
We all know our dogs are super cute when they happily prance around with a toy in their mouth. When you give your dog the attention he wants with a toy in his mouth, you’re reinforcing that behaviour. That means that your dog is more likely to bring you a toy when you come home. This is a normal, fun, and cute behaviour!
Dogs Love to Play
When you come home after being away, your dog is excited to see you again! Plus, he’s probably been snoozing away, waiting for you to come home. By the time you get home, he’s ready to play! If he’s bringing you something like a tug toy, start playing with him!
Dogs Love Toys
It’s no surprise dogs love their toys. The plush pet toy market is even expected to reach a whopping $3.7 billion by 2027! There are so many different types of toys available that we can buy for our dogs – plush, chew toys, puzzle toys, and more!
You probably have a large toy box sitting in your home right now filled to the brim with different types of toys for your dog. We love providing for our dogs, and that means giving them new fun things to play with! Dogs should have access to a variety of different toys so that they can be mentally enriched and entertained.
Here’s a tip for getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to dog toys – rotate the toys! Keep 4-5 different types of toys easily accessible for your dog throughout the course of a week. Hide the other toys in a closet. At the end of the week, rotate the toys by placing the toys that were out during the week in the closet and bringing out a new selection of toys.
By rotating toys, you’re keeping them new and interesting for your dog. This is an especially helpful trick for dogs that love a toy at first but then get bored of it very quickly.
Other Considerations
Sometimes instead of grabbing a toy, your dog may grab something he shouldn’t have, like a shoe. Your dog can then go on to start chewing or destroying the item in his mouth instead of settling down.
If your dog is having this kind of problem, it’s important to make sure that he is getting enough exercise throughout the day. Exercise needs will be dependent on the individual dog and even the breed. Large, high-energy breeds like German Shepherds need much more exercise than lazier breeds like English Bulldogs. All dogs need exercise, though.
Dogs release their energy by exercising. If they aren’t able to release this energy, they may have pent-up energy when you get home. That pent-up energy is what causes them to grab inappropriate items and be destructive.
In addition to increasing your dog’s exercise, you can also teach him to bring you a dog toy instead of something like your shoe. Keep some dog toys near the door that you enter. When your dog comes to greet you, grab a toy dog toy and hand it to your dog. Be sure to praise your dog and give him attention when he starts parading around with his toy in his mouth.
Conclusion
Dogs grabbing toys and bringing them to you, especially after you’ve been away from home, is completely normal and cute behaviour. This is a natural behaviour that your dog does because he’s just happy to see you and wants to play. When you talk to your dog and give him attention, you’re rewarding the behaviour, so he’s more likely to do it in the future.
If your dog is greeting you with items he shouldn’t, like a shoe, be sure to have plenty of dog toys accessible. You can even teach him to bring you a toy instead by giving him the toy when you walk in the door. Rotating your dog toys on a weekly will keep your dog toys new, exciting, and interesting for your dog.
Finally, make sure that you’re exercising your dog. If your dog has an excess of pent-up energy due to a lack of exercise, he will be more tempted to grab inappropriate items and be destructive.
If your dog is bringing you a toy, just look at how cute he’s being and reward that adorable and innocent behaviour by giving him the attention he wants!
