How to Pet a Dog Properly
📝 Summary
Dogs don't love hugs or head pats — they often fear them. The belly is their favorite spot to be petted, offered only to those they trust.
1 Overview
So today’s question: the trick to petting a dog.
Don’t hug
This is a purely human idea — from our view, owners do love hugging these furry fellows, because only humans express affection this way.
But a dog doesn’t understand what you’re expressing and may even fear it.
Watch the dog’s eyes and ears
How to tell if it dislikes hugs? If after being hugged it trembles, avoids eye contact, licks its lips, keeps its mouth shut, or pins its ears back, congratulations — it does not like hugs.
Don’t pat the head
An old topic, like ‘dogs love bones’ — a classic case of a wrong idea spread widely. Dogs hate head pats; every owner must know this.
Watch the dog’s eyes and ears
Watch closely: when you slowly reach to pet its head, it slightly moves away to dodge your hand, though you’ll eventually get to it.
Overall, the favorite spot is the belly; belly rubs bring more pleasure than any other part. The belly is a dog’s most vulnerable area, so showing it to a human is a sign of submission.
Research shows: dogs showing their belly to humans is entirely the result of selective breeding by humans.
That is, if our ancestors hadn’t deliberately bred dogs that do this, we couldn’t tell which dogs are friendlier to humans.
If a dog wants you to rub its belly, it’s telling you: ‘Hey, you’re my best friend.’
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