Touch is part of how your dog navigates her world, and interacts with everything, and everyone, in it.
One of the first things people do when greeting dogs is to reach out and pet them. Most dogs enjoy the feeling of touch, scratches, and gentle rubs on the tummy, but not every dog appreciates it. Touch is an important aspect of a puppy’s and dog’s life from birth.
Touch builds bonds
As soon as a puppy is born, she relies on touch to find her mother, to stimulate milk flow for feeding, and as a source of comfort. The mother also uses touch in order to keep the puppies healthy. She will lick and nuzzle her puppies from birth, which improves their circulation and encourages them to eliminate waste.
Touch helps form emotional bonds between the mother dog and her pups, and is a way to help promote socialization and social bonds with people. For this inter-species connection, puppies should experience human touch from birth. This will help them acclimate to and develop healthy relationships with people as they grow.
Touch is sensory information
Dogs use touch to detect changes in airflow and explore their environments using their facial hairs and whiskers. If you look at your dog’s face you will see fine hairs or whiskers above the eyes, on the muzzle, and below the jaw on the side of the muzzle. These whiskers, or vibrissae, are so sensitive that when a dog approaches an object she can sense changes in airflow long before she actually touches the object.
Because these areas are so sensitive, take care when examining the inside of your dog’s mouth or brushing her teeth.
Pay attention to touch preferences
Just like people, dogs vary in how much and the type of touch they enjoy. Many dogs enjoy being touched or scratched on their backs or chests, but others might enjoy being gently rubbed behind their ears or on the back of the neck.
- When touching your dog, or any dog, pay attention to how the dog reacts when you reach for or touch them, so you know if the touch was enjoyed or unwanted.
- You can easily learn if your dog is enjoying your touch by gently petting for a count of 3-5 and removing your hand. If your dog moves closer and/or nudges your hand for more, you'll know she wants you to continue. If she moves away, this is clear information that she has had enough.
- Touch sensitivities vary from dog to dog as well, but most dogs are sensitive about their head, muzzle, tail, abdomen, and paws. Nerve endings along the dog’s spine and toward the tail makes the back a particularly sensitive area especially for senior dogs that have spine or hip issues.
- Foot sensitivity is probably why so many dogs hate having their paws touched or nails clipped. Handling paws can be uncomfortable or ticklish, similar to how it feels when someone touches your feet.
- Undiagnosed pain is responsible for a myriad of behavior issues, including aggressive behavior, and should be the first thing that is explored before any kind of training or behavior modification takes place.
There are professionals who specialize in using touch as therapeutic and relaxation measures for dogs. There are canine masseuses as well as Tellington T-Touch practitioners who can help your dog relax and possibly cope with anxiety.
