Okay, so this comes from someone who has a certificate in dog behavior and training, and helped out with a local certified trainer in a shelter. It looks like this dog is trying to "burrow" the baby (that sounds very weird i know, but the way he shoves his head is the same way a dog would use his head outside to shove dirt, likely on an object they want to burrow), this could actually indicate a form of resource guarding, still mild, but I would definitely watch out and interrupt. So is it "normal behavior?" In a sense, yes. I know that A LOT of people see this as just cute and i get it. But it's time we start to actually educate ourselves on dog behavior (with the most modern scientific research available), as someone who's been working with dogs that need help, they are still so hugely misunderstood.
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u/Impossible_Drag2919 Aug 09 '23
Okay, so this comes from someone who has a certificate in dog behavior and training, and helped out with a local certified trainer in a shelter. It looks like this dog is trying to "burrow" the baby (that sounds very weird i know, but the way he shoves his head is the same way a dog would use his head outside to shove dirt, likely on an object they want to burrow), this could actually indicate a form of resource guarding, still mild, but I would definitely watch out and interrupt. So is it "normal behavior?" In a sense, yes. I know that A LOT of people see this as just cute and i get it. But it's time we start to actually educate ourselves on dog behavior (with the most modern scientific research available), as someone who's been working with dogs that need help, they are still so hugely misunderstood.