Question

Some people say that it's "dominance" when a dog puts a paw on you while you're petting him, but I think that's hooey.

There could be a lot of reasons. If he knows a couple of tricks that involve giving paw, he may think you like it, so it could be a kind of "thank you" for the petting.

Also, a dog may show gratitude or submission by rolling over during a petting session. If he's sitting, he may put a paw up and tilt his body, almost like he's going to flop down and roll over, even if he never actually rolls.

Ruby did that for all 13 years of her life. It drove me nuts. I would knock her paw off or quit petting her when she did it. But she never got the picture and never stopped doing it. Of course, when I did stop petting her, she would grab my sleeve and pull my had to her chest so that I would start petting her again.

I don't know if it was a dominance thing or not. She was a very dominant dog. Her breeder said her dad, Dexter, did the very same thing all the time.

That is what I was thinking too, that he thought that we want him too since it hi-5s almost went hand & hand with the sit command during my kids training sessions. I also thought that he just like his arm pit itched.

I was just making sure it wasn't a dominace thing.

Thanks for your reply!

Beau did that all the time and now I really miss it. The other pups dont do it.

My neighbor has a Maltese dog that does that. It's so cute!

Luck does it. He started doing it ever since we taught him high 5 and shake. I think he does it to get a treat (which he gets every time!). Now he does it anytime he wants something. Luckily it does not bother us and we love it!

Thanks for the replies!

We like it too. I just wanted to make sure we were enableing something he shouldn't be doing.

Thanks everyone! I'll get pictures.

PS: Sorry my last post was scattered and didn't make sense, I got distracted at work.

Our previous golden, Emmy did something similar. We figured out she liked the webbing between her toes rubbed. Every time she sat down in front of us she would put her paw on our knee. We would rub the webbing and when she tired of that foot she'd switch and put the other one up. Everyone who came over knew that she liked this and most would comply. Emmy didn't have a dominant bone in her body.

That is funny because I rub between his toes too and he just stars as it is done. It is too cute.

we call that Faith's "I want" paw. even if you move your arm or actually take her paw and put it down, it creeps right back up so that she's resting it on the arm that's petting her. i like to think she just likes the touching & connection. she's not trying to be in charge - perhaps just trying to be in charge of how long you scratch her chest.