Did You Know? Research has shown that large dogs are more likely to roll over than small dogs when playing with their owners.
Having a pet dog can be lots of fun. Whether your pet is large or small, there is nothing better than playing around with it. Your dog may become too playful and get carried away, perhaps taking a quick bite. You soon forgive it though. Sometimes your dog will just roll over with its paws in the air, its stomach exposed. It will look at you lovingly. You are the best of friends. What do you do? There is really only one choice: tickle its tummy.
It seems a natural thing to do. Probably pet owners have been tickling their dog’s tummies ever since dogs were first kept as pets. Recently, however, some animal experts have said that we really should not be tickling them. In fact, our dogs may not even enjoy it.
Dr. Jill Mackay is an animal expert from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She has said that a dog normally lies down and rolls over to expose its stomach when it is playing with other dogs. It’s a way of showing that they trust the other dogs. It’s something they do naturally. When they roll over with a human, they are saying exactly the same thing, ‘I trust you.’ When that human bends over and tickles its tummy, it can be very alarming for them.
Some pet dogs have just learnt that this is what humans do. They put up with it and allow them to tickle, even if they do not enjoy it. Some dogs may, however, become very scared of what is happening.
Other experts have a different view from Dr. Mackay. They think that dogs roll over to defend themselves. When a dog is lying on its back, another dog is unable to bite its neck. To us, that seems like an odd suggestion. When a dog rolls over, it shows its stomach. You don’t want another dog biting that!
Reports in newspapers about this debate have created a huge response from dog lovers around the world. One popular daily newspaper in England, The Daily Mail, has over 1,800 comments on the subject:
- This story is rubbish! My dog lies next to me and uses its paw to guide my hand to tickle it.
- My dog loves tummy rubs. She cannot get enough of them.
- Why does my dog show his teeth when I stop tickling?
Some people take their dog and their tummy tickling very seriously. However, if you change the word dog in this story to the word cat, we think there may be more truth in what Dr. Mackay’s research suggests. What do you think?
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