When she greets me, why does my dog bring me a toy?

Question

No disrespect to ya'll, but my dog happens to be the best black lab ever.

Question for you dog experts: When we come home after being out and about, she usually greets us with a stuffed toy in her mouth, as if she's presenting a gift to us. Otherwise she never chews on her toys other than playing with us.

All I can think of is that she's presenting a present to the pack leaders . . . what you think?

I don't think it's the play thing. I think that she sees the Alpha Dogs are back home, the pack is now whole again and she is showing respect to the pack leaders.

Answer 1

No offense, but my pyrs are even neater than your lab, who is a great dog and the best black lab ever.

My dogs are real communicators. They have a vocabulary that they understand. They know things they haven't been told... and they knock to go out and knock to come in, and many other neat things.

She may be presenting the toy to you as pack leaders.

It's also possible that she's saying "I really missed you and I'm SO happy you're home, and I'd like to play with you now that you've come back to me."

either one is possible.

Answer 2

Does she want to play or is she just putting you in charge of the toy and going away?
Needing play could result from many things; a young dog may want tug-of-war because of teething; an old dog may seek tug-of-war because of dental hygeine issues. Any dog (even old ones) may need a game (or many games) of fetch to release some energy.
Or she may be telling you she babysat the 'pups' (the toy) while you were away from the den. That may mean she's feeling motherly.
Also, dogs worry about pack hierarchy a lot, and she may simply feel left out of the group while you're gone.
Watching her other behaviors should provide clues to exactly what is going on, so keep doing that.

Answer 3

I have had dogs all my life. Some are toy loving dogs some are not. My mix breed does not greet with toys, but my Lab has a toy when ever she is excited. I don't let her take them outside as we have a large yard and she sometimes drops them - and the mower finds them.

Answer 4

Your dog obviously loves you and greets you with a toy because he knows you are home and he wants to play with you! Smart dog!
I wouldn't go so far as to say he is recognizing you as the pack leader come home! He would show signs of submission not a friendly greeting. He more likely is glad you are home so he can get some exercise.

Answer 5

Any movement around the "den door" stimulates the urge to bite This is one reason a dog s energy levels increase when they hear someone outside, or when their owners come home.

When my clients complain that their dog is jumping up on them or guests when they come through the door I recommend teaching the dog to grab a toy and bring it to the door. This stops the jumping up, and in some cases can cure submissive urination.

The toy gives the dog a safe outlet for her urge to bite.

Answer 6

With having had 2 dogs that put simply just don't get the whole toy thing, I think it's cute. My guess it wants to play.

Answer 7

It's hard to tell without other information. My cocker carried a toy with him everywhere he went. I think he just liked the attention he got because it made him "cute".
He went to my place of business everyday and the store looked like we ran a day care...because of all his toys. But when a customer came in he went immediately to his toy box and selected something to take to the customer. He liked to share. Some time a customer would bring in their dog and he would give them a toy also.

Answer 8

I have 2 answers...

1- Your dog may want to play fetch and for you to throw it.

2- Your dog might think its providing for the "pack" which is your family, because she or he lives with you, and dogs originate from wolves which live in packs. Your dog might think that your "pack leader" deserves some of your own dogs items in which they can use for themselves.

Answer 9

As a professional dog trainer for over 16 years, I have to tell you my strong opinion that you need these group classes for obedience training. http://OnlineDogTraining.enle.info/?44SN

Other pet warehouses are there to get you to buy their products and hang around their strore. And their trainers are their employees...never forget they have an agenda. Most of the trainers have very little education--if they had actual training and skills they wouldn't be there making just over minimum wage--trust me on this. But even if they did have experience and talent...a group setting is a terrible place for learning to take place. It's distraction training and it is the LAST phase of training not the first. You wouldn't have your child try to do their homework in a toy store, would you? Of course not...the level of distraction would be too high! It's the same with dogs. Having said that, these classes can be an excellent way to socialize dogs...but not to train them. And while they appear to be cheaper than a professional trainer...you have to attend many more sessions to get the same results because of the poor learning environment--so you wind up spending MORE money for less training than you would with a professional. Save your money and go to someone who actually knows how to train dogs. OR, read books and try to train your dog yourself. There is nothing they train at a Petsmart or Petco that you can't do yourself with a couple of hours of reading.

Answer 10

I have a Black lab too and she does the same thing. Your dog is carrying a stuffed animal because she thinks it's her puppy. That's what my vet told us.