Is Your Dog Getting Enough Attention? 6 Signs to Find Out

Who doesn’t love spending time with their fluffy friends? We want to shower them with love and adoration because they deserve enough attention, and so much more. However, in this fast-paced world and our busy schedules, we might not be getting enough time to attend to our dogs. 

There is no doubt that these mischievous creatures are often able to entertain themselves with toys or even just by chasing their tails, attention by their hoomans is important. You can observe behavioral problems if there is lack of attention. 

Let’s dive into detail about what attention means to your ball of fluff and what are some signs that your dog is not getting enough quality time with you. 

What Does Attention Mean?

Often people joke that they hug their dog more than they hug their spouse, while we can feel kind of sorry for their spouse, LOL, let me clear that there is a difference between affection and attention. 

Let’s play a game. What do you think belly rubs, snuggles, and kisses are? Affection or attention? If you said, affection, then you are right. On the other hand, attention is interacting with your dog in a way that they feel engaged, and are interested in doing activities with you. 

Attention can include playing, walking, feeding, and talking to your fur friend. Their breed and age factors in the amount of attention they need. Generally, larger dogs usually need more attention but individual personalities can affect the attention requirement too. 

Let’s see which signs can tell you that your dog isn’t getting enough attention. 

1. Chewing

When there is a lack of attention, you can observe behavioral problems, like chewing. If your dog isn’t teething, but still chewing, that can mean they are bored. 

Give your adorable friend attention and also save your expensive furniture from your dog’s viscous chewing. 

2. Increased Barking

While there are many reasons of why your dog would bark excessively, like alerting you of danger, or saying hello to your friend who comes in the house. However, if your dog is barking directly at you, and you don’t understand why, then it probably might be their way of asking attention. These furry beings can be quite the attention seekers, right?

While the excessive barking can wake your sleeping baby up or interrupt your zoom work call, don’t raise your voice at your dog, as that could make them anxious. What you can do is set some time exclusively for your dog where you engage with them in different activities, and give them time. 

3. Pawing and Nudging at You 

One of the most common ways of dogs asking for attention is by pawing or nudging at you with their cute nose. They are basically saying, “Hey hooman, wanna play?” or “Get off from your boring work call, I wanna play fetch”. 

If their ears and tail look relaxed, it means they are nudging for attention. If their tail is tucked, and ears are back, they may be nudging for comfort as they might be experiencing anxiety. 

4. Whining, Crying, or Howling

While dogs don’t have a human language to communicate to us in, whining, crying, or howling are a few ways they will verbally express that they need something. Isn’t that what they do when their favorite toy gets stuck under the couch? They tell you something’s up. 

If there is no apparent reason behind your pup’s crying or howling, they may be complaining about their boredom. So, that’s your cue to plan more games with them, engage with them, maybe try trick training. 

5. Nipping and Play-Biting You

Have you ever witnessed your dog transforming from a cutie pie to a fierce dinosaur? Nipping and biting is often play-related instincts. It’s your responsibility as pup parent to direct their biting towards chew toys, etc. 

If your trained-dog is nipping on your ankle while you are trying to nap, or during a Netflix session, they are just asking for your time and attention. They mean no harm. In fact, if you look in their eyes at that time, you can read “I come in peace, just want to play”.

6. Changes in Body Language

Changes in body language can be caused by so many different things. Common calls for attention are when they roll on their backs. They are asking for belly rubs or some wrestle time. 

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TIME WITH YOUR DOG

While it’s practically not possible to spend every moment with your dog, the quality of the time you do spend together matters.  

You can do the following activities to make the most out of your time with your furry baby: 

• Going for a walk or hike together
• Playing fetch
• Playing hide and seek
• Doing a training session
• Having a doggy play date

For times when you can’t give them attention yourself, you can give them the following things to keep themselves entertained: 

• Puzzle toys
• Lick mats
• Long-lasting chews
• Snuffle mats

Hope you enjoy giving your dog, both affection and attention, for a healthy dog-hooman relationship. 

Read more dog training tips and tricks here