Have you experienced when your dog winked at you? Do you wonder why your dog winks at you? Well, this post will explain to you why do dogs wink at you.
Most dogs can wink to their family owner to indicate submission, happiness, or if they imitate humans’ behavior.
Meanwhile, if your best friend has excessive blinking and winking, it can also be a possible eye problem.
Reasons why dogs are winking
If you wonder why your dog winks at you, the following are possible reasons for this action.
1. Your dog can be happy.
If your pet is happy, he or she tends to be playful and can wink at you. It only means your dog simply wants to have fun.
It is a good sign because your dog feels excited. With that, they can avoid boredom, loneliness, sadness, and depression, which can be detrimental to their health.
2. They can be submissive.
Eye contact may indicate a sign of aggression and dominance between dogs. However, if your pet stares at you, it doesn’t mean that they want to fight with you.
As you stare back, they can wink at you or look down. The wink of your dog breaks the stare to keep the peace.
3. They try to imitate you.
One reason why your dog winks are when they try to imitate your behavior. Most dog breeds are smart so that they can mimic their owners.
Usually, you can observe that they begin to imitate you, like resting while you rest, sleeping as you sleep, and gets excited if you feel the excitement.
They can also develop a few gestures. If your dog tries to mimic you, it is a good thing since it can be easier for you to train your pet.
Dogs love to be with their family owner to adapt to what they see in their environment easily.
4. Seeking attention
Your dog winks because they want the attention of their owner. Since most dogs are intelligent, they make gestures like winking to gain your reaction.
If they love your reaction, they can wink more often. Make sure to give your pet lots of love and attention to keep them happy, active, and healthy.
5. Keeping peace
Just like humans, dogs also communicate through body language. We consider eye contact as a sign of politeness, but that is not the case among dogs.
As dogs stare at each other, the one that keeps the eye contact longer is the dominant one.
So, if you stare at your dog and they wink at you, it means that they want to keep the peace. They know you are the leader of your home.
6. Eye problems
It is cute when your dog winks at you, but you may not know it. This can be a problem with the eyes. Some eye problems can make a dog wink just one eye.
Some of these can be serious, and some are just mild, so you don’t need to worry.
You can seek the advice of a professional veterinarian. The following are the common eye problems that can make your dog wink at you.
- Dry eyes (Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca)
Dry eyes are one condition wherein the tear glands don’t produce enough tears, leading to dry eyes.
This eye problem may affect two eyes or only one eye of your pet. If the eye is dry, it tends to blink. If you observed your dog with excessive blinking of both eyes, they might have dry eyes or KCS.
- Entropion
Entropion can be painful and uncomfortable for dogs. Fortunately, this eye problem can be solved with proper treatment.
This eye problem is when the eyelid folds inward that leads the eyelid to rub against the eyes. It can begin a slight itch that can be a painful ulcer.
Dogs that suffer from entropion may wink more often since it is their way to scratch their eyes.
Entropion can occur to any dog breed, but it is common among short-nosed breeds.
- Glaucoma
This eye condition is another reason for the winking of your dog. It occurs if excess fluid puts pressure on the eyes of your dog.
One symptom of glaucoma is when your dog has watery eyes. The excess production of tears can make them blink since they attempt to remove the excess liquid.
Make sure to take immediate action if you suspect that your pet has glaucoma. Thus, it can lead to blindness.
- Pink eye (Conjunctivitis)
Pink eyes in your pet can be quite similar to pink eye in humans. Viral or bacterial infection may cause pink eyes.
Fortunately, pink eye is easy to spot and treat. This eye problem can also lead to dry and itchy eyes that make your dog wink the infected eye.
- Other eye irritants
If your dog has irritants in their eyes like dust or dust, it can also make them wink.
With their daily activities, it’s natural that something can be trapped in their eyes.
If you observe excessive winking in your dog, it is time to consult a reliable veterinarian. So, you can treat the eye problems of your pet.
So, that are the reasons why your dog winks at you.
Can you train your pet to wink on command?
Keeping in mind that your pet doesn’t have health issues, they can wink at you because they recognize as the house leader.
They can also imitate what you do. A dog that winks at you is cute, so you can be curious if you can train them to wink on command.
Well, it is possible to train your dog to wink, but you need more patience.
Unlike teaching them to lay or sit down, winking can be challenging because it doesn’t belong to their instincts.
To help you with this, the following are some tips to teach your dog how to wink.
1. Determine how to make your dog wink
Before teaching your dog to wink, you must first find out how to make them wink.
One of the common ways is to gently touch the whiskers on the side of the eye of your dog.
If it doesn’t work, then you can try to tap them on the top of their head on the side of the eye.
2. Offer your pet a treat.
As you touch the whiskers of your dog and they wink after you gave the command, you can give them a treat.
It can be a good motivation for them. You can apply this tip a few times daily in the next 1 to 2 weeks.
3. Give them the command every time.
You can give them the command “wink” every time you touch them. You can give the command as they wink.
4. Remove the physical touch.
After one or two weeks, your pet must associate the command ‘wink’ with blinking an eye.
You can test their performance by giving the command ‘wink’ without touching them.
Meanwhile, if it still doesn’t work, try again, and be patient. You must be consistent until your pet learns to wink with your command.
When you apply these tips, you can help your pet to learn to wink at you.
5. Behavioral shaping
You must take note that winking among healthy dogs is a harmless gesture.
If you want your puppy to wink at you more often, you can train them. You can apply behavioral shaping strategies to motivate your pet to do it.
It can be a simple process. If your pet winks at you, you can provide them a delicious treat and lots of praise.
You can always give them a command word like “wink!” as you train them. You can also touch their whiskers on one side of their muzzle to encourage them to wink.
A treat can probably be a great reward, but you can also give them lots of attention as they successfully wink at you.
If your dog winks at you regularly, you can be amazed and entertained by your beloved pet.
Meanwhile, you must offer your positive dog training to achieve the best results.
Treat them like a young child needing to learn a lesson about winking.
You can give your dog lots of time that can make them feel motivated and energized.
Conclusion
To sum it up, dogs may wink at you due to different reasons like imitating your behavior, a sign of happiness or peace, and if they suffer from eye problems.
With this, you must make sure the specific reason why they’re winking at you. You can bring them to the veterinarian for a medical check-up.
Now that you have the idea why dogs wink, check out if your dog has medical issues.
Take them to the nearest veterinarian in your area. Do you find it cute when your beloved pet winks at you? What are you waiting for? Train them to wink with a command now!
