4 Reasons Why Do Dogs Wink At You

If you are a dog lover, you might find everything your dog does ‘cute.’ Be it stopping you from hitting them with their paw, sleeping on your laptop so that you cannot work, or even wink at you when you are talking to them. Now, the winking part caters a lot of attention from all the dog parents, and there have been tones of pictures and videos of dogs winking and melting our hearts.

Do you ever think of why your dog winks? Do you think it is just like humans? Do you think your dog is trying to act cute? Do you think he knows he can look cute? Well, none of this is true. That’s why we thought of writing this article and telling you, ‘why do dogs wink‘?

One action can have many causes, and so does your dog’s wink. So, let us break it to you one by one.

Imitating you

What dogs love the most is to act like their humans. So, if you find yourself winking a lot, that might be a reason your dog winks looking at you too. But did you forget how intelligent and playful your dog can be?

And, it is not just about winking. Although, if you notice, they also sleep when you sleep, they start feeling hungry simultaneously as you; they want to sit outside when you sit, as so on.

Just like your dog starts shaking your hand when you extend a hand towards them, they might feel that winking back at you might also be something you are trying to teach them.

What looks like a cute little act to you in the first place might also be one step closer to train your dog for better things. So, keep doing this and see if they learn more imitating you. A dog’s life is not only about following the instructions like ‘sit,’ ‘fetch,’ and ‘stay.’ You can add some fun elements too.

Watch this video and understand how valuable imitation training can prove.

Might be in a fun mood

Dogs try to do all these cute little things when they are happy or in the mood to have some fun. So, it might be a sign for you to grab their ball and start playing or maybe lie down with them and cuddle. In this situation, they eliminate boredom or sadness from their lives and try to be happy with you.

Surrendering to you

When you were walking with your dog last night, and he saw another dog, did you see them looking at each other? What happened then? Did someone look away, or did a bark fight start? As cute as winking looks to you, it might have a behavioral reason too. Eye contact in dogs is a sign of aggression or the power they are trying to show to the other person or dog.

So, if your dog winks at you while you are scolding them, it is not their way of escaping this conversation by looking cute. Instead, they are trying to end the whole scolding because they do not want to fight you or show their power over you in any way. That is the only reason that when you look in your dog’s eye, he looks down every time. But will he do the same if a stranger or another animal is looking at him that way? We doubt it.

It is not entirely true that dogs wink to look cute, but we can give this reason a little bit of weightage. As we all know that dogs are brilliant, and they know how much you love them, they make these small gestures to get your attention too. For example, have you rubbed your dog’s belly and started working on your computer? What happens next? Does he come to you and start adjusting his head under your hand? Does he go and sit on your lap? Well, that is his way of showing you that he needs your attention. The same goes with winking, they wink to get your attention, and if they get it, they might as well start winking more.

Eye Problems

While imitating you, learning something, escaping a fight, or being cute is okay, but the excessive winking thing can be a severe problem. So, you would not want to ignore it.

Your dog might be suffering from some eye infection that might be why his eye is closing on its own. For this, you should immediately visit a doctor and get him checked.

Here is a list of some common eye problems that might be causing your little one to wink.

– Dry eyes

Scientifically known as Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca, this is a medical condition in which a dog’s tear glands stop producing tears. So if your dog is winking with one eye right now, don’t think that it is okay. This medical issue might also affect his other eye.

– Entropion

It is a severe medical problem that can be painful and uncomfortable for dogs. However, a doctor can treat this issue. In Entropion, the eyelid of your dog will start folding inward and lead to rubbing it against the eyes. Your dog might find winking as a way to scratch in this case. This is mostly seen in breeds with short nose structures.

– Glaucoma

If your dog has this, you will notice watery eyes in your dog. So your dog might be winking in order to remove the excess liquid from his eyes. This can further lead to blindness.

– Other eye irritants

The winking could be caused by some dust particles too. That might be your dog’s way to remove those particles from this eye. So, if he is doing it often, check his eye and clean it.

Now you know the secret behind the cute wink your dog is throwing at you, and you are sharing the pictures and videos on the web. Watch your dog closely; whenever something new happens, it might be a way of them telling you something.