Does you pet bring you an item when you return home? (stock) (Image: Getty)
Few things in life can rival the joy of returning home after an exhausting day at work to be greeted by your dog’s enthusiastically wagging tail.
However, it has left some owners puzzled as to why, rather than welcoming them with a sniff, their four-legged friends present them with a toy, slipper or newspaper upon their return.
One Reddit user wrote: “When I (or my wife) come home our dog always grabs a toy out of his toy box and greets us at the door.
“What’s he telling us? He showing off his toy? Does he want to play? Something else? Help!” According to Wisconsin Pet Care, it’s actually a positive sign if your dog welcomes you at the door bearing a gift – regardless of how peculiar that item may be.
A statement reads: “The art of ‘gift giving’ does not happen in every domesticated canine, but for those dogs that do exhibit this behaviour, it’s downright endearing.
“It can be theorised that carrying and retrieving stems for natural hunting behaviours in canines. Wild dogs learn to carry their food (ie, prey) and cache meals – much like a squirrel would hide its nuts all over the forest – in case of times of famine.
“A wolf mother will bring her prey back to the den, retrieving and carrying a meal home to her pups. So it appears that the domesticated dog retrieving is a simple variation of this prey-carrying behaviour.”
Nevertheless, vets suggest that much of this gift-giving behaviour is actually something our canine companions have learnt from us – their human owners.
The statement continues: “Selective breeding has encouraged this common retrieving behaviour in many of our beloved dogs today.”
“For example, the retrievers are generally taught to ‘soft mouth’ prey (usually birds), and carry it back safely to the human hunter.
“Many of our terriers were bred to kill and dissect small vermin, and this carrying behaviour may represent the proud retrieval of a kill out of the ground.
“Depending on the dog’s genetics, there could be a strong predisposition to this charitable gift giving behaviour.
“Genetics or not, there is still a large part of me that believes dog develop this altruistic behaviour simply because it makes us happy!
“Think about how your pitch heightens, and your voice is filled with excitement and gratitude when Fido brings his bone to your feet as you walk in the door.
“Perhaps you bend down and give your pup an extra ear scratch for such a thoughtful donation.
“Our gleeful reactions strongly reinforce the dog to perform this behaviour again in the future, as they learn it’s beneficial and can lead to extra snuggles and doting attention.”
Responding to this explanation, one Reddit user remarked: “Some dogs will get the urge to hold things in their mouth, especially when excited. Just go with it. If he wants you to throw it, okay. If he wants to keep it away from you, cool. It’s just a quirk.”
Another user added: “Our dog does this. I think it’s because when we were training her she would often get too excited and start jumping all over us and nipping so we would redirect her to a toy.
“As a result, I’m pretty sure she just thinks that’s what we want, for her to bring us toys when she feels happy/excited. I think it’s pretty cute even if it wasn’t the intended result.”
A third user said: “My Samoyed does it too. She greets us, then runs back to her place and bring her favourite toy. We have to throw it once for her, then the greeting is complete for her and she wants to see if we brought any food.”