Fleas, Mites, and Ticks
External parasites include fleas, mites such as Demodex and scabies, and ticks. All of these parasites can bite or burrow into the skin of a dog, however not all of them cause itchiness. Fleas and scabies are classically the itchiest and these kinds of infestations lead to itchiness all over, not just on the face. Routine preventative medications should be utilized to prevent common skin parasites and any dog who appears extremely itchy should be examined by a veterinarian.
New collars or collars that are too tight may cause a dog to rub its face and neck on the ground, furniture, or walls in an attempt to relieve the discomfort. If a dog has a new collar, it should be checked to make sure it isnt too tight or causing irritation on the dogs neck. Also, if a dog hasnt had its collar removed and washed in a while and/or has grown or gained weight, it could now be too tight or in need of adjustment or removal. You should be able to comfortably slip two fingers underneath your dogs collar.
How to Show Your Dog Affection
You love your dog—so much that you want to make sure your affection makes him feel warm and fuzzy, not just you. Fantastic! Now that we’ve done some dog-to-human translation, let’s take it in the opposite direction. Here are some ways you can say “I love you” back, speaking in your dog’s own language.
Rib-thumping pats that a dog turns to nose at… claps on the top of his head that make him blink and back away… bear hugs that make him feel trapped… not everything we mean as physical affection comes across that way to every dog.
Okay, so some hardy sporting breeds don’t seem to mind those genial rib-thumping pats, and might even stick around for the well-meant thwacks on the noggin. But here are some types of physical affection that are almost always popular. See what your four-legged friend thinks of these:
Have you ever tried to cheerfully praise a dog with the “wrong” words, saying e.g., “what a bad, baaaad dog… he’s so bad…”? It works! He doesn’t care what you say, as long as you say it with warmth and good cheer.
Your dog pays a lot more attention to the tone of your voice than to the words themselves. After all, dogs’ vocalizations to each other rely on tone, not specific words. So if you’re happy and loving, let him hear it in your voice.
Just like your dog might be tuned in to your mood—your good and bad days, your cheerful and troubled moments—let him feel that you’re tuned in to his, too.
I once overheard a trainer explain that whenever he’s out and about with his dog, he is consistently aware of his companion—in the same way, he realized, as he had been when he took his grandmother to a busy carnival that weekend. He didn’t keep an eagle eye on grandma every second, but maintained open awareness of the situation around them, and took the time to check in every so often to see how she was doing with the crowds and all the walking. Your own mileage may vary (like your own dog and your own grandmother), but your role is to be tuned in to how he is doing. Your dog will notice when you are tuned in with him.
Why your dog rubs its head on you
Each of the different reasons why your dog rubs its face on you will likely come with some clues.
Below are a number of possible causes and what would make them more likely.
Many people jump to the conclusion that their dogs do it because they are trying to be dominant. However, the alpha/beta dynamic has been disproven in studies showing that wolves take turns in taking the lead.
With that being said, it could be doing it due to bullying behavior which would be more likely if it shows signs of aggression when doing it. In this case, it would help to avoid giving it reasons to feel threatened and to get it to learn to behave the way you want it to with training programs such as NLIF (“Nothing in Life is Free) dog training.
The reason why it does it might be that it has some separation anxiety. This is where it does not like being left alone and the prospect of being left alone causes it to become anxious. This would be more likely to be the reason if your dog does it more when you are about to leave home and if it gets anxious when you are leaving.
In this case, it would help to try to train it to learn to be less anxious when you are leaving home.
To do this you could do as follows:
The reason why your dog does it might be that it is looking for attention. This would be more likely to be the reason if it does it more when you have not given it much attention and if you tend to give it extra attention when it does it.
If you don’t want your dog to be doing it then it would help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it does it by recognizing when it is about to do it and redirecting its focus or getting it off you and waiting for it to calm down.
Dogs evolved as pack animals so they will naturally feel safer when they are around other dogs in the pack or people. The reason why your dog rubs its head on you could be that it makes it feel safer.
It might also be the case that it does it in order to spread its scent onto you so that other dogs don’t approach you. This would be more likely if it can get overly protective when you are around other dogs.
Below are some things you can consider when trying to figure out why your dog has been doing it.
It would help to consider when your dog first started doing it since it could be the case that there was an event that caused it to start.
Some things to consider would be:
It would also help to consider the timing of when your dog rubs its head on you since it could be the case that the timing has something to do with it.
If it does it more when you are about to leave home then it would make it more likely that it has some separation anxiety. Whereas, if it does it more when you haven’t given it much attention then it might be looking for attention.
Why Does My Dog Rub His Face On Me
I laughed and said that my dogs do the same, but I’ve never given it much thought.