Dogs are some of the most amazing creatures out there. They are sensitive, bright, keen and a joy to be with. They serve different purposes for different people and this is usually because they are some of the smartest animals you can have around you. Even when they are hurting, they find a way to remain sweet and caring to those around them.
These are some of the reasons why it is easy to love them. But have you ever thought if they reciprocate the love? Of course, they do. Since they do not talk, actions are the only other option they have to express how they feel. There are a number of ways to know if your dog loves you just as much as you love them or even more. While this list does not cover all the ways you could know this, these are the ones you just cannot miss:
- Smiles at you: Interesting, right? You have probably seen it smiling a lot of times but thought nothing of it. Your dog is not just showing the whole world that its dentition is fantastic; it is smiling out of the affection it has towards you. When you have a soft spot towards someone, you tend to show it in different ways, even when you are not aware of what you are doing. The same goes for dogs
- Follows you around everywhere: This is not an exaggeration. When you find that your dog follows you to places it hitherto may not have followed you too, just know that you have a love-struck doggy on your hands. No place is sacred; it could even follow you into the shower or simply hang around outside your door just to wait for you. Yes, it would probably get underfoot. Do not get irritated or mad at it. Dogs are animals so do not have the human intelligence to handle how they feel. And because they are smart, sometimes it is easy to forget that you are not dealing with a person
- Roughhouses you: This may not be such a problem if you have a Chihuahua, a dachshund or a beagle. But if you have a Great Dane, a Rottweiler or a German shepherd, it would not be so much fun. Do not be alarmed when it starts happening; it could simply be your doggy showing its love exuberantly. However, in this case, you have to properly teach your dog boundaries so that it can know not to bite or harm you in any other way. Roughhousing you does not necessarily have to tick you off, though. Remember that dogs are very sensitive animals and any negative change towards them would affect them adversely
- Sleeps next to you: All the time, just in the event it is already doing so occasionally. In fact, your dog is likely to show you that it loves you by constantly snuggling up to you in bed. If it was sleeping at the foot of your bed once in a while before and suddenly starts lying next to you, do not push it away. Even if you have to wean it off that behavior because you are not comfortable with it, you have to be gentle about it. It is not out to irritate you
- Stares at you: And this has the tendency to be accompanied with a constant wag of the tail. Your dog staring at you may not be a strange phenomenon for you but now that you know that it could be a way of expressing its love, you could just view it differently. Show it that you recognize what it is doing through any means that you can use and you have a friend for life
- Leans on you: This is not a metaphor. It means what it says; it literally leans on you. You could be watching a movie and it just climbs up on the couch and leans on you. It could come up to you in the kitchen or garage and slightly lean into you. Apart from the fact that it could be instinctively protecting you from danger by leaning in, it could also be an expression of its love. And that is okay
- Cares when you are sick: It may never leave your side and would run to fetch things it thinks you may need. Because you are family, it would show its concern for your ill health the best way it can, even if it means getting in the way. The probability of being very quiet around the house is high, just because it can sense your mood
- Fiercely loyal: You can count on it to have your back in any situation and not run away. Dogs are naturally loyal but when one becomes part of a family that it grows to love, you can be sure that wherever it goes, it would almost always try to find its way back home. Sometimes, it does not even take much to get a dog to be loyal to you but loyalty is a sure way to prove a dog’s love
- Jumps on you: Imagine this scenario (or think back to a time when it has actually happened to you): you come in from a long day in the office or from someplace else. The first thing you get when you open your door is an exuberant dog jumping up and down around you or even on you while barking excitedly. Yep, that is love. You have been away from it and it is showing you that it is mighty glad you are home. You probably know this already but if you do not, your dog is showing it missed you
- Licks your face: Or kisses you, usually on the face. It could also mean that it is cleaning you up but that would not happen if it did not feel affectionate towards you. So if your dog starts licking your face more than before, it is telling you ‘you are the best and I love you’
- Gives you its toys: And this may not just be for you to play ‘fetch’ with it. It could just want you to share in its joy, for you to enjoy them as much as it does. This is one of the sweetest gestures you can imagine. When you love someone, you would want to share some of your best things with them and that is what your dog is doing by offering you its toys
Dogs are some of the finest and best companions a person can have. There is a deep and inexplicable communication line between people and dogs, even though they cannot talk. There is hardly any animal that is as close to people as dogs are. This is probably why it is easy to love them and get them to love you back.
