I'm more a cat person (haven't had a dog since I was 12). Two times now, recently, when visiting people, their dog has brought out their favorite toy and come over by me, NOT to give me the toy, but just to hold onto it while I look at it.
They aren't sharing the toy, just standing there looking really happy. One was a German shepherd with a football crammed into his mouth, and the other one, tonight, was a yorki with a yellow fake banana held as tight at he could in his jaws.
I make appreciative noises at the dog which seemed to be all they wanted. What's with showing me their favorite toy? Is this a displacement behavior so they could get approval from a stranger? Neither wanted me to touch the toy or throw it for them.
Proud Pit Owner2008-11-27T22:42:56Z
Favorite Answer
They like you and probably wanted to play. But since a lot of owners don't teach their pet to drop the toy, they were waiting for you to come and get it :)
By showing you the toy, the dog is just hoping you will reach down and grab for it, in which case he will give you a funny look and take off with the toy, waiting for you to chase after. He doesn't actually want you to take it away, so just in case, they tend to hold toys tightly.
Getting chased is one of the greatest games a dog could possibly play with the owner. However, no matter the fun it may be, it can cause the dog to fail coming back to you in desperate times.
My dogs do this everytime we get home from going out. It can actually get annoying sometimes. Our boy always brings us his favourite plastic bone and runs around crazy and our girl grabs whatever she can find on the floor, usually a coke bottle or something. They just want to show you that they are friendly and want to play, just say in a high pitched silly voice "good girl' or 'good boy' and maybe a pat and they should be happy
The dogs are teasing you. They probably want you to chase them, which I bet you is what their owners do. Its kind of like a young kid showing another kid their brand new cool toy and then they won't actually share. They just want to show off.
I can not understand their behavior but I think that they tease you showing their toy as small children do but they do not want to share it or something else I can not explain