If you are a dog lover and you thought about why do dogs sleep with their bum facing you, today is your lucky day. We are going to do a deep dive into ten possible reasons why your furry friend chose to position his cute little butt towards you.
Dogs sleep in many different positions, just like us humans do. The reasons for the sleeping habits and positions of dogs are just as varied as human reasons.
We might perceive it as strange behavior, but there are several possible reasons why dogs like facing away from their owner.
Some reasons your pup sleeps that way could be genetic, scientific, psychological, or just a unique trait of your dog’s personality. Sometimes, the reason might be something as trivial as ancestral instincts or a need to protect you – their owner.
Now, without further ado, let us get into those specific reasons to help all you dog parents better understand or potentially even help your dogs!
Why Do Dogs Sleep With Their Bum Facing You?
Finally, after a long day, you can relax and watch a movie. You lay on your couch, and your dog happily trots over to join you – only to promptly turn around his fury body and stick his bum in your face.
The first reaction might be to give the pup an absent-minded scratch while browsing for a movie. But the next thought that pops up might be, why in heavens does he do this, and is this normal behavior?
The best thing for us dog owners would be if we could just simply ask our dog all these questions about canine behavior, which we need answers to.
But since we still haven’t reached the day, science somehow figures out how to communicate with dogs; animal behaviorists must make their best guesses.
There are a number of reasons why dogs sleep with their bums facing us, including protection, comfort, or even environmental factors. Let’s talk more about all of them!
1. Your Dog Is Protecting You
Often, the dogs sleep this way out of an instinct to protect their beloved humans. This position allows the dog to keep their body close to you, meaning they could react immediately if the need arises.
Dogs are not pack animals but are highly social and can form bonds with any species. (1) This means they are ready to have your back, thanks to the strong social bond formed between the two of you.
Nevertheless, if we take street dogs as an example, they will always sleep in packs with their backs or bums against each other while their bodies face away. This allows them to overlook the whole situation and environment around them.
Sleeping in this position makes the animal feel secure and able to react at any sign of trouble. Because of the intense emotional and social bond dogs form with their owners, they feel comfortable sleeping this way.
This means that when your dog sleeps with their back to you, they trust you to be aware of one side while they’re on the other.
This is usually very wholesome unless it comes from an unhealthy guarding habit.
However, that isn’t the end of the world either; most dogs will learn with proper socialization and training that there is no need for those behaviors.
2. Your Dog Trusts You
Dogs have individual differences in how they communicate trust. However, how your pup sleeps in their home is one way they can show this. When a dog sleeps facing away from the owner, rather than constantly keeping their eye on them, it is typically a sign of trust.
This is common behavior for dogs that feel secure and happy in their home with their human family. By orienting their back towards you, your pup that he loves and trusts you.
In other words, the dog doesn’t expect any threats to come your way and is comfortable in this position. They know if they need you, you have their back.
If you, like me, adopted a street dog with severe trust issues, waking to find your dog facing away from you at the end of the bed should be seen as significant of a victory as them lying next to you.
You can even try to use positive reinforcement for this behavior to make sure it happens more often.
3. Your Dog Is Comfortable That Way
This might be one of the most straightforward explanations for a dog’s butt facing you. The dog finds this to be the most comfortable position to sleep in.
Just like humans, who prefer specific sleeping positions on their sides or backs, for example, dogs may also develop preferences for sleeping in one way or another.
Depending on the breed, age, size, and disabilities or ailments your dog may have, it will sleep differently.
A dog doesn’t know how human bed etiquette works, so they just might find the most comfortable position facing away from you, with no pillow.
4. Your Dog Is Looking For Affection From You
Did you know a dog’s bum is full of nerve endings? That’s why they seem to like it when you scratch or rub their bum.
When watching TV, your hands can gently scratch your dog’s bum. He knows this very well and puts himself conveniently in reach for you to show affection.
Do take some time out of your day to give as many kisses and cuddles to your pup as he or she deserves.
5. Your Dog Is Showing Submission
Your pup may also be showing his submission to you. He is respectfully facing away from you. If you don’t know, eye contact is a sign of dominance in the dog world. (2) For example, another dominant behavior dogs show is kicking after they poop.
Eye contact tends to make dogs uncomfortable unless they have been socialized to accept it.
Now, this probably isn’t the primary reason, as there are many small ways your dog should demonstrate its trust in you in your daily life.
If you think your dog is sleeping this way to avoid you, spending some time spoiling your puppy with affection and love might be a good idea.
He might need some more positive interaction to reduce any anxiety he might be feeling.
6. Your Dog Might Be Scent Marking
Being a dog owner, I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that dogs like marking scent everywhere(3).
Most, if not all, dogs are domesticated and will not urinate inside the house, but you will notice your dog marking trees as you go for walks. This is one of many forms of scent marking.
If you notice your dog rubbing themselves all over your furniture, especially after a bath or a shower – you guessed it, another scent marking form. If you wondered why do dogs roll in poop, I’m guessing you can now assume one of the reasons.
While dogs’ ancestors didn’t mark furniture like sofas in their natural habitat, they did mark the abovementioned trees.
This is a way of marking territory, and it’s another genetic trait passed down even through the many years of selective breeding.
You might be thinking – Okay, but how does this relate to how dogs sleep? Some glands that produce the marking scent are in your dog’s tail and bum region.
This means your dog may be marking your own bed as you sleep. This might be uncouth, so you should know about health concerns when sleeping with your dog.
Most of us pet owners don’t worry about that because the dogs pheromones are unlikely to cause any health complications. Also, this behavior in canines is entirely healthy and normal.
7. Your Dog Is Avoiding Eye Contact
If you have a shy dog, they might be sleeping with their bum facing you to avoid eye contact. As I have mentioned, eye contact can be seen as a sign of dominance in dogs.
If your dog’s ancestors maintained eye contact with another pack member in the wild, they could start a fight.
The same might ring true if your dog is uncomfortable in your home. It can be a rescue dog just getting used to their new environment or a new puppy. Over time, this behavior will likely change, and it is nothing to worry about in the short term.
In that case, just give your pup space and time to overcome their shyness.
Dogs don’t like or care about face-to-face contact. As you’ll notice, many dogs actively avoid it — unless they’ve been well-socialized from a young age. Drawing from this, facing you while they lay might be odd to them.
Ventral contact is when animals sleep face-to-face or belly-to-belly. Dogs don’t enjoy sleeping this way. It’s much more instinctual for dogs to sleep butt-to-butt, so they are more likely to do so with their owners.
8. Your Dog Wants To Be Near You, Just Not Too Near
As this is more of a personality thing than anything else, you will know much better than I do what your beloved dog is like.
My rescue always wants to be in contact with me, while my German Shepherd is the type that likes to be in my close proximity, but no contact is involved. Some pups love their space, and you should respect that.
If your dog chooses to go to bed with you, it could mean they want to be close to you, but it could also mean they are simply comfortable there and do not want to be touched or petted at the moment.
If you are unsure of your dog’s intentions, just observe their behavior. You can notice if they show signs of wanting physical contact or not.
With some time and attention, you should be able to tell in what way dogs indicate these things. If you need some help, you can always consult a dog trainer.
9. Your Dog Is Feeling Hot
Like we struggled through the summer and multiple heatwaves – dogs get hot, too.
They can overheat while trying to sleep. While their wolf ancestors regularly sleep curled up, it is usually in much cooler environments than your bedroom.
The breeds used to hot climates won’t have a big problem with this, usually because of their lighter coat.
However, if your dog is a Husky, for example, they could be too hot to cuddle up next to you and decide to take the end of the bed instead. If we exclude a big trip to the groomers (that won’t help in that matter anyway, to be honest), there is nothing you can do about it.
But if the weather is that hot, I doubt you even want your warm four-legged companion curled up against you anyway.
If you notice your dog is uncomfortable in these situations, please ensure they have enough water available. Investing in a cooling mat or a cooling bed wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.
10. Your Dog Might Be Having A Problem
As bad luck would have it, not all the reasons your pup lies in this position are good. If the dog has a problem with his bum, he might position it toward you in an attempt to show you.
More often than not, the cause is a flea infestation. Other signs of it are foul smell and excessive licking on your pup’s part.
Thankfully, this is easy to cure; give your pet a bath with appropriate shampoos, and in the future, give the dog a treatment that can prevent it (you can use flea collars, medication like pills that kill them, etc.)
Another cause for this might be tapeworms and other intestinal parasites. Other tale-tell signs are diarrhea and a bloated stomach in the dogs — yet another problem with a simple solution. Parasite pills given regularly should prevent this.
But in general, if you notice your dog shows signs of being uncomfortable and is scratching or licking at his butt a lot, it is time for a trip to the vet. And if your dogs smell like Fritos, read more about the reasons behind it.
Is This Sleep Behaviour Bad For Your Dog
As long as you have determined the reason for this behavior is one of the positive ones from the list – it’s not bad for the pup.
Suppose your dog is showing any signs of anxiety, it is a good idea to spend some more time helping him to feel better and more comfortable in your home.
Another sign of anxiety in your dog might be them biting their paws. If you would like to know more reasons why do dogs bite their paws, you can click here.
And if your dog is showing signs of having parasites or any other problems, please go to the vet.
For your own good, you want to make sure the dog is clean in their butt area.
Most doggies take care of their personal hygiene when it comes to that, but some pups (especially the long-haired ones) can sometimes use a helping hand.
Having a butt in your face is bad enough without it being a dirty one.
Is This Behavior Normal For Dogs
If you ask any of your dog-owning friends, you will generally find a resounding yes as an answer. Their dogs often sleep in this way as well. So you can relax; it is not just some funny behavior that only your dog picked up somewhere.
Just like dogs eating their own poop or dogs licking your feet, this is absolutely normal behavior.
As you saw yourself after reading the reasons, most of the time, this is not a behavior that should worry you.
In case this behavior becomes overly intrusive, what should be done? Let us imagine your dog starts sitting on top of you. In those cases, it might be time to establish some essential boundaries so that both of you feel respected and comfortable during your time spent together.
Setting up a clear set of rules (and always adhering to them) about where your dog can sleep in relation to you might help him understand what behaviors are expected of him while spending quality time together.
Enjoy And Snuggle Up With Your Dog
All in all, it is a regular behavior for dogs to sleep in this position. The behavior itself does not pose any dangers to the dog unless the case is that he is trying to alert you to a problem he is experiencing.
If you have a reason that this behavior makes you uncomfortable, you can always consult a dog trainer to see in what gentle way you can train him to switch his sleeping position.
In any other case, just snuggle up on the sofa with your furry best friend and enjoy your quality time together.
References
(1) Ostojić, L. and Clayton, N.S. (2013) ‘Behavioural coordination of dogs in a cooperative problem-solving task with a conspecific and a human partner,’ Animal Cognition, 17 (2), pp. 445 – 459. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-013-0676-1.
(2) Savalli, C., Resende, B. and Gaunet, F. (2016) ‘Eye Contact Is Crucial for Referential Communication in Pet Dogs,’ PLOS ONE. Edited by P. Graham, 11 (9), p. e0162161. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162161.
(3) Cafazzo, S., Natoli, E. and Valsecchi, P. (2012) ‘Scent-Marking Behaviour in a Pack of Free-Ranging Domestic Dogs,’ Ethology. Edited by M. Herberstein, 118 (10), pp. 955 – 966. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2012.02088.x.
Nandina has been a lifelong dog owner and enthusiast. She shared her home with multiple breeds, including Giant Schnauzers, Cane Corsos, and Huskies. Currently, she is raising a three-year-old rescue and a working-line German Shepherd puppy.
Actively engaged in IGP dog sports for two years, Nandina is a certified instructor for basic obedience and socialization. She works as a trainer in her local dog sports club, and in her spare time, she handicrafts biothane gear for dogs.