Help! Why Do Dogs Cover Their Eyes and what should you do?

Alright, so the other day I was chilling with my dog, Max, right? And I noticed him doing this weird thing where he'd kinda bury his face in the couch cushions or his paws. Looked like he was trying to hide his eyes. Naturally, I was like, "WTF, Max, what's up with that?" So, I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out "why do dogs cover their eyes?" Here's what I dug up and kinda tested out myself.

First thing I did was observe him a bunch. Like, full-on dog-watching mode. I noticed he did it more when things were a little chaotic. You know, kids running around, the TV blaring, that kinda stuff. Seemed like when there was a lot going on, he'd try to shield his eyes. It's like he was trying to block out all the extra stimulation. Makes sense, right? Too much noise and movement can be overwhelming.

So, I tried to recreate the scenario. I turned on the TV super loud and started waving my hands around (yeah, I looked like a total idiot). Sure enough, Max went straight for the couch and started burying his face. Bingo! I think he really was trying to get away from all the craziness. It’s like when you’ve had a long day and just wanna shut out the world.

Then I started thinking about when else he does it. Sometimes, if I'm scolding him (which I hate doing, but ya know, sometimes he deserves it), he'll do the same thing. It's like he's ashamed or embarrassed. Like a kid covering their face when they've done something wrong. So, I tried play-scolding him, just a little "no, no" and a gentle point. And yep, he'd try to hide his eyes again. Poor guy! It seems like he's definitely got some feelings about it.

But here's the kicker. Sometimes, when I'm giving him a lot of love and scratches, he'll do it too! It’s weird, right? Like he doesn't know how to handle the affection. So I figured maybe he's just associating covering his face with getting attention. I mean, dogs are smart; they pick up on patterns. So, I started giving him extra praise and treats when he wasn't covering his eyes while getting love. Slowly, he started doing it less often in those situations.

The last thing I experimented with was the tired thing. I noticed when he's super sleepy, he'll kinda rub his eyes with his paws before conking out. So, I tried to tire him out with a long walk and a good play session. Then, when he was clearly ready for a nap, I watched him. Sure enough, the little eye-rubbing thing happened right before he passed out. It's like we rub our eyes when we're tired, same deal!

Here's the takeaway:

• Too much stimulation? Eyes covered.
• Feeling ashamed? Eyes covered.
• Maybe wanting attention? Eyes covered.
• Just plain tired? Eyes covered.

So, yeah, that's my little experiment. It seems like there's not just one reason why dogs cover their eyes, but it's usually tied to either feeling overwhelmed, emotional, or just plain sleepy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go give Max some love (without him covering his eyes, hopefully!).