My dog Honey is the perfect size. Her head lies right where my hand falls when I walk.
But wait. Doesn’t that mean she’s always staring at my knees?
I need to remember to get down on my dog’s level sometimes.
It isn’t true for all dogs, but my dog definitely likes to make eye contact.
Sometimes I realize how often I’m looming over her.
- I bend over to scratch her ears.
- She walks by my side on leash.
- I sit up high on the couch reading while she lies down.
No wonder she always comes over to cuddle when I’m sorting laundry.
You see, I sit on the floor to organize my laundry before taking it down to wash. And every time, without fail, Honey comes over and gets right in my face.
It’s one of the rare times I’m sitting on the floor at perfect cuddle height.
Another trick that works well if you live with a tiny dog is to play with your dog on the bed while you’re standing beside it. It gives even a little dog a chance to look you in the eye or play without straining his neck up at you.
Honey loves playing tug on the bed. I suspect she thinks I do a better job when I’m standing at the same height as her (we have a very tall bed).
And while I’m fixing up the house and spending lots of time on a ladder, it’s more important than ever that I remember to get down on my dog’s level. After all, she’s willing to stoop to mine all the time.
Your Turn: Do you think you dog cares if you get down to his or her level? If so, how do you do it?
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I never thought about this, but Sally used to freak out if we ever went up on the ladder…she hated it. And Jack, so soon as I sit on the ground anywhere, the floor of the house, or outside, he is right there on top of me.
LOL! Getting down on my dog’s level is a lot harder with corgis 😉 Handing out training treats results in a tired back for me! My agility instructor is always telling me to stand (run) more upright because after years of owning corgis, I’m permanently bent over.
Also in agility, we are always told to walk the course from our dog’s eye level because what they see and what we see are often quite different!
We are always bending down to cuddle the dog. And if I’m on the bed, he puts his chin on the bed and waggles his eyebrows until I invite him up.
But the cutest “same level play” I ever saw occurred between a black lab mix and a Yorkie. We put the Yorkie on the bed, where he ran back and forth, while the lab “chased” him. They were having so much fun, and it was more adorable than you can imagine.
I had never given any thought to getting to my dog’s level. Our younger dog, Zach, takes care of this himself: when we are seated in the living room, he will jump up and put his front half on our laps, leaving his back legs on the ground. (We call him a half-lap dog). In this way, his head is level with ours and he cuddles with us.
Our older dog, Duster, doesn’t get face time unless I happen to sit on a small stool to perform some task. I will make a point of doing this every day, just for him. Thanks for this.
Crazy confessions! Once Harley became the only four legged family member, I thought he might miss having someone at his level, so I actually started sitting on the floor more because of that. I just thought it would help him not miss Leo so much.
Mom spends a lot of time on the floor at our level sitting with us, playing, or lying down with us in front of the fireplace. We do enjoy it now that you mention it.
I often am at Blueberry’s level – she’s on the bed with me, we are at eye level in the car, when hiking, I will sit on the ground or a rock. She loves it all. Although she is so submissive/sweet, she will often bow her head and rest it against my arm or chest so she isn’t quite at eye level.
I’m always sitting on the floor to play with the dogs. I think they like it and they know when I do that my attention is 100% on them.
Monty and Harlow
My dogs have a cute way of rolling over onto their bags and wagging their tails while their wiggling their bodies, it’s an invitation to come down on the floor and interact. We always do. 🙂
I spend a lot of time on the floor with Haley and she loves it. The only downside is when I’m trying to exercise and she thinks it’s playtime, lol! I think yoga would be out of the question, since it’s hard to relax and focus when someone is growling and pushy a squeaky toy at you.
Torrey loves it when i sit on the floor, she is right there. Roxy is always on the couch, so we are pretty even anyway.
Wow. I never thought about Milo’s perspective before. No wonder he gives cuddles and happy kisses when momma sits on the floor.
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When Bd comes to stay I have taken to sitting on the floor with him so we can cuddle as he doesn’t always want to cuddle on the settee, and Mity loves nothing more than sitting on the settee when one of us is on the floor so he can look down on us.
I like it when the bipeds get down on the floor for a cuddle.
But when they sit in an armchair their face is on a level with mine if I’m standing, so when I want some attention I stroll up and put my face in theirs!
If you get down on the floor around here, that means you’re fair game for being mauled! 🙂