Dog Avoiding Eye Contact? Understand Why Here

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Dog Suddenly Wont Look At Me

Dog Suddenly Wont Look At Me: Dogs love attention almost as they love food, but imagine a situation whereby the dog doesn’t seem to give a hoot about your attention and suddenly refuses to look at you.

Sometimes, our pooch can be curve balls; hard to understand, but in this post, ill unravel why your dog doesn’t want to look at you suddenly.

My Dog Suddenly Wont Look At MeDog Suddenly Wont Look At Me

Below is part some of the numerous reasons why your dog would suddenly refuse eye contact with you.

Medical issues

The health of your dog is the first thing you want to consider, as our toddlers, health problems can interfere with how they coordinate their behaviors.

Problems with the eyes such as infection, glaucoma, and cataracts may have their share in making your dog look away from you as a result of the discomfort it’ll be causing them. Hence, making eye contact may seem like a big deal for them, so, it’ll be better if they don’t use them.

Neurological issues can also play a role. Rabies and infection of your pooch’s ear can influence your dog’s strange behavior. Infection does stir a lot of discomfort and even causes the dog’s ears to droop.

Fear

Love hormones are released when humans make eye contact. Dogs also release a similar hormone when making eye contact with humans. If there is a strong bond between a dog and its owner, the dog will feel happier looking into their eyes. However, if the bond is weak, eye contact may lead to discomfort for the dog, and they may prefer to look away instead.

Guilt

Despite how you train a dog, you can never take away their mischievousness. Dogs will frequently get into trouble, either chewing your shoes, breaking something, or eating what it wasn’t asked to eat. Dogs feel guilt and will fear the consequences of their actions, hence, they will avoid eye contact as much as they can.

Your dog’s guilt could explain why they suddenly started avoiding eye contact with you. Beyond avoiding eye contact, the dog will temporarily relocate to another room and give a guilty face if you even get anywhere close.

This is just a reaction to its perception of you being angry and disappointed and a dog’s wisdom way of quelling the tension his act must have created.

Issues with how you must have trained him

Training a dog and ensuring early socialization is what determines the interaction between you and your dog. The absence of proper socialization can leave your dog in the dark when it comes to knowing what to do or expect in certain situations. Since eye communication is peculiar to us humans, dogs may not be aware of this if they aren’t socialized properly. Another perspective is that your dog will avoid eye contact with you if it associates looking at you with a negative experience such as punishment. If you were the dog, what better way would you be able to avoid punishment?

Anxiety

Many factors such as fear and anxiety can influence your dog’s behavior.

Anxiety could creep in from a host of sources such as sudden loud noises, moving into a new environment, the presence of new people, or introduction of new pets in the house, or a sudden change in your dog’s daily routine. Avoiding eye contact is just the way they can avoid their anxieties.

Should you be worried if your dog suddenly stops making eye contact?

If a dog avoids eye contact, it’s normal. It usually only lasts a short time. It happens more if the bond between you and the dog is weak. Even if the bond is strong, a dog might still avoid eye contact if it’s uncomfortable. Don’t try to force it in these cases.

Your dog may be scared of you if it avoids eye contact. Dogs understand body language, so your actions or words might be causing this fear. If your dog is always submissive, it may be in a constant state of panic and fear. This can make it harder to train or communicate with your dog since eye contact is important for learning and trying new things. Another area we can look into is the area of your dog being shy. This is funny but yea, it happens! And in cases like this, you need to train and encourage them with affection.

How to teach your dog to make eye contacts

You can train your dog to make eye contact. It’s better to do it when they’re young. Puppies learn faster. Find a quiet place with no distractions to train them. This helps them focus.

The next step is to get your dog’s attention. Peanut butter treats or toys can be very effective in getting your dog’s attention. Hold up the treat to your face, when the dog looks at you, say “good” or “Yes” and give the treats and toys when your dog successfully looks at your human face.

Repeat the process and gradually increase the time your dog looks at you before rewarding them. Use a verbal cue like “look” or “Watch me” to associate eye contact with the command. Practice in different environments with varying distractions to improve eye contact in challenging situations.

Dog Suddenly Wont Look At Me

Final Thoughts

Be patient when dealing with a dog that stops looking at you. Figure out why it’s happening and fix it if it’s your fault. If it continues, ask a vet or animal behaviorist for help.

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