Sometimes, you feel surprised to see your dog making nests or beds for them. Their little act puts a smile on your face. But, have you wondered why they do such things, or are they just following your rituals to make beds?
Dogs sometimes feel the need to get comfortable or want to have a good sleep, or it might be their obnoxious mind gets the best of them and they don’t want to feel bothered.
In this blog, we will provide you with some possible insights into why they behave this way or how you would get the signs of dogs making nests. Keep reading and learn their suppressed behavior.
7 Reasons Dogs Feel The Need To Make Nests
Sometimes, dogs try to make nests at home even though they live with humans. Basically, they don’t need to build nests if they are staying with people.
But sometimes, that kind of behavior appears without any specific reason. In that moment, don’t try to stop them. Try to study them, and if nothing serious is wrong, then enjoy their cute act.
However, there are some possible reasons they have the urge to make nests or their own places for themselves. Keep reading the reasons and notice your dog’s unusual behavior.
1. Feels Secure
Everyone wants to feel secure, even if that is considered just a little space. Dogs sometimes may feel the need to be secured and safe in their places. They have the tendency to follow their wolf ancestors. Dogs might get a sense of security from unrecognized threats. Sometimes, living with humans also makes them follow this behavior to make their own bed, not to be disturbed and have their own toys to make them secure.
2. Get Comfortable
Living with humans doesn’t require making a nest. But sometimes, dogs might feel alone or not want to be disturbed during bedtime. Some dogs might have the habit of making nests and heading down under blankets, or some dogs may not feel comfortable around the house, so they might make nests to make themselves comfortable.
3. Hypothyroidism
That is the main reason to make your dogs think they are pregnant. A thyroid hormone deficiency causes phantom pregnancy by building up in dogs’ senses of erratic estrus cycles. That results in thinking of a fake pregnancy.
During that situation, in order to protect their puppies, they try to make nests. They get comfortable within their nests.
4. Pregnancy
If you have a female dog, then there is a possible chance for her to be pregnant. So, when this behavior shows up, don’t be surprised. It is normal for a mother dog to want to get a safe spot/area for their newborn puppies. When they get pregnant, they might sometimes feel tired, so they seek out to make nests.
If other signs show up, get your vet just to be sure. Your vet can prescribe for your dog to follow some instructions to keep them healthy.
5. Get Injured
Normalize the fact that when dogs are in physical pain, they are to be left alone to rest. We, as human beings who go through some emotional or physical pain, intend to be left alone. The same thing happens to dogs; they don’t want to get disturbed when they feel hurt or injured. Until they get well, they might feel the need to make nests. So, when they do this, don’t scold them until they dismantle your staff.
6. Transitioning to new environments
Getting into new environments also makes them think about making nests. Some dogs might fear new environments, so they get a sense of security to protect themselves. So, they sometimes try to circle around or dig the floor around the blanket. In order to get comfortable in new situations, they try to make nests.
7. Instinct
Some dogs have a natural instinct to make nests. Their natural instinct is to make nests because their ancestor used to do such things. Digging soils to make holes for their living is wolves most natural instinct to build nests for themselves. That is also the reason why dogs sometimes try to make nests for themselves. They sometimes feel uncomfortable in new surroundings, so they try to make nests. During sleep time, they circle around the blanket to get comfy.
Signs of Dogs Making Nests
There are several signs dogs make their nests. However, it might be confusing to some people. However, some common signs will help you understand their nesting behavior thoroughly.
If your dog shows up with the following signs, then they are trying to make nests:
Gathers Materials: Most times, dogs try to move their staff, such as blankets, pillows, or clothing items, to make nests.
Scratches and Digs up: If your dog tries to scratch things or digs up the floors and beds, they might want to make nests for them.
Shred Blankets: Shredding blankets is one of the signs they are trying to make their own places. Sometimes, they try to scratch blankets or circle around the blankets in order to make a home or nest.
Solutions for This Behavior
It is not something serious to get worried about or to burst out of your pretty head. Sometimes, they want to be alone. Sometimes, your dog just wants to be comfortable or wants to have alone time like us. Living with humans makes them think this way.
But if your dog is suddenly behaving this way, you might want to see your vet. It is better to check up on your dog. Whether it is just a silly matter or something serious, you need to be sure. If anything serious, your vet will examine your dog’s behavior and provide some exercise or medication.
Is It Good or Bad?
No, it’s not a bad habit for your dogs to behave this way. But, sometimes, they might want to get their own places or have some spaces for them. However, it may depend on the dog’s condition or habituation situation.
Not all the dogs would want to make nests. Sometimes physical pain, moving into new places, or anxiety make them think about making nests for themselves. Sometimes, spayed dogs think they are having puppies, and they need to feel to protect their newborn puppies.
When to Get Worried?
There is no need to get worried if your dog shows nesting behavior. Though nesting sometimes feels overwhelming, things can get messy in the house. When they do this, don’t get mad at them. Scolding them may make them feel down, and they might be distant from you.
If their nesting behavior starts to make you feel overwhelmed, then contact your vet as soon as possible. They will provide some exercises to resolve this problem.
Conclusions
Nesting is normal for birds but when we notice something like this in dogs we get surprised. But that is also natural for dogs as well. They sometimes feel they have their own spaces or make nests to get cozy and feel secure.
Sometimes they feel physical pain, anxiety or feel insecure that might inspire them to make nests for themselves. However, this kind of behavior happens in dogs,so there is nothing to be worried about. But if this kind of behavior continues then you should contact your vet. Your dog might be experiencing fake pregnancy situations. Some exercises can easily solve them. Your vet will provide you with the best solutions for your dog.
