Why Do Dogs Kick Their Legs When You Scratch Them
Olivia Luz
I just wanted to know why my puppy teddy did it.
Nerves under the skin connected to the spinal cord relay a message to your dog s leg to kick without it having to pass through the brain. If we are not doing this but we see the dog scratching it may be because of an itch. When your pet kicks in response to a scratch it looks pretty funny to us right. When we are scratching or petting a dog they may activate the scratch reflex and it will usually end when we stop petting.
Dogs shake or kick their legs when you scratch them because of something known as the scratch reflex. Dogs generally do like to get scratched but you need to also keep an eye on the dog s mood to know for sure. You know when your scratching a dogs back or tummy or whatever and you hit the spot they really like and they start to kick their leg fast like they can t help it. Every dog may not necessarily have the same sweet spot.
It doesn t hurt your pup and she s not trying to tell you to stop scratching. The kicking motion is involuntary caused by nerves connected to your dog s spinal cord. It s the same type of involuntary movement that occurs when the doctor knocks your knee to see if your leg jumps. It activates nerves under his skin that are connected to his spinal cord and relays a message to his leg muscles to kick in an attempt to get rid of the irritant.
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The main reason dogs kick their legs when you pet them is simply because of the scratch reflex which occurs when you re scratching your dog on his sweet spot. Actual scratching is an active response of the dog to combat an itch or irritation of the skin. If you notice most of the time they kick when you scratch a certain spot. The scratch reflex may have an adaptive purpose of ridding the animal from fleas or other dangerous parasites in an area the flanks that isn t highly mobile as say the tail or the dog s front or hind legs.
The nerves relay a message to his leg muscles to kick and jerk in an attempt to get rid of an irritant. Why do they do it.
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