It’s cute when the dog does it

Have you ever noticed that things that make you absolutely crazy when people do them are adorable when the dog does it? Your dog or any dog, it doesn’t really matter. Things that would normally get on your last nerve transform dramatically when it’s your dog.

For instance

Snoring is a big one. We have a dear friend who snores like a freight train. We shared a room with her on a trip once. Never again. It was maddening. 

But on the occasions when our dogs snore, we stop and listen and think they couldn’t possibly be more endearing. It doesn’t happen all the time, even with short-faced dogs. But when it does, we stop and appreciate the homey, comforting sound.

Other emanations

There are interesting sounds that issue from both ends of dogs. Among humans, they’d be embarrassing and dismissed with a muttered “Excuse me,” if acknowledged at all. When the dog does it, it’s not exactly cute, but nowhere near as bad as people. Sometimes, if it’s a particularly notable report, it even gets a giggle. And we haven’t been in grade school in forever. 

Even a burp, coming from your dog, is cute. Especially if they’re surprised by it, too. The look on their face when they realize it came from their mouth is astonishment, mixed with a touch of pride, we think.

Table manners

Of course, dogs have no table manners whatsoever. At least ours don’t. We’ve heard tell of dogs that politely pick up one mouthful of food at a time, chew it, swallow, then reach for another. We’ve never witnessed that dog behavior. By the time we’re done putting down bowls, the first one is already empty. Which, of course, is why all that burping happens.

They’re also sloppy as all get out. Since part of our dogs’ food is soft food, it gets all over. And while we’d resent the amount of clean-up if a person ate like that, we’re totally okay with the dogs smearing food all over. We even get satisfaction knowing they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pushy, aren’t they?

And going back to the sleeping issue, aside from the snoring, there’s also the poking and crowding. While only a couple of our dogs have been blanket-thieves, all of them stretch their legs and poke us at night. Or snuggle closer. Again and again, until you only have a few measly inches for you. If a person did that, you’d call them out. Since it’s your dog, you get mushy over how cuddly they are and curl around them. Or shove them back over to their side. Multiple times every night.

Depends who’s doing it

The only humans who get away with being simultaneously rude and cute are children. Especially if they’re your own. You expect your two-legged dependents to grow out of the rude, messy behavior. You know your dogs won’t. So they get a free pass on all kinds of things. Just because they’re so darned cute.