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Behavior

Why Do Dogs Do Tippy Taps? [Dog Facts]

Why Do Dogs Do Tippy Taps? [Dog Facts]
Photo by Michael Oxendine / Unsplash

Dogs are angels on earth, our daily dose of happiness and they amaze us with their intelligence and affectionate nature. But sometimes they have some unusual behaviors we couldn't explain.

We have all seen all those cute videos and gifs with different pets doing this tippy tap thing when they were happy, excited, or waiting for some treat or ball to play.

I've been curious about tippy taps in dogs and what is the reason for doing this, so I've made some research.

It depends on the dog breed or is it just common behavior dogs and other pets are doing with their paws? Let's find out!

What does tippy tap mean?

Firstly, let's explain what a tippy tap is.  

The tippy taps are the paws movement of the animal, usually seen in baby cats that associate the motion with the nursing time when they're comfortable feeding from their mother.

Or, cats have smell glands on the pads of their paws, so kneading could be another technique for them to scent and claim an area.

For dogs, it is a little bit different.

Why do dogs do tippy tap?

From a small amount of research, dogs of any breed do tippy taps simply because they are excited, happy, or relaxed.

For example, Bentley, an incredible Golden Doodle I've been following on Instagram for a while, is known for his tippy taps. He daily does this with his moose, teddy bear, or another beloved toy anywhere he is enjoying chewing them.

Other reasons for doing tippy-taps are:

  • relaxing
  • self-soothing

We can clearly observe that this happy dog enjoys his toys at a high level from where the tippy taps strike.

There are more well-known tippy taps in dogs that are popular on the internet and one of them is the tippy tap of excitement.

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And if you've been thinking...No, your dog is not broken or suffers from some illness. Your pup is just enjoying some moment or he/she is just very excited - this is the simple reason behind this behavior.

Everyone loves tippy taps! All dogs doing these are simply adorable. So, if you enjoyed this article and you have more info to add, we are open to hearing you!

paw me an email

Paws and love until the next article! 🐾

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