Why Do Dogs Shake Their Leg When You Scratch Them
Camila Farah
Kind of like you do.
It s a completely involuntary reaction which explains why your dog may look as puzzled as you do when it starts to happen. Occasionally your dog may kick her legs when she has an itch she can t reach on her leg or another part of the body. 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. This is why the scratch reflex appears to only occur in vertebrate animals.
The scratch reflex redux. These kicks caused by the belly scratch look like a running or swimming motion. What happy dog doesn t love a good belly rub. It is a uncontrollable reaction that is the way a dog scratches itself and when you scratch their tummys it feels so good to them that they feel like they just have to help.
And what happens when you scratch sometimes your dog s back leg starts to shake or kick. Well it isn t so mysterious. Not all cases of kicking are caused by the scratch reflex. For most the belly is a favorite from the smallest to the largest dogs it s true.
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If the kicking is only periodic your dog may be trying to redirect the location of your scratching or indicate that you ve hit a sore spot. Dogs shake or kick their legs when you scratch them because of something known as the scratch reflex. Dogs shake or kick their legs when you scratch them because of something known as the scratch reflex. This is why you can sometimes see a dog kicking their back legs while they are asleep giving the impression they are dreaming of running.
When your dog moves her leg when you scratch her it s called a scratch reflex. The kicking motion is involuntary caused by nerves connected to your dog s spinal cord. The scratch reflex also occurs during rest. The nerves relay a message to his leg muscles to kick and jerk in an attempt to get rid of an irritant.
When you scratch or tickle your dog s belly it irritates him much the same way that the wind or a bug might. Most pet owners will agree that their pets love being scratched. They all have their favorite spots. All the answers are good and it is a reflex sort of but mostly because if they could reach that spot they would do it themselves.
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