Dog trainer explains what it means when pets ‘show you’ things

Your dog isn’t bringing you a random item in its mouth just to show it to you, according to a pet expert.

We’re a nation of dog lovers. In fact, according to a 2024 survey, around 36% of households in the UK have at least one dog, which is around 13.5 million households.

But how well do we actually know our furry friends? It turns out that dogs – as with all animals – have particular ways of expressing themselves that we might not know about. You might know the basics – a wagging tail means your dog is happy, while a snarl might mean you need to back off. But there are some more complicated signs many of us are clueless about.

For example, what does it mean when your dog picks up a random item in its mouth and carries it over to you?

Dogs are known to do this regularly, and many of us brush it off as them wanting to play, especially if the item they pick up is a toy. But according to a dog trainer on social media, there’s something more going on in your dog’s brain.

Howl School for Dogs reposted a video on TikTok filmed by a woman taking a bath. During her bath, her dog – Lucy – continually walked in and out of the room with a different item in her mouth each time – from a bottle of juice to an ice cube tray.

And while the woman in the original clip thought her dog was just showing her things while she was bathing, dog trainer Kerry insisted the pooch could actually be feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

She said: “I just thought I’d jump on because I keep seeing people say, ‘Oh the dog’s carrying this over to show me.’ They’re not actually doing that. What they’re doing is they’re holding objects to manage their big feelings.”

Kerry explained dogs often do this when a visitor comes to your home, as the presence of a new person can make them feel anxious, and holding something can help ground them.

She continued: “They’re doing a really intelligent thing. They’re managing the big feelings that they’re having by holding objects in their mouth.

“With this dog here, their human is in the bath so they might be feeling some big feelings around that – a bit of frustration, maybe a bit of anxiety, a bit of worry. So they’re managing that by holding things in their mouth and carrying it in and out of the room.”

In the caption of the video, Kerry explained that “big feelings” can include emotions like excitement as well as negative ones such as stress, worry, and anxiety.

Commenters on the video largely agreed with Kerry over her assessment of the dog’s behaviour. Many said that their pooches do similar things to help calm themselves down.

One person said: “One of my dogs does this more for excitement, the other for anxiety, but both do it for big feelings.”

Another added: “My dog holds her stuffed animal when she gets excited from something on the TV.”