Why Does My Dog Lay On My Clothes?

Dogs are wonderful pets. Keeping puppies can elevate your mood and make you less lonely. Seeing these canine creatures get excited when you return home from work can significantly reduce your stress levels.

However, keeping dogs require you to do a lot of maintenance. Not only must you feed and clean them appropriately, but you must also take care of the damage they may do around the house. 

Dogs love to lay on your clothes. Due to this, one major problem you have to face is getting rid of dog hair. If your dog is incredibly close to you, it will lie on your clothes. Let’s understand why they lay on your clothes.

Reasons Why Your Dog Lays On Your Clothes

Do you think your dog tends to lay down, particularly on your clothes? You may be right. Dogs tend to lay on their owner’s clothes for several reasons: 

1. Comfort

Dogs lay wherever they are comfortable. Your clothes are a warm, smooth surface for the dog to rest on, and it feels snuggly with your layers. 

Not only are your clothes cozy enough for them to lie down, but they also have your scent, alleviating dogs’ anxieties. They recognize their owner’s scent and feel comforted by it. Their recognition of the clothes belonging to you makes them comfortable!

This is especially true if your dog prefers fresh clothes from the laundry. The dog likes the cozy, snuggly cuddling session with the soft fabric! It also prefers your warmer apparel, like sweaters.

2. Better Sleep

If your dog has no bed, the floor can be hard or cold for them to sleep comfortably. So, they would seek out your clothes for a comfortable and cozy sleep.  

But if you have a dog bed and your dog still prefers your clothes, the problem can be with their bed. It can either be too soft for them or too firm. Changing the bedding can help with the issue.

The bed might also be in a different room. Your dog doesn’t appreciate that: it prefers to stay close to its human! Change its bed to a different location closer to where you sleep. Your dog may also not like the scent of their bedding: it’s far too alien for them compared to your clothes. 

3. Getting Your Attention

Dogs are social creatures and love the attention they get from their owners! They love it when you play with or pet them. Doing so relaxes them and makes them feel loved. 

Dogs understand that when they snuggle with your clothes or lay on them, you will notice them and spend more and more time with them. If your dog lays on your clothes too often, it may feel neglected. In such a case, you must spend as much time as you can with your dog. 

However, it is crucial to train your dog to follow boundaries. For example, have it sit beside you when it wants your attention instead of lying on your clothes. 

4. Showing You Affection

Many times, the reason your dog lays on your clothes is adorable and wholesome: your dog is simply trying to tell you it loves you!

As discussed, dogs are extremely good at recognizing your scent. On average, dogs have about 40 times better sense of smell than humans. Your clothes have your scent, so your dog seeks them out because that smell makes it feel safe. It also reminds it of its home – that it found in you. 

So next time you see your dog cozily snuggling with your clothes, take it as a good sign and know your pup loves you as much as you love it.

5. Separation Anxiety

Dogs show a range of emotions, including separation anxiety. They also miss you and don’t like it when you are away from them for too long. 

If your dog has separation anxiety, they become anxious and distressed if they don’t see you for some time. As they recognize your scent, they look for things that smell like you and thus remind them of you. By recognizing your clothes and lying on them, they feel less distressed.

The science behind that is elementary: by lying on your clothes makes them feel as if they are cuddling you. Cuddling can increase the levels of oxytocin or love hormones, which is good for the dog’s overall well-being!

If your dog has separation anxiety, you must work on alleviating that. This can include gradually increasing the time your dog spends alone and providing positive reinforcement to your dog so it becomes more confident. 

If your pup shows signs of excessive barking or otherwise destructive behavior, you might want to look more into it. 

6. Marking their Territory

Dogs are territorial animals; if they spend much time on your clothes, they could just be marking their territory. If your dog spends too much time on your clothes, it could cause a more significant accumulation of hair. 

Dogs have scent glands in their paws. When they spend time on your clothes, the scent transfers to them and warns other dogs to stay away. 

You can discourage this behavior by giving your dog its territory, like its designated bed. You can also use positive reinforcement to train the dog to lie in its area. 

Conclusion

Dogs are great pets, but it could be annoying to clean dog hairs off your clothes every time. You must first understand why dogs lay on your clothes to eliminate this problem. Dogs prefer your clothes because they are comfortable or because the dog is seeking your attention. The dog could also mark its territory or have separation anxiety in some cases. Understanding such behavior will help you reduce dog hair on your clothes.