Why does my dog always have to grab a toy whenever someone comes to the door. He doesn't really want to play?

Question

My dog always grabs a toy (or a sock...) whenever someone comes to the door. He always seems to need to be holding something in his mouth, during these situations. He doesn't want to play with it at that time, he just likes holding on to something.

Answer 1

He wants to look cute for the visitors.

Answer 2

I think it's either a comfort thing, like a kid with a security blanket, or he's showing off ... "hey you! look what I have! pay attention to me!"

My mom's greyhound refueses to go outside to use the bathroom without dragging along one of his "babies" - a stuffed toy that I usually wind up carrying!

Answer 3

it is the sign of a well adjusted dog.  Many trainers will tell you to train your dog if he is a barker or a jumper to take a toy instead to stop the negative behavior.  

Answer 4

attention!!!!!

Answer 5

obsessive compulsive disorder.

Answer 6

He just gets excited.  My older dog does the same thing; it actually seems to redirect her energy a bit.  If she doesn't have something in her mouth she seems to get overly excited, jumping and barking at us.

Answer 7

What kind of dog is he?

I've noticed it is common in retrievers to do this! Both of mine (a lab and a chessie) reach for whatever is the closest object when they get excited.

He's just excited =]

Answer 8

This was a good question, I was hoping to learn something.  My dogs bring their toys to the doors and windows and drop them there when we leave the house.  When we come home we find little piles of toys waiting for our return.  Maybe they are just nervous, or maybe they are bringing your guest a toy to make them feel welcome.  

Answer 9

Well, I'm not sure exactly "why" but my mom's sheltie always picks up a toy when he starts barking. Maybe it's because when he was a puppy and would continuously bark, someone would give him a bone or toy to occupy himself. Or maybe he gets really nervous and holding the toy makes him feel secure. Those were the conclusions we came to about our dog, and he still does it at 10 yrs old. LoL  

Answer 10

Mabey because he's had some kind of weird personal experience in his past, I mean dogs do that sometimes. Mabey you should experiment with your little doggie friend, and see why he does that. be a super-sleuth, lol. Or mabey he's lonely, and he seriously wants to play, but feels too tired half-way.