dog Quirks

Question
Hi,
My dog Honey is a sheperd mix and she almost always has the tip of her tongue sticking out mostly when she is relaxing or sleeping. Just curious why she does this.

Answer
I've wondered this, too, as I have had occasional puppies over the years who did this; I have one right now, in fact. Since mine have always outgrown it, I have always thought that it is because their tongues are just a bit too long for the stage that their heads are in at the time. Ears are pretty much done growing by 3-4 months of age; why not tongues?

Try totally relaxing your face as you sit here, letting your jaw gently drop. (Close your eyes; it works better that way.) Where is your tongue? Mine is slightly over my lower teeth<G> We must teach ourselves to reel it in when we close our mouths. Maybe dogs are the same.

Now that I think of it, I did use to have a bitch who kept her tongue out a lot. (Sitting here relaxed with eyes closed seems to trigger memories as I think about this subject...) I remember judges poking at her tongue as they examined her on the table as they tried to see her bite (teeth), and they would tell her to put her tongue back in. I used to say to them that she was just giving her opinion on dog shows<G>