Why Is My Dog Playing With Bugs And Spiders?

How often do you see your dog playing with bugs and spiders, sniffing them, and the next thing you know, your dog is already munching them?

Bugs may be disgusting to most humans, but why do insects attract dogs?

Did you know that dogs eating bugs or spiders is utterly typical?

Yes, it’s not harmful to a dog to devour an insect.

Sometimes, it might be a source of protein in its diet.

It might also be that while we consider dogs munching on tiny little bugs, their intention was only to play with them, and they unintentionally ended up eating them.

Continue reading to learn more about your dog playing with bugs and spiders.

Why Do Dogs Play With Spiders?

There are many reasons why dogs play with spiders.

Although it sounds gross, some dogs do eat spiders.

The main reason it happens is their curiosity to explore new things, play or make new friends.

Some other reasons a dog would want to play with spiders are as follows:

Curiosity To Explore

Dogs tend to be more attentive towards spiders as playthings rather than prey.

Most of the time, they might be trying to track their mysterious webs somewhere around their habitat and swallow them.

In either case, dogs can be attracted to these tiny critters out of a playful desire or curiosity.

While such attraction is typical, ensure your dog hasn’t eaten up a brown recluse or a black widow.

These venomous breeds of spiders can bring on severe harm to your dog.

Visual Attraction

Bearing a dichromatic vision, dogs find shades of red and green as gray.

Whereas dogs most easily identify shades of blue, yellow, and teal.

Therefore, dogs see a world less colorful than humans do.

Dogs find most of the world gray and can only see a few colors.

However, due to pigment granules, spiders appear to be bright yellow and red.

In a gray world, anything that seems different naturally attracts dogs.

Already influenced by their curious nature, dogs tend to play with these colorful little critters crawling around their webs.

Strong Sense Of Smell

If you’re scared of spiders or want to keep them away, your dog can be of great help.

The strong-smelling sense of dogs allows them to be aware of the spider’s presence long before you realize that.

While their olfactory sense navigates them to the spider, they love to investigate their presence.

That is one main reason you will find your dog playing with a spider.

Though a dog’s smelling sense is the strongest among all other creatures, a pet dog might require training for trailing up to the smell of certain insects.

Dogs might point in the direction of the spiders by being in a position with paws up, stiff tails, ears, and nose facing a particular direction.

Or they might even run in their direction.

Can Eating Spiders Harm A Dog?

Although the spiders found in homes are usually harmless, venomous spiders can seriously endanger your pet’s life.

If you catch your pet munching on a spider, you should keep an eye out for any of the following symptoms:

• swelling
• nausea
• fever
• lethargy
• bruising
• skin inflammation

If any of these signs appear, rush to a veterinarian as soon as possible.

Handle your dog with care while carrying it to the vet.

Identifying the kind of spider your dog ingested can be very helpful.

Fortunately, your dog would not be in danger if it ingests a spider or two.

However, look after your pet to protect it from any health hazards.

Why Do Dogs Play With Bugs?

Being humans, we know how big of a gift nature is.

We can keep admiring it all our lives and never get tired of its fascinating hues and beautiful creations.

Bugs, butterflies, and all other tiny insects are just no different.

Dogs find colorful bugs crawling over the ground or flying around their nose too captivating to let go.

That’s probably because of a dog’s curious nature.

They might want to play with or explore them but unintentionally capture and ingest them.

It’s normal for dogs to hunt bugs, for they eat them purely out of curiosity.

They watch these little insects crawling or buzzing around and feel a sudden powerful desire to play with them.

At times, they playfully nip at them or crunch them.

Other times, they savor the taste of a few particular bugs, or they just become fond of the texture of some of them.

Is It Safe For Dogs To Eat Bugs?

As far as you are concerned about your dog eating bugs, be assured that they are safe and healthy until and unless they don’t mistakenly munch on a toxic or dangerous bug or insect, for instance, caterpillars, cockroaches, crickets, fireflies, grubs, and a few others.

Especially keep an eye out for caterpillars because they consume milkweed, which can severely affect your dog’s health and heart.

Also, black flies fly from one place to another and carry all sorts of germs and diseases.

Ants don’t expose dogs to danger. Instead, they are an excellent source of vitamin C.

However, keep an eye out for fire ants.

Eating them can cause your pet to get a gross sting.

It won’t cause any health problems but can be painful in areas like the nose and the mouth.

Conclusion

Dogs are supposed to be the way they are.

It is in their nature to be a bit wild, to feel free, and that’s absolutely nothing to worry about.

You may think it’s gross if your dog is playing with bugs and spiders, but you must remind yourself that your dog is just being playful.

Consuming a bug once in a while will not cause your dog any health problems.

However, regular or massive ingestion might pose some severe digestion and intestinal diseases.

Investing time in training your dog to refrain from playing and eventually eating bugs can be a great idea.

It can save you from the 24/7 monitoring fatigue and, too often, veterinarian visits.

However, if you notice any unusual behavior in your pet or find him sick, visit a vet immediately.

Also, talking to a dog specialist can help you sort out his interests and activities.