The dogs are the stars of the show during this challenge.
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Of course, if you have a dog at home, you may also want to see if you can get them to get in on the fun. Keep reading to learn more about the “hands in” challenge, as well as what it means if your doggo has been raising their paws or reaching out to touch you before you even showed them this trick.
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The viral “hands in” challenge shows pet parents and their pups in a sweet moment.
While it's unclear exactly who started the challenge, plenty of people have gotten on board with the idea. Essentially, the “hands in” challenge involves putting your hand on top of another person's hand in front of your dog. If your pooch puts their paw up top of yours, you've completed the challenge. As you can imagine, this trend has produced some pretty cute results, which can easily be viewed by searching “hands in challenge” on TikTok.
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And while I do love watching the dogs that immediately get in on the fun, seeing the ones that look confused or who get it wrong
— like TikToker @fluffystormyy's big dog, who missed the memo and decided to adorably put a paw on the head of his furry little sibling instead — are almost as good!
Why do dogs lift one paw?
According to the folks behind the Dogster blog, there are a few reasons why a dog may lift one paw, including:
- Stress
- Uncertainty or fear
- As part of hunting instincts
- An injury
- Appeasement (to avoid conflict, especially with another dog)
Of course, these reasons only explain why your dog may lift their paw unprompted, which is a lot different than what is going on in the TikTok videos where the dogs appear to be mimicking their human parents.
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Why do dogs put their paws on you?
According to Southern Living magazine, if your dog is putting their paw on you, it may be because they're trying to tell you something. The outlet says that dogs may be reaching out to touch you to show affection, let you know they're hungry, or because they need something. This may include them walking up and putting their paw on you while you're seated, or interrupting you with a slight tap while you're doing something else.
As for why so many dogs are so eager to take part in this challenge, well, I tend to think it has more to do with affection than stress. Almost all of the videos shared on TikTok appear to include happy humans gushing over their four-legged fur babies as they wait to see if they'll copy the gesture, something that appears to produce plenty of smiles and wagging tails from everyone involved.
