21 Wholesome Habits that Make Our Darling Dog Children Ridiculously Happy

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jul 30, 2026 11:30 AM EDT

Habits are what make up the majority of our lives. Whether it is exercising, going to work, reading or scrolling, we all have our own little habits that make us happy in life. So why would we not want to share them with our canine children and share with them the joy of bringing a little bit more brightness into each and every day?

After all, if there is one thing that we can all agree that our doggos are responsible for in our lives, it is to bring us joy. Whether it be a wag of the tail, a sweet little smile or even just their clumsy calamitous nature, they light up our daily lives just by being there. And in return much of our efforts as pawrents are based on making them as happy as they make us, so it is only natural that we should seek out habits and rituals to enjoy with our puppers that create a daily source of doggo delight.

So to get you started and give you a few ideas of what kind of cute happiness habits you can build with your pupper we made this collection of pawrent suggestion filled with the very sweetest and emotionally endearing ideas. From the pawrents who put their dog child to bed complete with body pillow and tucking in, to the pawrents who introduced toothpaste time to get their puppers to clean their teeth, to the dog who loves nothing more than having the bed made for them so they can mess it all up again. We hope you find a happiness habit to try out with your pup.
 

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  • 01
    "The last piece of my cheese stick is like his Holy Grail."
    via Necroses

    Black and white dog standing in red paddling pool in gardne smiling next to piece of cheese

    Dog represented by model

  • 02
    margaritari4 My dog has to sit and wait while I pour his food. Ever since he was a puppy he's been such a good boy and just stares at me drooling until I say "OK!" and he can eat. A few months ago | started giving him a little kiss on his forehead between "wait" and "ok." Now if I forget the forehead kiss before saying "ok", he won't go to his food. He stares at me confused and hurt until I give him his kiss
    via Necroses
  • 03
    swarleyknope As soon as we get back from our evening walk, my dog goes from the front door straight to the back door so he can sit on a chair on the patio and just enjoy the night air. Even if I have stuff I need to get done or the weather isn't great, I'll set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes and just sit with him out there.
    via Necroses
  • 04
    Cheezburger Image 10649606400
    via Okceles
  • 05
    PegFam She gets a pumpkin puree spoon before we go to bed. She waits in the kitchen for us to finish cleaning up and do dishes, I give her a spoon and then we go to bed for the night. She's usually standing around and following me if I forget. She knows the word pumpkin lol
    via Necroses
  • 06
    janesfilms Our senior yorkie loved watching Bluey. Every evening we put it on and had a cuddle watching Bluey.
    via Necroses

  • Oh that is so precious. Doggos love routine as it is and you can see it in their walkies and feeding times. They know when they are due (sometimes down to the minute) and they will nag us and pester us until we make good. Not because they want to annoy us, but because they are that darn excited for them. So it only makes sense to add things that can be repeated at the same time and place each day, like watching your pup’s favorite television show together. Throw in a bucket of dog safe popcorn and we are in. 
     

  • 07
    Cheezburger Image 10649606912
    via Okceles
  • 08
    Corkydorky69 The last bite of my cheese stick is like his Holy Grail
    via Necroses
  • 09
    rovemovelove Couch time. Whenever anyone comes into the house, she has created a rule that everyone has to get on the couch and all pet her/coo/be excited all together on the couch. She enforces this by not greeting people at the door, but from three feet away, then jumping onto the couch, sitting upright, and holding her front arms out to await pets. It is so f. Ing cute and hysterical to us but we indulge her every time and make all our friends do it now too.
    via Necroses
  • 10
    Cheezburger Image 10649607168
    via Okceles
  • 11
    [deleted] My dog has acid reflux and gets bu ped like a baby, with a back rub after every meal. She'll come looking for me around the house once she finishes her food.
    via Necroses
  • 12
    richweirdos We live on a few acres and the far back corner of our property is marked with an orange cone. My dogs absolutely LOVE to "go to the cone". There's nothing special about that corner of the property, but for some reason my dogs think it's the greatest privilege ever to walk out there and back with me. I'll just ask "do you want to go to the cone?", and my dogs lose their minds.
    via Necroses
  • 13
    Cheezburger Image 10649606656
    via Okceles
  • 14
    aunt-jackie I sing a little song and say "Coffee-cuddle time!". I drink my morning coffee in an armchair while my senior pup sits on my lap. It's the only time of day he sits on me, and if I forget to lift him up and go on my phone instead, he will paw at my leg to say "woah I think that's a coffee you have there, u know the drill!"
    via Necroses

  • This is so sweet and is a similar example to a lot of these suggestions which build a routine of sorts. Not to mention that it is sweet as pie that after several hours of sleeping you would start yours and your pupper’s day with some intimate cuddle time. The pawfect way to rekindle your connection as the day gets going and to let your doggo know that you love them just as much as you did the day before, if not even more so. We just hope that this pupper goes easy on the coffee, we cannot imagine caffeine being all too healthy for doggos…
     

  • 15
    Porch Dogs we do not go to sleep without TWO good night minature marshmallows served after the dogs get in bed and right before I do.
    via Necroses
  • 16
    Cheezburger Image 10649606144
    via Okceles
  • 17
    heartisallwehave My dog isn't a big cuddler but we have a bedtime ritual. He has 2 throw pillows on his bed, so once he's laying down, we arrange the pillows for him (one under his head, and the other is like a mini body pillow so we tuck that in between his legs so he's spooning it). If it's winter, he gets tucked in under a blanket. And then he gets a little rubdown of his ears, stretch out his limbs and give the joints a massage. He'll just be laying there with a little grin on his face throu
    via Necroses
  • 18
    draconiclyyours • 10mo ago "Toothpaste time" for sure. We give our dogs OraVet chews (which are fr amazing, highly recommend!), and the lunacy that ensues every night at "toothpaste time" makes me think there might be crack in them.
    via Necroses
  • 19
    Cheezburger Image 10649605888
    via Okceles
  • 20
    Kharrissma Letting him bring me my hair clip. Im dis bled and nothing is higher value to him than my hair clip. He will ignore all treats to retrieve that hair clip and come lay on my lap with it. He is such a special boy.
    via Necroses
  • 21
    Becciusmaximus Making the bed. She gets so hype and jumps all over the bed and moves the pillows around. 10/10 best worst helper ever.
    via Necroses
  • 22
    Cheezburger Image 10649605632
    via Okceles
  • 23
    Owlex23612 My dog loves to spoon. When we crawl into bed at the end of the night, she always lies down on my left side. Then she chooses whether she wants to be the big spoon or the little spoon. She used to exclusively like being the big spoon, but lately she's been enjoying being the little spoon.
    via Necroses
  • 24
    Mercybby Pickle time! Well, really a cucumber. She has always been oddly obsessed with cucumbers. She gets one mini muncher cucumber a day.
    via Necroses
  • 25
    Cheezburger Image 10649607424
    via Okceles
  • 26
    PJBOO7 Going to the mailbox with me. It's just to the end of the driveway, but they get to go without a leash and på in the front yard. Front yard peing just hits different
    via Necroses
  • 27
    deardinah83 My boy has to be scrubbed with the towel before entering the house. Doesn't matter if he's dirty or not. He just adores a rub a dub! Even if I've walked him in the house, he'll wait by the door until I let him back out only to turn around and wait for me to get his towel.
    via Necroses
  • 28
    lynn5202 Nightly Family hug routine. At night when my dog is relaxing, you can call him all you want and he acts like he does not hear you. Once we say "family hug time!" he stands up and is all excited, following us into the kids room. His spot is in the middle, sandwiched between the 4 of us.
    via Necroses
  • 29
    Cheezburger Image 10649607680
    via Okceles
  • 30
    Particular_Excuse... We usually fill our dog's bowl from the kitchen faucet, but at bedtime he sits outside the upstairs bathroom because he wants water out of the bathroom sink. So we keep a bowl in there just for that purpose and he acts like upstairs water is a treat.
    via Necroses
  • 31
    Amazing-Banana • 10mo ago When I make my lunch for work in the morning my two (German shepherd and a mini schnauzer) sit and wait for cheese and deli meat tax. It makes me smile so much because they don't eat a lot of table scraps and this is our little routine
    via Necroses

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advice children dogs habits happy happy dog make ridiculous dog photos wholesome dog reddit thread
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