Imagine for a moment… you’re sitting and enjoying a nice cup of tea, fully absorbed in your new book. Maybe you’ve been putting off work and finally have a little quiet time to really focus. Then it happens, behind you a tiny squeak emerges from your pooch’s favorite toy. You ignore it and hope it goes away, but then another squeak is released, and another, until finally it’s a level 5 squeak assault on your ears and any hopes of concentration you once had are gone.

Have you ever wondered why your pup loves the noisiest toy? Certainly it can’t be just to disrupt their owners’ precious quiet time. As it turns out, there are a few reasons why your dog will choose the noise maker over his other quiet toys. So why do dogs like squeaky toys?

One theory suggests that since our pups are (possibly) ancestors of wolves, the noise their toys give off causes their natural prey drive to emerge. The squeaks and sounds coming from toys often mimic the sounds of scared or injured prey animals, and it’s in your dog’s basic instincts to react to these sounds.

Once the toy has been destroyed or the squeaker inside removed, your pup may lose interest in it, as the prey is now “dead”. You may be thinking “no way, not my sweet pup, she’s a lover, not a killer!” But hey, instincts are instincts, and you can’t fight nature!

Another theory says your puppers’ reaction to the noises in their toy is simply a cause and effect scenario. When your pup bites down or squeezes their toy, a sound is immediately produced. This triggers their reward center and causes pleasant feelings in their brain, and they are encouraged to keep squeezing.

Whatever the reason behind the noise, it’s totally natural for your pooch to love their squeakiest, loudest toys, even if their hoomans do not.

Sources: WiseGeek, PetMeds