# Why does my dog kick his leg?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-kick-his-leg/80346>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 8, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-kick-his-leg/80346 "2001-09-08T03:54:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kevin\_Partida](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Kevin\_Partida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevin_Partida)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-kick-his-leg/80346/1 "2001-09-08T03:54:43Z")

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When I scratch my dog (and many of my friend’s dogs) on the lower back really quickly they tense up and start kicking their hind leg. Why ?

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-kick-his-leg/80346/2 "2001-09-08T04:49:10Z")

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This question has been covered recently. [Why does my dog’s leg shake when I scratch his belly?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=83196)