---
title: "echar los perros"
translation: "To flirt hard. To make serious moves on someone."
type: "word"
category: "expression"
url: "https://consalsa.app/words/echar-los-perros"
canonical: "https://consalsa.app/words/echar-los-perros"
published: "2026-07-21"
updated: "2026-07-21"
author: "Andrey the Nomad"
site: "ConSalsa.App"
license: "https://consalsa.app/about"
---

# echar los perros
URL: https://consalsa.app/words/echar-los-perros
Translation: To flirt hard. To make serious moves on someone.
Pronunciation: /eˈtʃar los ˈpe.ros/
Category: expression
Region: Mexico, especially CDMX
Register: casual and playful
Variants: echarle los perros, echándole los perros
Literal meaning: To unleash the dogs — setting your charm, persistence, and full pursuit loose on someone.
Tone & safety: Generally playful and understood among friends, but saying it about someone who didn't welcome the attention can sound creepy — context matters a lot.
Published: 2026-07-21

Quick answer:
- Echar los perros means to flirt intensely or make obvious, persistent moves on someone.
- It's casual and common among friends, used to describe your own moves or someone else's — usually with some humor.
- The phrase is playful when the other person is into it; it gets uncomfortable when they're clearly not.

What it means:
- Echar los perros describes the full-commitment version of flirting — not a glance across the room, but sustained attention, little favors, leaning in, making it obvious. The kind of flirting where everyone around you already knows what you're doing before you do.
- It can be used admiringly ('she really went for it'), as a confession ('I was totally laying it on thick last night'), or as gentle teasing between friends watching someone crash and burn at the cantina.

Literal meaning:
- Literally: to unleash the dogs. The image is of releasing hounds in pursuit — once they're loose, they're fully committed, chasing hard, and not stopping until they catch their target.
- In Mexican slang the phrase transferred that energy to romantic pursuit. The 'dogs' are your charm, your attention, your persistence — and echar means to set them free, all at once.

How Mexicans use it:
- In conversation it usually shows up in the past tense ('le eché los perros' — I made my move) or as a command between friends ('¡échale los perros ya!' — just go for it already). It's natural at parties, cantinas, or anywhere the gossip after a night out happens.
- On WhatsApp it's common in the debrief message — 'güey, le eché los perros toda la noche' — usually followed by whether it worked. The phrase travels well in text because it's punchy and self-aware. Everyone knows exactly what you mean.
- Outside CDMX the phrase is understood across Mexico, though you might hear tirar la onda more in Guadalajara and some northern cities for the same idea. In Mexican-American communities the phrase shows up too, usually with the same humorous self-awareness.

Tone and safety:
- The phrase is generally playful and non-threatening when used between friends or to describe a mutual situation. It implies the person doing the pursuing is self-aware — there's almost a wink built into it. That said, context shapes everything: using it to describe someone who wasn't welcoming the attention can make the whole thing sound less charming and more predatory.
- In any setting where you want to stay neutral — work, family, strangers you just met — stick to 'le estaba coqueteando' or simply 'le gustó' (he/she liked them). Those read as observation; echar los perros reads as someone already in the friend group, narrating a story they're probably going to exaggerate.

Common mistake:
- The most common mistake is treating this phrase as equivalent to 'flirting a little.' It's not subtle — echar los perros implies visible, committed effort. Using it to describe a mild smile or a compliment will get you a confused look or a correction from your Mexican friends.
- The other mistake is dropping the indirect object pronoun. In Spanish the phrase almost always runs: 'le eché los perros' (I went for them), 'le estás echando los perros' (you're going for them), 'échale los perros' (go for it). The 'le' is load-bearing — it tells you who the target is. Without it the phrase sounds unfinished.

Examples:
- Le eché los perros toda la noche y al final me dio su número. — I laid it on thick all night and she finally gave me her number.
- ¿Ya le vas a echar los perros o qué? Lleva rato esperándote. — Are you going to make your move or what? He's been waiting around.
- Mi prima le echó los perros al mesero y el tipo ni se dio cuenta. — My cousin was all over the waiter and the guy didn't even notice.
- Güey, ese wey te está echando los perros desde que llegaste. — Dude, that guy has been making moves on you since you got here.

Mini dialogue:
A: ¿Cómo te fue anoche?
B: Le eché los perros como nunca, güey.
A: ¿Y? ¿Qué pasó?
B: Nada. Ni me peló.
A: ¿Cómo que nada? Estuviste ahí toda la noche.
B: Sí, y salió con otro. Así es esto.
A: Ay güey...

FAQ:
Q: What does 'echar los perros' mean in Mexican Spanish?
A: Echar los perros means to flirt hard or make obvious, committed moves on someone. It describes sustained, visible pursuit — not a subtle hint, but full-effort attention that everyone around you can see.

Q: Is 'echar los perros' rude?
A: Not inherently — it's a casual, playful expression among friends. It gets uncomfortable when used to describe someone who clearly wasn't welcoming the attention, which shifts the tone from funny to creepy.

Q: What's the difference between 'echar los perros' and 'tirar la onda'?
A: Tirar la onda is the softer version — sending a vibe, testing the waters, a hint. Echar los perros is the full send: committed, obvious, and sustained. If tirar la onda is a text, echar los perros is showing up in person.

Q: How do you use 'echar los perros' in a sentence?
A: Use it with an indirect object pronoun: 'le eché los perros' (I made my move on them), 'le está echando los perros' (he/she is going for it), or as a command: 'échale los perros ya' (just go for it already).

Q: Can a woman 'echar los perros'?
A: Yes, completely. The phrase isn't gendered — anyone can echar los perros, and it's used the same way regardless of who's doing the pursuing.

Q: What does 'ni me peló' mean after 'le eché los perros'?
A: Ni me peló means they didn't even acknowledge you — complete indifference. It's the worst possible outcome after going all-in, and it usually lands with some dark humor in the debrief.

Q: Is 'echar los perros' used in texting?
A: Yes — it shows up constantly in the post-night debrief on WhatsApp: 'le eché los perros toda la noche' is a standard message after a party. Short, punchy, and everyone knows exactly what you mean.

Related words: ligar, tirar-la-onda, morra, cotorrear