Why does my dog get upset when I kiss my boyfriend?This can be a kind of jealousy. It can be upsetting for a dog when something he wants, like affection, is in jeopardy because attention is focused on someone else. In response, some dogs use attention-getting behaviors to disrupt the situation.
How can we tell?
Practically speaking, the best way to know how an animal feels is to observe her behavior. How will she behave if she enjoys our displays of affection? She should remain relaxed and not tense up. The ears should stay forward and the tail high. If Coral likes our kisses, for example, she shouldn’t move away and try to avoid being kissed. If we stop kissing her and she wants us to continue, we would expect her to move toward us and show a behavior that has worked in other contexts to get what she wants, such as pawing at us or leaning against us.
Coral rarely “asks” for more kisses. But she frequently asks for more petting by pawing at us, or just placing her paw on our arms if we stop stroking her. If we pair kissing the top of her head with massaging her ears, Coral will often move in closer to us, and position her head so we can more easily reach the back of her ears.
On the other hand, if our affectionate displays annoyed or frightened Coral, we’d expect completely different behaviors in response. We’d expect to see her tense up while being kissed, her eyes to get wide, her tail to go down, and her ears to go back. She might also move or duck away from us, as she does when she’s too busy to stay still and be petted.
Why does my dog lick me when I kiss my partner?Dogs often show affection by licking. It’s an instinctive behaviour that’s linked to the comfort they felt when their mother licked them as a puppy. Licking plays an important part of how they bond with others, causing them to release dopamine and endorphins that help make them feel relaxed, calm and happy.
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I love to greet my dog by planting a big old smooch on the top of her head. She knows the routine well and happily nuzzles up to me for affection. If youre like most dog owners, you love to shower your pup with kisses. You might even get licked in return.
But what if your dog doesnt want to be kissed? People know that a kiss is a natural way to show affection to other people, but we sometimes forget that our dogs are not human. You may be surprised to learn that many dogs actually dislike this common human behavior.
Really, the first question to ask is whether dogs understand kisses from people. It turns out that while dogs are pretty good at recognizing human emotions, they dont instinctively know what kisses are.
We spoke with certified animal behaviorist Amy Shojai to learn how dogs experience kisses from humans. “Some dogs enjoy this, if taught what it means,” she says. However, if the dog doesnt know what youre doing, it could cause stress or confusion. “People kissing them could potentially send mixed signals,” says Shojai. Just because a person is trying to signal affection, it doesnt mean the dog will take it that way.
Dogs tend to approach other dogs in a sideways arc rather than head-on. So, it can be confusing for a dog to suddenly see a human face approaching. In fact, some dogs see this as a threat and may feel the need to defend themselves by growling or biting. Shojai tells us she especially worries about children kissing or hugging dogs because “theyre at mouth-level in reach of those teeth if the dog takes the gesture the wrong way.”
So whats the answer? It depends. “If the dog has learned to accept kissing on top of the head, then thats fine,” says Shojai. “For a new-to-you dog, though, Id find other more species-appropriate ways to show affection.”
The truth is that some dogs simply dont like being kissed. That said, dogs who have been trained to accept kisses may eventually tolerate or even enjoy them.