In Western culture, we kiss and hug. These are gestures normally used to convey affection, gratitude and / or empathy. We do it among ourselves and for those who love dogs it is natural to do it also with quadrupeds. But hugging and kissing dogs is a good idea
Let’s immediately silence those who say no by citing as a reason that dogs are dirty, recalling the results of a recent study which showed that men’s beards are much dirtier than men’s coats. dogs. Let’s try to focus on the real reason for the question: asking it is necessary because the quadrupeds are of a different species than us .
Index
- Who is it good for
- I can kiss the dog
- I can hug the dog
Who is it good for ?
Dogs have another ethology and it is not necessarily said that kisses and hugs exist in their world. Furthermore, even if they exist, they do not necessarily mean the same as they do for us.
This means that rather than asking ourselves if it is “okay” to kiss and hug dogs, we should ask ourselves if it is okay for them, if it does not bother them and if they do not pose problems that can affect their behavior. I can kiss the dog
Dogs don’t kiss like we do, but they lick. They lick humans and lick each other. It comes naturally to us to equate their licks with our kisses but it is not correct. The reason is that dogs lick humans for so many reasons: they lick to say hello , because they love thetaste of the skin , to require attention, to release tension, because they are stressed.
They also lick because licking releases endorphins and therefore generates a pleasant sensation and it seems that they also lick to express affection. It can therefore be said that in the canine world there is something comparable to our kisses so it is okay to smack them on their muzzle
Ni. It must be remembered that the gesture of approaching the muzzle is a very decisive act, a form of threat , and therefore not pleasant for dogs. That said, dogs are so close to humans that they know so much about their behaviors and communications and they know that when their human approaches, even if clumsily, that approach is not a danger.
It is good to specify “their human” because dogs distinguish human companions with whom they share life from other humans. From the former they accept things that if done by others they would not accept. To return to the initial question, then: to kiss the dog or not
Kissing other people’s dogs is actually to be avoided, even if they are four-legged friends. There are so many other more natural ways for dogs to express affection that kissing them is useless. For your dog, however, it depends on the creature . If attention does not suffer too much, you can, confidence allows it, but it is good not to abuse his availability and limit yourself as much as possible. Obviously, it is not to be done with a recently taken dog, whose tastes and reactions are not yet known. The risks are very high.I can hug the dog
Now let’s move on to hugs. Dogs don’t hug each other, or at least they don’t hug like we do. Approaching and tightening is dangerous for them (it prevents escape in case of danger) and is an act of overstaying. And anything but pleasant .
In addition to the canine meaning of the gesture which for us is a hug, we must remember that dogs (like humans on the other hand) have the proxemic bubble – their personal space – and like humans, each of them has their own: there and who has it small, who has medium and who has very big (like my Oban).
With the exception of those who have minimal, for other dogs to be tight is a violationof their personal space and is a source of discomfort. How do you tell if your dog does not appreciate being hugged
? The signs can be both clear and subtle: he can wriggle and growl or lick his lips, yawn, lick the person who is hugging them, turn his head, open his eyes so wide that you see white, raise a paw, blink.
That said, there are two other considerations to make. The first is that every dog is unique and there are dogs who like hugs. The second is, as we have seen before, that dogs from their humans accept things they would not accept from others. So it is ok to let yourself go to hugs
First of all, you need to distinguish your dog from others. Hugging other dogs, even if they are friends, is to be avoided. As for your own, there is no single answer. Every single dog is a world unto itself.
The important thing is to always be well aware of the dog’s state of mind and limit the hugs if they are a cause for discomfort for him / her. As with kissing, of course, you shouldn’t hug a dog who has recently arrived home and whose tastes, behaviors and reactions are unknown.
