Kissing ?

Just something CM said on AT yesterday stuck with me, when he was talking about a lady who was being bitten on the face when she tried to kiss her dog and he was brought into solve the problem.

Made me think over the years we have had a variety of dogs some liked kisses and some didn't. Mollie at the moment cannot get enough kisses she loves kissing and being kissed. But Duncan seems scared if you were to try to kiss his face and might bite if forced.

We don't see either as a problem we love kissing Mollie and respect Duncan doesn't like it so don't make him endure it.

It puzzled me why someone who was being bitten by her dog didn't just accept and respect her dog.

After some chatting last night I thought I would ask you good people is it a problem to be cured or are we right to respect our dogs just not liking this behaviour.

Opinions won't change how we treat either of them I am just curious how everyone else sees this ?

Silly moo (the woman that is. ) Kissing is a human sign of affection. When dogs shoves its face right up to another from the front it`s absolutely not! She should have bought a dolly. Or borrowed a baby.
Like those people who say `can they say hello` to you, indicating their terrified little dog on a lead, squirming to get away and throwing out avoidance signals like there was no tomorrow. And they always get annoyed when you say no.
I think it says a lot about the `trainer` in question that he didn`t educate the owner, but tried to bully the dog into accepting behaviour that stressed it.

I do not want to kiss my dog neither do I want him to kiss me, I know where his nose, lips and tongue have been!

You do not put your lips to a loaded gun, why stick your face next to an arsenal of 42 lethal weapons.

There is no need and we should be setting a good example to the next generation of dog owners that this habit is not one that should be developed to minimise tragic results.

You only have to google to see televised incidents of where people have been scarred for life doing what they think is cute or ok.

Oops, kaya gives kisses on command

It's quite natural for some dogs to "kiss" and if I thought of my dog as filthy I wouldn't own one TBH

My point was respect your dog really and some like it some don't. I would guess people who get hurt doing it are not respecting their dog because as I say Duncan doesn't like it so we don't do it to him.

If we did as you suggest next generation would feel their dog was a disease carrier and feel fearful of it.

Take me out and shoot me now....I kiss my dog

However, if I thought for a second she didn't want to be kissed, it wouldn't be a problem, I certainly wouldn't force the issue.

It reminds me of another CM episode where the owners were insistent that their dog should swim in their pool, but the dog was clearly terrified of water. You can imagine what CM's cure was. I just didn't get why they needed their dog to swim if it didn't want to

I don't think the point was dogs are 'filthy' and 'disease carriers' but I've seen what my dog thinks is acceptable to lick outside and on himself - I tend to agree I don't want him licking my face after licking his own parts.

My view on it (and I know I'm no expert) but kissing is a personification of the dog, maybe they see how much you enjoy it and they like pleasing you - but it's not what they consider affection per se.

However, I am a hypocrite because I hold paws with my dog - he'll sit and put his paw on my feet or hands or face - and I take it as his affection knowing he doesn't really understand the implications

My big dogs get a kiss on the top of the head and they're happy with that. Pugs come pre programmed to smother you in kisses whether you want it or not.

,,,and Staffie's, on the plus side, Staffie's don't bend in the middle so they can't reach their bums very easily

Daisy's kissing isn't to lick anyway, she waits for her moment and presses the side of her head over my nose and mouth, when she first did it as a puppy my natural response was to kiss her, and so it carried on.

I'm guessing it's a morphed appeasement behaviour

I think to push a dog into physical contact it isnt comfortable with is wrong. I have a dog who adores close physical contact, hugs, kisses etc and isnt intimidated or phased by it at all. Then I have 2 who dont like it - one gets intimidated and the other just prefers space. In their case I always show them affection by stroking safer areas like chest, rib cage etc and making sure I dont have arms draped over them or my face too close or just not getting into their space too much. It's not that i'm afraid they'll bite me, i'm just respectful of the fact they arent into big displays of affection.

Jed has got better as he's got older and accepts more fuss nowadays and although he is a big bear of a dog who has a luxurious coat, I just have to accept that i'm never going to be able to bury myself in it!

So no, I dont think it's something that should be trained out, although in some instances a dog can learn to appreciate affection and contact more, but I think their limits are something to be respected, not pushed.