Do Dogs Like Kisses? What to Know Before Smooching Your Pup

Our pups are the cutest and sweetest things in our world, so naturally, we want to express our love by giving them oodles of dog cuddles, belly rubs, scratches and smooches. They clearly like being petted, but do dogs like kisses—or even understand what they are?

“Dogs aren’t born into this world knowing what a kiss from a human means,” says Rachel Salant, an animal behavior specialist at Veterinarians.org. And when a dog licks you back, it may be a sign that they love you or something else altogether.

Like with so many things, we tend to forget that our dogs aren’t our actual babies and aren’t necessarily on board with certain kinds of human affection. That doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t like kisses … though it doesn’t necessarily mean they do either. We asked dog behavior experts to settle the debate once and for all.

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Do dogs like kisses?

“Whether or not a dog tolerates or even enjoys kisses from a human depends on the individual dog, his or her upbringing, and what he or she has learned from the experiences with people being very close to the face,” says Salant. When kisses are associated with other things dogs love, like petting and scratches in their favorite spots, a dog associates kissing with something good. Some dogs aren’t comfortable with this type of interaction, though.

That said, while dogs often connect the dots and learn that kisses also come with other favorable things, they don’t understand kissing as a token of affection. “If you think about it, dogs don’t do this to each other out of affection, so they probably don’t understand it from us,” says Valarie Tynes, DVM, a veterinary behaviorist at the SPCA of Texas.

You’ll know if your dog is into kisses by checking out his body language. If he’s wagging his tail, moving closer to you for more affection or kissing you back, says Salant, those are all signs that your smooches are doggy-approved.

What do dogs think human kisses are?

Dogs might not understand that a kiss means “I love you,” but they quickly catch on that a kiss is something favorable. “In general, we aren’t upset with our dogs when we go to kiss them, so they learn that a kiss from a human is a good thing,” says Salant. They associate kisses with the other positive elements that coincide with them. After all, we are usually talking in a happy, calm or loving voice before we kiss our dog, and we’re petting them or scratching them behind the ear and may even toss them a treat afterward.

So, do dogs like kisses, or is it the good stuff that comes with them? “It may not be the kiss, in particular, that they like,” says Salant, “but the belly rubs that come with the kiss.”

Why do dogs yawn or sneeze when you kiss them?

Dogs yawn and sneeze for both physical and psychological reasons. For example, they could be tired, or they could be sensitive to your shampoo or hairspray and sneeze when you get close. As for the psychological aspect, do dogs like kisses if they yawn or sneeze afterward? “Ultimately, it comes down to knowing and understanding each individual dog,” Salant says. The sneezing could be interpreted as comfortable, attention-seeking or even play behavior, so that would likely be a yes.

If your dog yawns after a kiss and he isn’t sleepy, however, it’s likely a type of displacement behavior—which describes a behavior that seems out of context when they’re feeling uncomfortable or anxious about an interaction and don’t know what to do. “Think of it as a little like fidgeting,” says Dr. Tynes of this similar human behavior. “If your dog yawns a lot when you get in its face, I would definitely assume that means the dog doesn’t like your being in their face,” says Dr. Tynes. And following that logic, your pup is politely telling you he probably doesn’t want to be kissed.