There is nothing that can “kill the mood” better than an upset dog trying to get between you two. While most dogs are okay with seeing you kiss your significant other, intimacy is a big problem in some other dogs. But, why do dogs get upset when you are kissing your husband or boyfriend?
The rivalry between your husband and the dog is what is causing your dog to get upset when the dog sees you kissing your husband. While you might assume this as an early sign of your dog becoming overprotective, dogs are naturally pack animals with the hierarchical position in their family. If your dog feels like he is losing the attention he deserves, placing himself in between you and your husband when you are kissing shows signs of a stressed dog when people come near you.
While its cute to see your dog follow you around the house as the two most important figures in your life are fighting over your attention, small and large dogs often end up growling little by little when someone comes too close until they lunge and bite one day. Generally, one would assume that only jealous dogs will come between a couple kissing. And that begs for most pet owners to wonder…
Do Dogs Get Jealous Of Spouses?
Dogs are mor fearful of losing their status in the family than two couples who are lovingly kissing. So, thinking that your dog is jealous of your other half’s six-pack is a stretch. Just because a dog is aggressively asserting itself between you and your husband does not mean that it is motivated by jealousy. Fear of loss or need for attention is good reason enough for a dog to become possessive or protective.
The reality is that dogs do not see other people or your husband is the jealous frame rather as a rival for your attention and love.
So if he is upset… He’ll be justified to try to push your husband the same way he would have reacted to another pet so he can get your attention. The bottom line is that the dog’s afraid of losing your love and attention.
As much as humans do not like change, dogs can worry if not overly anxious about change. So, if you have just got a new man or recently started dating someone new, the fear of loss as the dog suddenly begins to witness you two kissing and showing attention to each other rather than them can be a trigger for jealousy.
Dogs ain’t called a man’s true friend for nothing as dogs often love hard. … and will do just about anything to stand the ground.
I had a friend who told me that her dog was always getting upset when he saw her kissing her husband. The dog would jump in between then or beg for attention just to get them to stop kissing.
Some dogs may display an anxious behavior, resulting into aggression. It’s no secret that this behavior is very annoying. Is your dog also getting upset when you kiss your significant other?
Are you afraid that it’s ruining your love life? Well… no worries. In this article, we will learn about how this behavior is triggered as well as how you can stop it.
Why does your dog get upset when you are kissing?
Generally, Dogs get upset when they see their owners getting kissing because of their need to protect their owner. Dogs that display this behavior are simply feeling insecure about what is going on, especially if they are not very used to your significant other.
It all comes down to socialization. If you didn’t socialize your dog well in its puppy stages, it may act up when it comes across new people or new experiences.
This may eventually lead to an aggressive behavior, which may involve barking, growling. But, it can only get to this extent if all their other attention-seeking actions didn’t work.
Most people think intimacy among humans can cause a dog to become jealous? But do dogs really get jealous? We have an answer.
Is it jealously?
Those displays of human affection, such as kissing and hugging, do not exist in the dog world. In other words, they don’t know what it means when you are hugging or kissing. Therefore, it is very unlikely that this can cause jealousy in a dog.
This raises one question. If dogs aren’t jealous of the intimacy going on, then why are they so determined to get between you when you are kissing or hugging? Could there be an underlying cause that we don’t know about?Let’s learn about this below.
Why do dogs interrupt kissing couples?
As we have said, intimacy doesn’t exist in dogs. All those activities can’t be understood on any non-humans.
Anthropomorphism is a word used to define human qualities that are being conferred on non-human animals. When you see your dog upset over your intimacy, you immediately associate this as jealousy.
While dogs may appear to be jealous when they see two lovers getting intimate, they are not jealous at all. Most often, there are other reasons behind such jealous-like behaviors.
Below, I have explained the 4 reasons why a dog may come between you and your significant other during your romantic moments.
1) They Are Controlling an ongoing Conflict
Some dogs simply aren’t comfortable seeing their human being hugged and kissed, even if it’s by someone they know- like your husband.
Dogs may perceive this as a conflict. As such, they may feel the need to intervene by coming between the two parties in an attempt to resolve the “conflict”. Dogs have conflict resolution skills too.
According to Turid Rugass, who is a Norwegian dog expert, dogs tend to come between other dogs that appear to be in conflict in an attempt to calm them down.
As mentioned earlier, kissing and hugging do not exist in your dog’s world. So when your dog sees you kissing, he will have a difficult time understanding what exactly is going on, mostly when the romantic behavior is on the more passionate side.
Dogs understand intimacy as a fight that’s going on between you and your partner. With its natural conflict resolution abilities, your pet will jump in between you to stop what they understand as a conflict.
2) They Are Seeking Attention
The other reason why your dog may stop you from kissing is that they are simply attention-seekers. Whenever they see anything interesting going on, they immediately want to be part of the fun too.
If your dog is trying to get your attention, he might try to join in either by licking you or barking. While this may be easily interpreted as jealousy (to us), it is not the case at all. Your pet just want to get his attention, or at least some of it.
If left unattended to, the attention-seeking behavior is dogs can intensify. Some dogs become pushy when their owners are on the phone or are busy with anything and ignoring them.
Other dogs can get pushy when they see you getting intimate with a partner. But it all goes down to one factor: they want to be part of the fun.
3) They Are Curious
While the old proverb says “curiosity killed the cat”, it must have killed the dog first. What do I mean? Dogs are very curious pets.
When kissing, humans tend to make smacking noises. So let’s say, the house has been quiet for a while, and your dog starts hearing those smacking sounds, you will certainly attract your dog’s attention.
Your pet may raise his ears and take the next logical step; follow the sounds to see what’s going on, which will automatically lead him to your room.
During socializing, it is always suggested to make sure that your dog is used to different kinds of sounds. If this sound is something he hasn’t heard before, he will obviously get very curious.
On the other hand, it is also possible that your pet is interpreting your smacking noises as a calling, specifically if you tend to use those same type of sounds to call him.
4) They are Protective
If your dog is very protective of you, it will be typical for him to be wary when somebody approaches their owner. In other words, they want their partner to themselves. See why this can be understood as jealously?
The protective behavior is triggered when your dog feels insecure or anxious, and it may result in aggressive responses such as barking, growling, and perhaps even some snarling.
Defensiveness is a common trait in dogs who have not been fully socialized. Such dogs may act aloof, suspicious of anything, and very wary of strangers, and they will get upset in addition to developing an aggressive behavior when their human is intimate with someone they don’t know well.
Can the behavior be stopped?
No matter what causes the distressed behavior in your dog, you will be glad to know that the behavior can be stopped.
In the next section, we will take a look at the methods that you can follow in order to stop your dog from getting upset every time you and your partner are kissing, hugging or other displays of affection.Let’s get him to stop before he affects your love life.
How to Stop the Interfering Behavior
Above, we leant about the 4 reasons why your dog is getting upset this case. All these situations have one thing in common; they can be stopped by training.
According to experts, dogs do well when they have been given an alternate behavior to engage in instead of a punishing them.
Here’s a look at some of the training methods that can work, though they will depend on your situation.
1) Redirect your dog’s behavior
One of the most effective ways of taking care of the dog’s intrusive behaviors is to use differential reinforcement of those unaccepted behaviors.
If your problem is that your dog likes to get in between you and your partner when you are kissing, you should consider training him the ”go to your place” cue. Here, make sure you are precise about the “place”.
It is suggested to place a rug at the corner or at any distance away from you. You should stuff the dog’s Kong (toy) with treats.
So when your dog jumps to split you and your partner up, toss the Kong on the rug and say ”go to your mat”. After he goes to the rug, say “good boy”.
What you have done here is that you have redirected your dog’s behavior towards something else to keep him from constantly seeking your attention, and he’ll be distracted by it, allowing you to share some alone time with your partner. Whew! Finally.
Success in training dogs is about repetitions. So make sure you repeat this process every time your dog jumps to interrupt you. After a while, your pet will learn what it means to “go to your mat”.
2) Counter Condition your dog
The other effective method is to counter-condition your dog to the displays of affection that get him upset- the hugs, kisses, etc. That said, this system works best if your dog is anxious about your intimacy.
How can you counter-condition your dog?
It’s very simple. Let’s say your dog has hugging issues. You should start by having your partner place their arm lightly on your shoulder while you toss a treat to your dog. It’s a slow process, and must be done gradually.
Soon enough, your dog will be look forward to hugs because he has associated the hugs to something even greater: treats!
Conclusion
For the most part, your dog may be upset when they see they are feeling insecure about what is going on, especially if they are not socialized to your intimate life. With proper training, your dog will respect your intimate moments. “Go to your mat, rover! Mom and Dad are busy”
