Kissing your dog

I was wondering could it be possible that i am encouraging my dogs thinking that she is dominant over me because i kiss her on the nose and sometimes on the mouth?

I was watching a show and the low tier dogs lick the pack leader and was wondering if im confusing our status because i kiss her.

That is a good question, and I too await s ome answers. I also like to kiss my puppy, never thought of it like that.

I really think it all depends on the dog.
I have kissed all of mine, and they don't/or haven't regarded me as lower.
I have also seen my Rocket lick Charlie in the mouth when she is in a playful mood....but Rocket also rules the roost. Charlie actually whines or does a vocal thing to get my permission because Rocket is standing in the way, for something Charlie wants. And if I don't give a hand/voice signal then Rocket will step in and "correct" charlie with a growl nip kind of thing.
But if Shiloh is near, then Rocket (already being attacked by her) is like silly putty in Shiloh's paws. Shiloh is female dog aggressive and is always seperated from Rocket.

I believe you are safe from a hostile take over due to excessive kisses. Lol! On a serious note, while this behavior is displayed between a puppy and an adult dog or in wolf packs, as it sounds like you watched, your dog will not view this as a submissive gesture from you. You are by no means another dog in her eyes and it will not confuse her. I would refrain from kissing her on the mouth though as this is more of a health issue. A good smooch on the top of the head once in awhile is good for both you and your girl.

Shoot, the dog's mouth is far cleaner than the dog's fur, lol!

Mine usually initiate the kissing . . . but you have to watch out for Kharma, she'll slip you the tongue if you're not careful

I love kissing my boy, although he has been rolling in dirt, but he gives me lots of kisses, and that stuff. lol. but good question.

I kiss my pup when ever I leave for work

Don't worry much about the dominance stuff, most trainers use that line to intimidate the owner into thinking that their dog will turn on them and they need the trainers help. Its blatantly over rated. It is there to a certain point, is more pronounced with certain breeds, but its NOT the most important thing in training by far.

Consistency and getting dogs respect is much higher then simply dominating the dog

If you just adhere to common sense and don't let the dog control you you'll be fine.

I agree. Domestic dogs, I don't believe are packing animals anyhow. Sometimes, some dogs however, are put off by your face in their face and might snap at you. This can be viewed as an intrusive or offensive act to them. If you have a good, trusting relationship with your dog and you can see that he clearly is comfortable, then smooch away. My little Chi boy went for my nose when I did that when he was pretty young and we didn't know eachother that well yet. It was a defensive act. But now he's fine with it and in fact, seeks out my face...brings me his toy and gets his face right in my face while he wiggles all over. He is saying, "look, look....look what I have." LOL. It's so cute and weird. My Doberman as well as the others knows too that it's just one of those weird things humans do to show affection.

I asked my vet about the cleanliness of a dog's mouth. He said, they're disgustingly germy and that it's a wive's tale that they're clean. But, he said that humans don't get most things that dogs have...we have different normal temperatures and things that live in dogs don't in us...necessarily. I think there are a couple of things we could get, but over all, we don't get the same things. I never have gotten sick and my dogs get me sometimes when I'm not expecting it right in the mouth. A-r-r-g-g-g-r-g-r-g.

Is it OK if I put mine in a headlock before I give kisses?

I've seen some nasty hand infections on a few people from a doggie puncture bite, even when cleaned effectively. Made me realize their mouths aren't that clean, but I do kiss my dog, and she kisses me.

She's famous for trying to doggie french kiss anyone who is coughing.. seems to think she can save lives

LOL! I do that too. Just now, Lyric came here and like the pushy guy he can be sometimes, rested his chin on my keyboard and made: =====================================================================================. I had to erase it. I put my arm right around his neck and pulled him over to me for a big smooch and then told him to go away and stop messing up my typing. There, I reinforced his rotten behavior...his typing on my keyboard, of a take over..that dominant control freak guy who thinks he's better than me. How dare he?!?!?!?!?!

Hey, seriously, if all the stuff pack theory alarmists like Cesar Milan said were true, my "dominant breed" Doberman would have staged a palace coupe by now. He's almost 3-1/2 years old now and he's never even come close to objecting to anything, not one iota of aggression. He's well mannered and obedient. (well...eh-hem....except he likes to watch me type and help sometimes.) Plus I was gone all day and he missed me.

Oh, you bet. I was torn up by a dog....lots of puncture wounds and a big gash. The doc took my stiches out a little early because it was less risk that way. He even suggested not getting sutured at all, but there'd be more scarring, but less risk of infection. That goes straight into the blood stream. So there's a situation where we can get sick. But from kissing our mouths? We have a pretty good enzyme (ptyalin) in our saliva and hydrochloric acid in our stomachs which will tend to fight off most of their germs. Plenty of people get doggie kisses and don't get ill.

Someone on another board god between two fighting dogs. Got one puncture to the hand, cleaned it.. within hours his hand looked like a balloon. Hadn't ever seen anything like it.

I got a minor bite while playing 6 or so months ago. After a week I needed antibiotics because I was having pain and loosing the ability to grip my hand.

Really scary stufff.. I keep having people tell me how clean dog's mouths are though.

That is scary stuff. I was attacked by a dog and had a chunk taken out of my chin, my forearms and wrists, the back of my hands, throat and neck full of puncture wounds. I know how scary it is. Our skin is really the only line of defense and when it's broken, bacteria go right into our capalaries. But again....where we have mucus membranes, like in our mouth, nose, eyes, we have better protection as those places are open to the outside and our immune systems are designed to have some bacteria get in. Sometimes something is overwhelming and we get sick. But most healthy peoples' little army men with bazookas can fight off doggie kiss germs. LOL.

Oh wow, that's terrifying.. Did you heal up 'okay' from that without further complications?

I always kiss my pups, I wouldn't do it with other people's though, lol. I guess I just think I know where my dogs tongues have been!

Mafia princess... your dog is trying to save people! It's called the "Hym-lick" manuever. DanL and Doberluv, as head lock is always with Sheps and Dobies! Lol

(always in order) getting sleepy and sloppy!

LMAO, last time I shared that with people I was told it was an overshare, haha. My little saviour in training

It was very terrifying. And it wasn't even a huge dog. It was a Lab/Terrier (?) mix, probably about 25 LBS. There was a lot of blood. No complications, healed up well but I do have a little scar on my chin. The doc gave me an injection of some strong antibiotic plus by mouth for several days and I was very careful to clean my wounds religiously.