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Are Dogs Our Best Friends or Our Most Tolerant Friends?

Your behavior clashes with your dog in more ways than you think. Learn how, and you will be much better friends with your dog.

Jesse Smith, MD
7 min readAug 7, 2024

Oh, we love those snuggles, tail wags, and face licks. By their enthusiastic greeting, you would think your dog felt nothing less than pure love for you.

But, rather than love, what if your dog only tolerated you as a friend? What if your interactions with your dog were confusing at best, or worse, offensive?

If this were true, you might look at your relationship with your dog differently. Much of the time, this is the case. The reason we consider dogs to be “Man’s best friend” is mostly because they have learned to put up with us.

It is probably not surprising that the way dogs relate to other dogs is different than humans. When we greet other humans, we shake hands or hug. Dogs sniff each other’s rear end. Human interactions are vastly different from dogs. Sounds obvious, right? Yet, without realizing it, people unconsciously expect their dogs to interact with them like humans.

From hugs to kisses to excessive talking, here are the ways you confuse or offend your dog.

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Jesse Smith, MD
Jesse Smith, MD

Written by Jesse Smith, MD

Physician and molecular biologist. I write about topics in science and medicine that relate to everyone.

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