{"id":1832,"date":"2020-07-09T18:05:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T18:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/?p=1832"},"modified":"2020-07-09T18:05:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T18:05:39","slug":"why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do my dog and cat touch noses?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nose touches, or how us pet owners call them: boops, is one of the many ways our animals communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Us humans may boop our pets when they&#8217;re being particularly cute or for no reason at all &#8212; but what does it mean when animals boop each other&#8217;s noses?&nbsp; Let&#8217;s find out, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"display: none;\"><i class=\"ez-toc-glyphicon ez-toc-icon-toggle\"><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#A_formal_greeting\" title=\"A formal greeting\">A formal greeting<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#Its_almost_a_full_conversation\" title=\"It&#8217;s (almost) a full conversation.\">It&#8217;s (almost) a full conversation.<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#Who_boops_more_cats_or_dogs\" title=\"Who boops more, cats or dogs?\">Who boops more, cats or dogs?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#Common_questions_about_cat_dog_and_human_interaction\" title=\"Common questions about cat, dog and human interaction\">Common questions about cat, dog and human interaction<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#Why_is_it_so_important_for_dogs_to_be_trained_when_around_cats\" title=\"Why is it so important for dogs to be trained when around cats?\">Why is it so important for dogs to be trained when around cats?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#What_does_it_mean_when_my_cat_boops_me\" title=\"What does it mean when my cat boops me?\">What does it mean when my cat boops me?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#Are_there_instances_when_dogs_and_cats_misunderstand_each_other\" title=\"Are there instances when dogs and cats misunderstand each other?\">Are there instances when dogs and cats misunderstand each other?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/#Conclusion\" title=\"Conclusion:\">Conclusion:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_formal_greeting\"><\/span>A formal greeting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You may notice that between animals who are not very familiar with each other when they don&#8217;t feel particularly threatened, they&#8217;ll greet each other by touching noses. Sure, they&#8217;ll end up sniffing other areas of that animal too, but it will always start with a boop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It may seem weird for us humans because it&#8217;s absolutely absurd for another human to boop the nose of a stranger, but this seems to be a common greeting ritual among animals. Dogs learn this behavior as early as their puppy days.\u00a0 It&#8217;s actually a very important part of their socialization.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Puppies who had more experiences with boops tend to be less aggressive as adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cats and dogs who have been properly socialized in their youth have consistently shown that they are able to communicate well with other animals when they grow up.&nbsp; Their abilities to pick up on social signals is a very important ingredient to having a happy and healthy home life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nose-to-nose greetings are not exclusive to animals who have met for the first time.&nbsp; Cats and dogs who have lived together tend to do this every once in a while &#8212; especially when they&#8217;ve been in separate rooms for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Its_almost_a_full_conversation\"><\/span>It&#8217;s (almost) a full conversation.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There have been studies showing that when animals touch noses, not only is it a greeting, they also exchange a bit of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When dogs boop, for example, they can smell if the dog they just had a nose to nose interaction with had eaten some treats.&nbsp; Dogs who found out that this new dog they met recently ate, they&#8217;ll start to survey the area around them for more food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With cats, it&#8217;s the same thing!&nbsp; When cats greet each other with a gentle nose bump, they&#8217;re exchanging information on where they&#8217;ve been and how they&#8217;ve been doing.&nbsp; This is one of the gentlest, least threatening ways for cats to greet each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cats and dogs are able to get this much information from a couple of seconds of nose action because both of these animals have highly sensitive senses of smell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s safe to assume that when a dog and cat touch noses, they&#8217;re politely saying hello, and checking up on each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_boops_more_cats_or_dogs\"><\/span>Who boops more, cats or dogs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While we may generally associate the nose touches with dogs, this behavior is actually more common in cats than dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While dogs are actually more selective on who gets the nose to nose action, cats will not only boop, they&#8217;ll often rub their whole body once they realize the person, animal, or even thing they just nose touched is someone\/thing familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Common_questions_about_cat_dog_and_human_interaction\"><\/span>Common questions about cat, dog and human interaction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_it_so_important_for_dogs_to_be_trained_when_around_cats\"><\/span>Why is it so important for dogs to be trained when around cats?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you own a dog and are looking to add a cat to your family, it is very important that you train your dog to control their impulses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dogs who are too excitable and impulsive will not have very great relationships with cats.&nbsp; This is because cats love and need their personal space.&nbsp; If your dog is very likely to jump at your cat when they see them, they will be met with a claw to the face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_does_it_mean_when_my_cat_boops_me\"><\/span>What does it mean when my cat boops me?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Cats tend to communicate a lot using their noses.&nbsp; There are actually two kinds of nose boops that you might get from your cat.&nbsp; The first one is the <strong>nose-to-finger<\/strong> boop, and the other is the <strong>nose-to-nose<\/strong> boop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The nose-to-finger boop is one of the best ways for a human and a cat to introduce themselves to each other.&nbsp; The human finger can substitute as your nose &#8212; a much less intimidating thing to sniff than your gigantic hands, in a cat&#8217;s eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nose-to-nose boops are some of the greatest things this world has to offer a cat owner.&nbsp; Nose boops is one of the ways your cat tells you just how much they love and appreciate you.&nbsp; This is a badge of honor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_there_instances_when_dogs_and_cats_misunderstand_each_other\"><\/span>Are there instances when dogs and cats misunderstand each other?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course.&nbsp; While cats and dogs may have some similarities, at the end of the day, they are very different animals.&nbsp; Most often, when cats and dogs living in the same household fight, it&#8217;s usually because of their language barrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, when a dog raises their paw up, it could simply mean that they are in the mood to play.&nbsp; However, cats may see this as a sign of attack.&nbsp; In the same way, a swishy cat tail may not alarm a dog who wags their tail when they&#8217;re happy, but for cats, when their tails start swaying about, they&#8217;re actually saying that they&#8217;re getting annoyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When dogs and cats touch noses, they are saying &#8220;hi, who are you\/how are you\/ where have you been?&#8221; to each other.\u00a0 It is one of the most polite ways for them to greet each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses1-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nose touches, or how us pet owners call them: boops, is one of the many ways our animals communicate. Us humans may boop our pets when they&#8217;re being particularly cute<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why do my dog and cat touch noses? [ Detailed Answer ]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/why-do-my-dog-and-cat-touch-noses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why do my dog and cat touch noses? 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