Pucker Up! Train Your Dog to Kiss on Command

I personally love when my dog lovingly licks me. To me, it’s very affectionate and cute. Most dogs I’ve owned have been very generous with their licks, but not all dogs are. Even if they aren’t, you can train them to lick on command. If you want to train your dog to kiss on command, I have two recommendations for how to train this trick that work for both dog personalities.

Why should you train your dog to kiss?

No one says you have to train your dog to kiss. In fact, some people don’t like when dogs lick them. But I like training my dog to lick my hand or cheek because:

Ezra already likes to give kisses and it was easy to teach him what the word means.
It’s cute when he’s cuddly and I can communicate with him to be extra affectionate for kisses.
It can make other people or kids feel special if a dog wants to kiss them, which you can trigger with the Kiss command.

2 Different Ways to Train Your Dog to Kiss

This is a really easy trick, regardless of which method you choose to train your dog the trick. Even young kids can (even unknowingly) train dogs to kiss on command. The most you will need to train this is training treats.

1st Method: Timely Commands

This method of teaching your dog to train Kiss takes longer, but it requires no tools, technical skills, or even treats. The only thing you need to do to train this trick is to learn to predict when your dog is about to kiss you. Here are some recommendations:

When you notice your dog is extra snuggly and he’s coming towards you to lay a kiss on you, use the command right before he actually kisses you – a split second before he licks.
Then right after he kisses, praise him.

You can also direct him to your hand or cheek as you are doing it, but most of the time dogs are already going to lick your face when they are in these affectionate moods.

2nd Method: Food Luring

I like this method because your dog will learn it faster and it’s easier to train them to kiss your hand instead of your face. For this method, you will need a treat or kibble. Here’s what you do:

Take one piece of kibble and place it in between your fingers.
Then present your hand to your dog.
Your dog may sniff a bit at first, but eventually he will kiss.
When he does, mark the behavior and give him the treat.

Not sure how to mark? Here’s a step by step tutorial to marker condition your dog.

Over time, you will be able to predict that your dog will give you a kiss when you present your hand with a treat. That’s when you add a verbal cue, like “kiss” before he begins to lick you.

When you see that he’s starting to get it, remove the kibble. Give him time to think about it. Once he kisses you, mark the behavior and reward. If it’s a minute or more and he isn’t getting it, go back to putting kibble between your fingers and keep practicing that longer (up to 2 days) before trying again.

Tips to Effectively Train the Kiss Command

Train your dog to kiss your cheek or hand. This is helpful because not everyone wants their faces licked, but they are OK with hands.
Train your dog using the same command each time each time you practice. I use “Kiss” but you can use any word your like. Some examples could be “Pucker Up” or “Smooches.”

Conclusion

Training your dog to kiss on command is so easy, literally anyone can do it. Some people have probably done it without even intending to! The easiest way to train this trick is to learn to predict when your dog will kiss you, and then say a verbal cue a split second before he starts to lick. Then praise him. But if you want to train it faster, food luring is the way to go.