Why Does My Dog Hate Being Blown On?

Have you ever wondered how it's possible that your dog loves sticking its head out the car window, yet hates it when you blow on it? It seems contradictory, but it actually makes a lot of sense.

Dogs are bothered so much when a person blows on them that they can even become a bit aggressive to warn us to stop doing it. But why? At SoyUnPerro, we explain it to you.

It Directly Irritates Their Senses

When we blow on our dog to play a joke on it, we're actually irritating much of its senses, like smell, sight, and hearing.

A dog's nose is always wet, since this helps it perceive smells better — when we blow on it, we unintentionally dry it out a bit. The same happens with its eyes, which feel the air and get slightly irritated.

Dogs' ears are very sensitive, and when you blow on them you'll notice they even move their ears to avoid the airflow — another clear sign of how irritating this is for them.

So think twice before blowing on your dog, because to us it's fun, like a joke, but to them it's irritating and unpleasant.

So Why Do They Stick Their Head Out the Car Window?

Probably because they're hot, or they simply enjoy the feeling of the air hitting their face. It's important to tell apart when a dog does something because it wants to... versus when it puts up with something because we're forcing it, whether it wants to or not.

I also stick my head out the window sometimes — I like the feeling of the air pressure shifting my face around a bit. But that doesn't mean I like it when you come blow on me — you get it, right?

We're Being Disrespectful to Them

To our dog, we're the pack leader, the alpha, the boss, or whatever you want to call it, which is why they let us do many things to them reluctantly, even things that bother them.

Having someone come up and blow on them is a direct provocation, which is why it's normal for them to take on a defensive, even aggressive stance.

Notice how when an unfamiliar dog approaches and stares at them, they either start growling at each other, or one of the two backs off submissively to avoid a confrontation.

The same happens when they get blown on — it's like a provocation, and a very irritating one at that. They might let us get away with it... reluctantly, but be careful with children and with friends or strangers, since they don't hold our social status within the pack.

To Blow or Not to Blow?

Instead of testing how much your dog can take before it growls at you for bothering it... why not play a bit of fetch with it, or go for a walk instead?

Seriously, blowing on dogs bothers them a lot — it's a practice we should avoid, since it's not funny at all (to us, maybe... not to them).

Avoid blowing in your dog's face, and above all, make sure other people don't do it either. Because while it might respect you for it, a stranger or someone with lower status than you in its eyes won't get the same pass.