# dog reaction **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2000, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720 "2000-07-25T02:33:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tipiwoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@tipiwoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tipiwoo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/1 "2000-07-25T02:33:23Z")
okay, this is a pretty boring question, but it has come up several times (in my head). I couldn’t think of a solid answer, so here goes: while playing with my dog- playing fetch or something of the sort- if I blow in her face, she starts play fighting with me immediately (she’s a big lab, but she doesn’t ever fight rough enough to hurt me). It seems like someone blowing in her face is some sort of call to action for her. It was my brother who originally did this to her, and why it has the effect on her it does has been bothering me ever since then. The only thing I can think of is that, maybe when animals (dogs) get ready to fight each other, they snort (blowing a small amount of air on to the other dog). Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/2 "2000-07-25T02:45:25Z")
IMHO the dog is wiping off all the scent he got from your breath. My dog requires twice daily medication and I was told to open her mouth, pop the pill in, close her mouth and blow on her nose. Works like a charm. But she usually wipes her nose off with a lick of her tongue, but I’ve seen her run a paw over her nose, too. If not that, then she/he thinks she/he just got an invitation to play. My dogs (both smaller than labs) respond by batting at me with one paw then the other. It’s like boxing! ---
**Author:** ![greatsatan666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@greatsatan666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatsatan666)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/3 "2000-07-25T02:50:16Z")
I’ve got a lab/boxer mix (2 yrs old) that also responds to blowing in her face. First she’ll whine to show her disapproval, then start barking and get in a defensive crouch and/or run around. ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/4 "2000-07-25T04:09:02Z")
I have a black lab and blowing on her face is a call to scrap. Actually a lot of things are calls to scrap but this is a definite ‘game on’ move. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/5 "2000-07-25T04:23:22Z")
Same with my black lab. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/6 "2000-07-25T05:26:12Z")
Then why the hell are they always hanging their faces out the window of cars if they don’t like being blown in the face, eh? * * * Yer pal, Satan _TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING: Three months, two weeks, two days, 3 hours, 22 minutes and 52 seconds. 4285 cigarettes not smoked, saving $535.70. Life saved: 2 weeks, 21 hours, 5 minutes._ Vist the [The Fabulous Forums of Fathom](http://fff.fathom.org/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?) ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/7 "2000-07-25T09:04:50Z")
Just wanted to weigh in here to say that my black lab just kind of sits there and stares at you if you blow in her face. Of course, she is afraid of cats. And people. And birds. And grasshoppers. I’m so embarassed. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/8 "2000-07-25T14:51:46Z")
… you don’t understand - Chunks is my DOG! ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/9 "2000-07-25T15:07:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rhythmdvl \* > \*\*… you don’t understand - Chunks is my DOG! > \*\* Whoa, you must have been wasted!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/10 "2000-07-25T15:28:42Z")
Dogs cnan be prettty quirky, but from my observations, I think that if you get face to face with a dog and do anything, you will get them to scrap. I assume if you are blowing in his face, you are staring at him, face to face from a close distance. This is a fairly tense posture. The dog probably gets anxious and starts playing. I can get the Brittanies and Springers that we foster can be invoked to bark and play in about 100 ways. Just staring at them usually does it. Dogs thta wont look in your eyes are very often dominant. ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/11 "2000-07-25T15:49:53Z")
OK… Anyone else’s Lab do Figure 8’s in their house when they are fired up and ready to play? We call it Full Biscuit Mode and is it a sight to see. She has slowed down some but it still comes happens once in awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/12 "2000-07-26T01:08:17Z")
Shoot. I saw the thread title and thought it was a question on what happened if you mixed dog and acid. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/13 "2000-07-26T01:27:21Z")
I’ve a friend who breeds show poodles and shows many poodles for clients. Her poodles will lick and snap at air blown at them, playfully. They’ll get up in the front seat and snap at the A/C vents. _But_, very few poodles I’ve met do this; most of them look a bit perplexed and or annoyed if you blow in their faces. It seems to be something passed along genetically in her line. ---
**Author:** ![kiffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d78d45/32.png) [@kiffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiffa)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/14 "2000-07-26T01:43:30Z")
My dachshunds react differently when you blow in their faces. HoneyBunny, deer-in-the-headlights-hyperpuppy, jumps up and is ready to play. SugarLady, slightly older and more sedate, gets a look on her face that says “when’s the last time you brushed your teeth…”. I think it depends upon your dog’s personality ---
**Author:** ![tipiwoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@tipiwoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tipiwoo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/15 "2000-07-26T01:53:37Z")
my lab also does the figure 8 thing when she gets really really excited and wants to play. as for an explanation to my original post, i don’t think its because i get up close and look at her. I do that all the time, but she only goes crazy when I blow in her face. anyway… ttfn. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-reaction/26720/16 "2000-07-26T03:19:14Z")
This is beyond a WAG but what the hell. Maybe the dog can smell the last food you ate and your digestive juices, and it stirs up the primal instict of when the momma dog would regurgitate up the last kill for the pups to eat. I seem to remember a nature show on hyenas where the pack would only let the most active and pushy pups eat first. The pup would want to show a lot of energy and aggresiveness to get its share, and to impress the rest of the pack that it wasn’t a pushover.