Homosexuality In Animals: Can Dogs Be Gay?

Due to the kind of behavior often exhibited by household pets when they are around other animals, questions like is my dog gay and do dogs have gay sex have been asked by pet owners. The concept of homosexuality in animals has been around for decades with new theories coming up every now and then. If you are an ardent pet lover who owns a pooch, you would relate to the fact that dogs often put you in an awkward situation at the park when they hump other dogs of the same sex or mount people’s legs.

This has prompted many to go in search of information to explain some of these habits our furry friends display sometimes and clear the air about some myths about homosexuality in animals.

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Can Dogs Be Gay?

First off, dogs don’t really have sexual orientation like their human owners which makes it hard to interpret their display of affection towards other dogs of the same gender. These pets are free-spirited and are not bound by any rule about their sexuality. Thus, discussing the possibility of a dog being gay is hard as they don’t seem to see things the same way humans do.

Interestingly, what you presume to be sexual advances may just be a dog’s way of playing with other pooches. Besides, you might even catch your dog extending the same courtesy to other animal species, including cats. They also hump furniture and human legs if given the chance. Though they often derive sexual satisfaction by engaging in these acts, dogs also have a variety of reasons they hump things and other animals.

Generally, dogs cannot be said to be gay, especially in the human sense of the word. This is chiefly because they lack the self-awareness found in humans. Dogs don’t have the luxury of nursing feelings the way humans do, they don’t even recognize themselves in the mirror. They just do whatever makes them feel good at any point in time and may not display the same act for a while.

In conclusion, while asking can a dog be gay, always keep in mind that what you thought to be sexual advances made towards dogs of the same sex might mean something totally different in the animal kingdom. We apparently misunderstand some of the actions displayed by our pets and as it seems, they don’t care and what you think doesn’t stop them from displaying such behavior.

Reasons Dogs Hump Other Animals

Social grooming is one reason you might catch your dog supposedly mating with another animal. Though this is common in cats, dogs also like to lick their fellow dogs, as well as cuddle up. This act can be misinterpreted to mean they are mating.
From excited puppies to older dogs, including the neutered ones, dogs are naturally playful and spare nothing when they get into the game. This is why you can see them mounting one another in public, something humans find embarrassing. Well, you can’t really blame your pooch since it wasn’t thought to avoid doing those things in public. Dogs are not like humans that follow rules and try to be decent when in the midst of others.
Dogs also use this medium to establish dominance. Asides from being playful and humping to relieve stress, dogs, especially the older ones that are also untrained, mount other animals to show dominance in a household or gathering. They use this medium to show who the boss is in their pack.
Without neutering your pooch, they stand the chance of mounting other pets to show dominance. In this case, the behavior can be changed by neutering them. However, if this is not done at an early stage, the habit becomes a difficult one to shed. Notably, neutered dogs can also pick up that habit because they see nothing wrong with that.

Do Dogs Engage in Gay Sex?

Having established the fact that there are different reasons dogs hump and mount one another, it is quite safe to rule out the possibility of a dog being classified as gay. However, seeing two dogs of the same gender engaging in sex is not entirely an impossible sight. These furry fellows have been caught many times engaging in sexual intercourse with members of the same sex and interestingly, the same dog that liked a male today might switch to a female the next day. This goes to say that dogs do what works for them at any point in time.

Starting from puppyhood, dogs like to have fun whenever they feel like it and you can hardly stop them. They do whatever makes them happy at any point in time, even if it means humping anything they see, including furniture and other animals.

When two dogs of the same sex are caught having sex, the human brain can process it as gay sex but to the animals, they might just be performing a normal task. All in all, the brains of human beings are different from that of dogs. Where you see homosexuality, your pet sees fun, and don’t be surprised when you see the same dog display an entirely different behavior the next day. As aforementioned, a dog that seems to like the same sex today might become attracted to the opposite sex the next time they socialize. Thus, don’t draw conclusions on sexuality because of what your dog did today as it might switch places in no time.

Is there Really Homosexuality in Animals?

From chimpanzees to lions, fishes, penguins, and many other species out there, a lot of animals have been caught, even on camera, engaging in same-sex intercourse. Some animals of the same gender have also been observed co-parenting on many occasions but does this mean they have established themselves as gay? The fact still remains that these animals don’t have to abide by rules that bind most humans and surely don’t need to define their sexuality just because they decided to swing in a different direction for fun.

There may be traces of homosexuality in animals but these are things they do without attaching any meaning to it. They are likely to forget that they were gay the previous day by the time they socialize with animals of the same sex.