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Can Dogs Be Gay? Well, Yes and No…

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Common Canine Questions By Meg Marrs 8 min read November 24, 2021 18 Comments

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gay dogs
can dogs be gay

We’ve all been there – you’re at the park, or having a dinner party, and your dog starts humping someone else’s pup or one of your guests’ legs.  

Knowing why your pooch is doing this can help alleviate awkward situations, help you understand your dog better, and even be a conversation starter!

We attribute a lot of human qualities to our canine friends, causing people to wonder – can my dog be gay?  

Can Dogs Be Gay?

Dogs live unconstrained by internal (or external, for that matter) conflicts about their sexuality. They like what they like – no big deal.

Plenty of dogs engage in sexual behavior (or sex-like behavior) with members of the same sex.

But are these same-sex scenarios nothing more than hormones run wild, or do they actually represent homosexual behavior and imply that such dogs are gay?

In short, dogs can’t really be gay, simply because dogs don’t have a sexual orientation or consistent sexual preference the way some humans do. However, dogs can certainly exhibit gay sexual behavior for a variety of reasons, which we’ll explain below!

Homosexuality in Dogs and Animal Sexuality

Dogs do what they want, when they want, and are presumably unconstrained by the internal conflicts that often plague humans. Sometimes their sexual advances even extend to other species, as countless cats, stuffed animals and human legs can attest.

It’s important to note that while these advances – which may not even involve actual intercourse – often provide sexual or physical gratification, dogs also engage in humping behaviors for a variety of other reasons. Some dogs hump things as a form of play, while others do so when they are anxious.

Why Does My Dog Hump Other Dogs?

To humans, humping in public is considered a big no-no. So when our dogs start mounting each other in public, it can cause us to feel embarrassed and confused about why our beloved fur babies are engaging in such uncouth behavior.

For dogs, mounting can be done for a variety of reasons. While it can be sexual, dogs have their own social norms that are different than those of their human friends! Through different types of play and body language, dogs use non-verbal actions to communicate.  Here are several reasons your dog may be humping other dogs:

  • Casual Play: With people, we’re taught at a young age what actions are acceptable in public and which aren’t.  Dogs are never taught that certain actions are inappropriate, so it’s common to see a back and forth of playful mounting.  This behavior is especially common amongst energetic puppies, but is seen in some older dogs as well – male or female.  It is even a common occurrence with dogs that have been spayed or neutered!
  • Dominance: While mounting can just be a playful act, it can also be a show of dominance over another dog.  This is especially common in older dogs.  If it occurs frequently or in response to many different stimuli, it can be a sign that your dog does not know how to properly socialize.  This behavior can usually be lessened by proper training, especially if begun at an early age!
  • Intact Dogs:  Male dogs that have not been neutered are more likely to display dominant humping behavior.  This can usually be alleviated by neutering your pooch, but if it is not done at a young age the behavior can become harder get rid of.

Given the many varied reasons that dogs hump one another, the fundamental differences between the brains of humans and those of dogs, and the different ways we view pair bonding, it is important to avoid drawing conclusions about their motivations – particularly when it involves such nebulous concepts as sexual identity.

gay dogs

Sex, Pseudo-Sex and Psychology

Speculating about the motivations of dogs usually involves anthropomorphic thinking, a term used to describe the attribution of human emotions to a non-human entity. For example, “the stop sign is angry.” This is an understandable tendency, but one researchers try to avoid. Dogs experience a completely different reality than we do, and we’re wise to draw conclusions about motivations carefully.

It’s quite possible – some would say likely – that dogs simply do what seems appealing at the time. One day they may be attracted to dogs of the opposite sex, before feeling attracted to dogs of the same sex the next day. They may even wander about the park, canoodling with one dog after another, with no regard to sex.

Females sometimes assume the dominant role when exhibiting courtship behaviors or engaging in breeding-like activity with other females, and males may assume submissive roles when engaging in such activities with other males. And the gender roles are equally flexible between same-sex couples.

The only rule is, there are no rules.

Homosexuality Throughout the Animal Kingdom

Whether or not dogs and other animals possess a “sexual identity” or exhibit long-term sexual preferences, homosexual behaviors have been documented in a wide variety of animals.

Beetles, fruit flies, several species of fish and a handful of lizards have all been documented having sex with other members of the same sex (though it is often termed pseudo copulatory behavior in such cases). Male frogs – who don’t technically engage in intercourse anyway – often grab anything that moves when it is time to get busy. Many male frog species have even evolved a “get off me!” call for just such occasions.

But these animals rarely form long-term bonds, and tend to have short relationships with their partners. It is only by considering animals that form long-term pair bonds that we can see reasonable analogies for humans. But once again, examples of homosexual behavior abound.

Many birds exhibit homosexual behavior. Penguins are some of the most famously fabulous animals, and they have even been documented raising chicks with same-sex partners. Many female albatrosses bond with other females and raise chicks together (adulterous males usually father their chicks). Dolphins are also noteworthy for engaging in sexual activity with conspecifics of either sex.

But things really get interesting when you move up to our close relatives. Macaques (medium-sized primates native to Asia) often exhibit lesbian tendencies, and bonobo chimps (our closest living relatives) take sexual freedom to a whole other level.

Bonobos engage in virtually every type of sexual behavior imaginable, and they do so with other bonobos of either sex. Multiple individuals may even be involved at times. Most scientists suspect that their free-love-lifestyle probably works to help lubricate social interactions.

gay bonobo

Defining the Term “Gay” for Non-Humans

Just because an animal exhibits homosexual activity does not mean it is a homosexual. Many humans engage in sex with the opposite sex, despite having a preference for individuals of the same sex, and vice versa.

Behavior and sexual orientation are two different things.

We obviously can’t communicate with dogs well enough to illuminate such topics, so it is difficult to distinguish between an animal that has a long-term preference for same-sex individuals, versus a heterosexual animal that engages in a homosexual activity.

One litmus test researchers have devised seeks to distinguish between the two possibilities by noting whether or not the homosexual animal in question will still breed with a member of the opposite sex when it is likely to lead to offspring.

If, for example, a presumed “gay” male dog will still breed with a female dog in heat, he probably doesn’t have a truly homosexual identity; he just engages in homosexual behavior (such animals could probably be identified as bisexual). Most animals to which this question has been applied turnout to be exhibiting homosexual behavior – meaning that while they may enjoy a romp in the hay with another male dog, they’ll rarely pass up the chance to breed with a female.

The one exception (aside from humans) occurs right on Old Macdonald’s Farm. About 6% of male sheep court and breed other males, and refrain from breeding receptive females.

Interestingly, researchers have noted that these sheep have a smaller hypothalamus than their heterosexually oriented counterparts. This is consistent with other research, which has documented the same phenomenon in human men.

Does It Matter If Your Dog Is Gay?

In a word, no. Not even a tiny little bit.

Dogs that exhibit same-sex attraction live long, happy, healthy lives, just like their heterosexually oriented counterparts. Aside from the tiny sliver of their life that is devoted to sex and attraction, they’re no different than any other dog. They want to sleep on the couch, eat everything in the house and catch that squirrel living in the tree outside.

Your dog doesn’t know whether he is straight or gay; nor does have any idea that sexual orientation is a thing. He just knows he feels warm fuzzy feelings for other male dogs (or the reverse, in the case of females).

Any distress the situation causes is due to your baggage, not his.

Homosexuality doesn’t even prevent your dog from successfully reproducing, if that is something you have planned. Veterinarians can collect sperm manually and inseminate females, just as doctors do for infertile human couples.

Just forget about it (or celebrate it) and move on. Your dog doesn’t care if you have penchant for buxom beauties or tall-dark-and-handsome dudes – why should you care if he is partial to devilishly handsome collies?

We don’t even understand human sexuality very well. Trying to understand the sexuality of our dogs is probably impossible. And even if it weren’t, there are better subjects for us to spend our time researching. Our dogs do not care what their sexual orientation is, and we should probably follow their lead.

***

What about you? Have you ever suspected that your pup was gay? Have you witnessed any homosexual canine behaviors first hand? We’d love to hear all about it or your general thoughts about the topic of homosexuality in animals in the comments below.

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Written by

Meg Marrs

Meg Marrs is the Founder and Director of Marketing at K9 of Mine. She is a lifelong canine enthusiast and adores dogs of all shapes and sizes! She loves iced coffee, hammocks, and puppy-cuddling!

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18 Comments

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Kath

Never thought about dog sexuality until we got our male dog Archie. Archie is our 10 year old desexed Cavalier cross. Archie has always preferred the company of male dogs and becomes really excited when he sees his male doggie friends, licking their face and jumping around. Generally the male dogs just accept this attention. Until we got another rescue dog, Rosie we didn’t realise how much he didn’t like female dogs. Archie will lean in and sniff Rosie and almost recoil. After so many years Archie has accepted Rosie but when we go out he will make a beeline for only male dogs and avoid the females (literally steps away and growls). Unfortunately some male dogs really get his interest and he will lick their penis. It’s embarrassing and I literally have to chase him to get the lead on and pull him away from the poor male dog of his affection. Archie squeals when he sees his favourite male doggies and he doesn’t have a preference as loves a large male poodle, Labrador and beagle with all the same enthusiasm

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Ben Team

Definitely sounds like Archie likes other boys, Kath!
Thanks for sharing his story with us.
🙂

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Akanksha

Hey! I searched about it and I am reading this article. I absolutely don’t care about my dog’s sexuality but I was just curious after observing my dog’s behaviour. I adopted a stray dog two years ago named him Galaxy . He is not neutered yet. Everyone suggested us to do it. And recently I have observed that he always hump male dogs whenever he go outside.. always. He has been doing this from starting. But then we were thinking he was playing. But now I see… whenever any bitch come to him he just avoid them. He has 7 stray dogs friend.. 4 out of them are male.. and he always hump the.. but they feel awkward still they are friends with my dog. And it is lovely to see the ACCEPATANCE behaviour in animals comparing humans.
I feel so much lucky to have him.
♥️♥️

Reply
Ben Team

Hey there, Akanksha. We’re so glad that you found such a good pooch, no matter what other doggos he’s attracted too.
😀
For the record, understand that humping behavior isn’t always sexual in dogs — it can indicate any type of arousal. But it could certainly be because he’s simply attracted to other male dogs.

Also, we’d encourage you to discuss the pros and cons of neutering with your veterinarian. There are a lot of things to consider about doing so, and it’s one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your pet.
Best of luck!

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Siddharth

Interesting article; actually a big help.

Tangentially: what breeds of dog appear in the illustration? My own dog looks exactly like the spotted one on the left side, but I have never known what the breed is called.

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Ben Team

Hey there, Siddharth. Glad you liked the article.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what breed (or combination of breeds) that doggo is — it’s just a stock image.
Thanks for checking out the site!

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Janine

My ex-mother-in-law had a legit gay dog, a handsome red dog of retriever type. I lived in that house for years, so I know firsthand. He only wanted to hump boy dogs. The neighbors’ girl dogs would go into heat and he would see them through the chain link fence and not give a hoot. He’d just go after the older boy Rottweiler in our house, or any passing boy dogs when he was out on walks. (I’ll tell you, the Rottweiler wasn’t having any of it, lol.)

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Ben Team

Thanks for sharing, Janine!

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ted standing cloud

My girlfriends dog is a dogsbian. A lesbian dog, it is a funny dog

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Desiree M

My boyfriends male mystery mutt chihuahua who is pretty old mind you ,about 10 years or so who is not neutered and wants ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with female dogs or cats is always trying to get it on with a boy dog even our male cat Doug. Whenever my boyfriends mom comes over with her dog who is also a male chihuahua mix is always getting hounded my his dog and whenever they leave he licks the floor where he sat and has even peed there before I came to this article for maybe a bit of an understanding as too what was going on but all it says is yes and no to every question which is a bit frustrating but hopefully this comment will help anyone else who has maybe experienced this with their gay dog lol .

Reply
Ben Team

Hey, Desiree.
It’s a complicated issue, hence our “yes and no” answers.
Thanks for checking out the site!

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Mathieu Poirier

Jesus, you couldn’t just summarize this in a single paragraph with a clear answer…

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Ben Team

Sorry, Mathieu, but some questions have complicated answers.
Thanks for checking out the site, though!

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Mike Hock

Not sure what the big deal is when humans hump in public?

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Sarah

So, my 7 year old mystery mutt Ziggy just got caught trying to slip it into my mini-snorkie puppy Hopper’s exit hole. Not just mounting and humping, his wiener was out of the pocket and he was trying to line up for the goal. I was shocked because Ziggy was neutered when he was less than 6 months old and has never even humped a leg or stuffed animal. I’ve noticed them licking each others butt holes but I figured this was no big deal, they are dogs. But now I’m worried about leaving them alone together because I don’t want Hopper to get raped. If Ziggy did manage to get it in when im not around could that cause any damage to Hopper’s booty?

Reply
Ben Team

Hey, Sarah. That’s quite a tale!

I would recommend keeping them separated if you think that your dogs’ safety is in doubt. Without getting graphic, it probably would be possible for the recipient to suffer a pretty serious injury this way (injuries aren’t unheard of for male-female pairs, so it stands to reason…).

Best of luck!

Reply
Mason

so can dogs be gay or not

Reply
joe

thank you so much!

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