We are big fans of language unique to our dogs, and some of the vivid terminology and phrases can be found in breed standards, particularly old ones.

The “Kiss of Death,” however, is not found in a specific breed standard, nor is it old. It showed up on a list of Coonhound terms, but its definition will be familiar to any dog owner.

Kiss of Death: “It’s 1 AM in the morning, and you need to be at work at 7;  your hunting partner says, “one more quick one,” and you can’t catch the hounds until 6 AM.

This could apply to any of us who let our dogs out for one last bathroom break at night, decide to hunt for one more bird, throw one last Frisbee, or try to get that last conformation point. There’s always something we don’t see or know about that ultimately makes for a wonderful anecdote at our expense.

Image: When letting the dog out late at night seemed like a good idea at the time….