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Petting is the affectionate act of stroking, brushing or caressing an animal's fur, scratching its ears, rubbing its belly etc., for mutual enjoyment. Grooming behavior in some animals is similar to petting, but generally the verb "pet" refers to a human petting an animal—or another human.
As reward
Petting an animal can act as a reward when training an intelligent animal such as a dog, rather than to reward behavior with food. Affection training enthusiasts say that food should be given only at mealtimes. An affectionate ruffling of the neck fur or a scratch behind the ears, or a kind word work quicker and are more humane than using food 'treats' as a reward.
Technique
Different animals respond well to different types of petting, even within the same species: one cat may enjoy a light scratch, just between her eyes, while another cat may demand to be kneaded like a loaf of bread. A dog might like brushed, a horse prefers a curry comb rubbed in circles, whilst parrots enjoy having the tops of their heads gently scratched, against the grain of their plumage.
Some animals, including many cats, seem to hate being petted in the reverse direction from the way their fur goes, so much so that for one to 'rub someone the wrong way' has become an idiomatic way of saying that one annoys someone.
Between humans
By extension, between humans, petting also means affectionate stroking and caressing. In the latter case the term often has a sexual connotation, eg. ("heavy petting").
See also
"Petting"