If Licking Is Excessive, Train Your Dog
Some pet parents find hand-licking okay. Others may find it a little excessive. If this is the case, you can train your dog to greet you in more positive ways. Using food or toys can help you accomplish this.
A Way to Gauge Your Mood
Dogs have a keen sense of taste and smell. Studies show that dogs can sense a person’s energy. They can read you if you are hostile, calm, happy, or even anxious. Your dog will lick your hand to see how you are doing. Dogs remember when a person is unkind or violent. They can smell the chemical changes in your pheromones. The fluctuations read by the sensitive tongue can tell dogs that a person has bad intentions.
Wolves lick the alpha male of the pack whenever he arrives. They lick his mouth as an expression of companionship, obedience, and submission. This applies to other canine species, including dogs. You are the alpha in your pack at home. As a descendant of wolves, your dog licks your hand as a form of welcome. Licking your hand shows you that your dog submits to you. It soothes your dog’s anxiety from being separated from you for a while.
So Dogs Lick Each Other, But Why Do They Lick Us?
When your dog licks you, it’s likely they’re extending affection and care towards you.
They may like to clean you up, or even just to indulge in the bonding process like their mothers did with them while they were young pups.
Similarly, their licking of your body parts signals their respect for you as their honorary pack leader.
In the wild, submissive dogs would have licked their alpha in a request to join in with the feasting of prey, so perhaps your dog just wants to share your pizza?!
Licking is also a sensory exploration for your dog and allows them to find out more information about you and how you taste.
Why Does My DOG LICK My HANDS? (5 Reasons)
Dog owners often wonder why their dogs like to like their hands so much. There are some dog behaviors that many dog owners are confused by, and hand licking is one of those things.
Some people do not like having their dog lick their hands, while others think it is sweet and don’t mind it. It can be tough to enjoy being licked by a dog with a very wet mouth or a dog that is a bit excessive with their attentions. Either way, owners are often not sure why their dog likes to lick their hands.
Dogs lick hands for a variety of reasons, most of them related to pack behavior. Many dogs lick their owner’s hands because they like the taste, they are looking for attention, or they are trying to groom you. Dogs can also lick their owner’s hands because they have learned that they get a reward for doing so.