To Bond And Destress
According to Victoria Stilwell, a dog trainer, licking can also help to calm a dog and bond with another. The reason is that the behavior releases endorphins that give both dogs feelings of pleasure.
If you closely observe canines in the wild, packmates are always licking each other even without fighting.
The goal is to develop strong bonds and show affection to one another. As they lick and groom each other, they also sniff each other out to understand each other better.
After a fight, the two dogs will lick each other to move past just what happened and work on strengthening their bond. This is also true when your doggie licks your face.
Even if you don’t enjoy the licking much, don’t seek to stop it. Your sweet furry friend is only looking to bond with you and love you.
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But what happens when extreme licking happens? Extreme licking tends to be defined not so much by the dog as it is by the human beholder of the behavior. As such, any unwanted display of lingual attention –– even just a couple of polite laps every so often –– could be construed as excessive. In these cases it’s considered more of a human problem than an animal problem. After all, dogs will lick. It’s in their nature. Nevertheless, dogs can be trained to turn the tap off, so to speak. Finding a veterinary behaviorist or certified dog trainer to aid in this process is strongly recommended. Of course there are those times when licking may take on abnormal tones. Dogs who suffer certain types of obsessive-compulsive behaviors may manifest these as excessive licking. Typically, however, dogs affected by these behavioral disorders will turn to objects –– or more often, themselves –– by way of displaying their outsized penchant for licking. All dog owners observing this behavior are encouraged to seek out the assistance of a veterinarian or veterinary behaviorist for assistance. Many of these patients can be treated successfully so that their life might include more than what they might find at the end of their tongue. More on Vetstreet.com:
It’s not much of a conundrum, really. The bottom line is that most of the time, dogs will lick their people as a sign of affection. “You are the sun and the moon,” their silky tongue would have you know. “And guess what? You taste good, too!” But much as barking can be, licking is also a multi-faceted tool that seems to play many roles in canine behavior and, consequently, tends towards many different interpretations. Here’s a list of the many ways in which we homo sapiens have come to understand this culturally alien mode of communication: Licking is a natural instinct in canines. When a mother licks her pups and her pups lick each other during the course of grooming and other social interactions, we’re observing quintessential licking behavior in dogs. Indeed, this behavior is held up as one that may serve as the basis for all other licking decisions a dog makes. (“Mom licked me now I lick you …”)
Is Licking a Dog’s Way of Kissing?
The jury is out on what a dog’s licking actually means. Believe it or not, what you interpret as affection might, in fact, be your dog encouraging you to throw up your lunch for them.
“Researchers of wild canids — wolves, coyotes, foxes, and other wild dogs — report that puppies lick the face and muzzle of their mother when she returns from a hunt to her den — in order to get her to regurgitate for them,” notes Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, head of the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, Columbia University.
Similarly, your dog could simply think that you taste nice. Certified applied animal behaviorist Dr. Mary Burch points out that humans have slightly salty skin, especially after sweating during exercise. Therefore, those licks might be more about seeking salt than giving affection. Horowitz adds that if your dog likes to lick your face, it will often happen after you’ve finished a delicious meal. Or, well, any meal.
But, there is also evidence that licking is sometimes a sign of affection. Horowitz points out that, although it started as a food-seeking behavior, licking has now become a ritualized greeting for many dogs. Some wild species in the dog family will lick pack members just to welcome them home. So, those daily slobbers really might just be a sign that your dog is happy to see you.
“Licking can be a sign of affection,” explains Burch. “It might also give a dog a feeling of security and comfort, just as the dog had when licked by its mother in the litter.”
Most licking is harmless, even welcome as a form of self-expression on the dog’s part. Burch notes that there’s no need to worry that it’s a form of domination — in fact, it’s quite the opposite.
“One theory is the licking is a sign of submission,” she says. “The idea is that dogs who are submissive will lick a more dominant member of the pack.”
Even so, there are some scenarios when you might want to head off a slobber-fest from your pup. The first relates to human comfort, that is, some people simply don’t like being licked. If you have a friend who dislikes being licked, it’s kinder to dog and friend alike to redirect the behavior.
But sometimes licking is a symptom of a more serious problem. If your dog is licking themselves, you, or objects excessively, to the point that it seems like a self-stimulatory behavior, this might be a sign of anxiety, boredom, or pain. Obsessive self-licking can also be a sign of allergies or other health problems.
Why Does My DOG LICK ME? (Face, Feet, Hand and Ear Licking)
What’s better than coming home to a kiss from a happy dog? Most dog owners interpret licks from their pets as a sign of affection: in other words, the closest your canine companion can get to kissing. But is this accurate? And what can you do if your dog’s licking is out of control?