# Do dogs really show affection when they "kiss" us? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070 "2006-05-09T15:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/1 "2006-05-09T15:29:01Z")
Why do dogs lick our faces? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/2 "2006-05-09T15:55:43Z")
And furthermore, why are they so interested in licking our ears? I’m told that puppies lick Mama Dog’s face to find out if she has killed something for them. Baby habits die hard. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/3 "2006-05-09T16:13:23Z")
Licking under your chin is a submissive gesture in a dog. He is telling you that you’re the boss and he’ll follow your lead. If you want to make him extra doggy-happy, grab his scruff or jowls and growl at him. That’s what the dominant dog does to show that he’ll take care of the submissive dog. Ears? Ears just taste nummy. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/4 "2006-05-09T18:40:26Z")
Wolf puppies lick the faces of returning adults to tell the adults that they want some regurgitated meat. So face licking is something a puppy does to an adult, and therefore becomes something that a submissive adult does to a dominant adult. So when your dog licks your face, he’s telling you that he’s submissive and you’re dominant. So the polite thing to do is to tell him that you’re dominant and he’s submissive, but you like him anyway. Like grab his snout, scratch his ears, or regurgitate some meat for him. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/5 "2006-05-09T19:08:45Z")
**WhyNot** and **Lemur866** , I never knew that! Thanks - it helps explain a few things about my beast and his behavior! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/6 "2006-05-09T19:13:29Z")
I’d say that in pet cats, licking is more likely to be a demonstration of affection, at least on the basis that mutual licking and grooming seems to be a common bonding ritual in a home that has multiple cats. Of course in the case of our cats, as with dogs, it can also be food-related, as in, “I’m going to keep licking and nipping your fingertips until you get out of bed and open another can of Fresh Wet. I don’t care if it’s an hour before your alarm goes off and you’ll never get back to sleep.” ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/7 "2006-05-09T20:49:47Z")
Not dogs, but similar behaviour. My rats greet me by licking my hands. This appears to be grooming/affection behaviour. At first I thought they just liked the saltiness of sweat on my palms, but I noticed that they do this even if I wash my hands immediately before I handle them. I also noticed that whenever I’ve gotten a new rat, the newcomer would not lick until I’d done something a few times to earn its trust - offer a treat, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/8 "2006-05-09T21:28:30Z")
And here I thought she liked my goatee. Interesting, though. I’ll have to try that scruff of the neck thing next time. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/9 "2006-05-09T22:23:18Z")
How are you sure they are not tasting you? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/10 "2006-05-09T23:25:30Z")
I always thought they just found us tasty. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/11 "2006-05-09T23:49:30Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > So the polite thing to do is to tell him that you’re dominant and he’s submissive, but you like him anyway. Like grab his snout, scratch his ears, **or regurgitate some meat for him.** And this, my friends, is why $7.95/yr is worth every penny. 😃 (Although it’s cost me a fortune in soda-sprayed monitors!) ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/12 "2006-05-10T01:30:34Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > And this, my friends, is why $7.95/yr is worth every penny. 😃 > (Although it’s cost me a fortune in soda-sprayed monitors!) Damn straight! It was even worth my $14.95 Now, if I could only stop chuckling. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dogs-really-show-affection-when-they-kiss-us/356070/13 "2006-05-10T16:19:01Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > And this, my friends, is why $7.95/yr is worth every penny. 😃 > (Although it’s cost me a fortune in soda-sprayed monitors!) I desire to associate myself with that expression of admiration.