I was watching part of a documentary on coyotes the other day. While talking about how the canines’ tight-knit community ensures that pups will survive and be fed even if their mother dies, the narrator noted how the pups regularly go up to adult members of the pack and lick their faces and mouths, which causes/encourages the adults to regurgitate food for the pups to eat.
I’m now looking at my own dog more suspiciously. Knowing how similar domesticated dogs are to coyotes and wolves (esp. in my area, where crossbred coy-dogs roam widely), and how much of domesticated dogs’ behavior is really just juvenile wild-dog behavior that persists into adulthood (i.e., barking), I now wonder if my dog, when she jumps up to lick my face, is really just hoping that I’ll vomit up a tasty morsel for her to eat.
Is this so? Or am I taking things too far (as usual)?
I think so. I don’t have a cite to hand, but I have heard it said so on more than one serious wildlife documentary. One of them was called ‘the wolf in your home’ IIRC.
I am an E-bay buyer and seller, and recently I’ve come across an item that I can buy cheap cheap and for whatever reason resell for about 5x the the original cost. I just bought a lot of this item, and I’d rather if my potential customers didn’t know that I bought them for $1 when they are happily paying $5 for it (especially when the seller I bought from is listed right there in the feedback).
So short of hiding all of your feedback, can you make the item # of what you bought or sold non-clickable? It seems an invasion of privacy to me for all of your bought and sold items to be listed right there for all to see in your feedback. It seems like it would be enough for the person to know how the transaction went, not what exactly you bought or sold.
Re: the OP, my dog doesn’t usually lick me in situations in which she has reason to expect food to be immediately forthcoming. At the risk of anthropomorphosizing, it seems to this layperson more as if the licking is her way of saying, “You remind me of my Mom. I like you. Licking your face is my way of calling you Mom even though I have no expectation of food at this moment.”
(Of course, it is also true that Mother dogs lick their puppies on the stomach to stimulate bowel movements, so the message could be a little different.)
I have a rather unpleasant anecdote, for what it’s worth. One time my better half got plastered on tequila and passed out on the bed. A few seconds later, she experienced a round-trip meal ticket all over the pillow. You can guess what I’m going to say next. The dog was eating it in the morning. This doesn’t address the question of why a dog licks your face, but it does demonstrate that Fido will be more than happy to eat whatever you regurgitate, should the fortuitous circumstance arise.
Oh, I have no doubts whatsoever that my dear dog would be thrilled at whatever “hot soup” happened to show up. I’d just like to know if he’s expecting it when he tries to kiss me.
Well, people that allow dogs to lick their faces really gross me out, and if a dog licks my face then I’m extra-skeeved. So it’s good to know that Fido is doing it on purpose. If it was just “affection”, it would be disappointing
This is correct, although licking the side of the face is also an appeasing and greeting behaviour in older coyotes, wolves etc. - developed from the licking to encourage regurgitation.
No - you’re not taking it too far! We have bred dogs for thousands of years for certain characteristics, formerly for work of some kind, but these days for looks. The characteristics we have bred in, such as floppy ears (like a Labrador) have also bred in puppy behaviour (the Peter Pan genes!). In otherwords, our dogs are like wild dogs or wolves that never grow up. Puppies in the wild do bark, but rarely do you see an adult wolf bark.
A dog jumping up and licking your face is quite simply pleased to see you, and is using the dog behaviour to show you that. Watch any wild pack, when a wolf returns to the pack, you will see them run around, wag tails and lick the side of the face. It’s just the greeting behaviour, but your dog would probably be surprised if you regurgitated food for him!
