The general belief is that dogs (and sometimes cats) lick their owners out of affection, their way of “kissing”. How much truth is there to that? It certainly looks like an expression of affection. But I’ve also heard that they do it because they like the taste of the salt on our skin, which makes sense.
But, animals will also lick each other, and I’m no expert in animal behavior, but it really looks like they are doing it when they are happy to see each other.
Any informed insights?
- Freewill39.
Dogs do lick people for more than one reason (ours does a vacuum-cleaner number on our shirt fronts in hopes of spillage and crumbs from our last meal)…
But a big one that will explain a lot, probably, is that they want to smell like you and get you to acquire their smell as well – and they seem to be hard-wired to try accomplishing this by licking you and, best of all, perhaps getting you to rub it back on them (possibly while saying things like “Eww, will you quit that?!!”)
You can train (at least some) dogs to stop licking and do snuggling like a cat instead (which accomplishes much of the same, transferring smells). Try rubbing cheek to cheek with a fair amount of friction, pulling the dog’s head towards you and past your face (which puts your face out of licking range) whenever it goes to lick you. Worked for me.
In the wild, it is not uncommon for a female with cubs to go hunting; on her return, the cubs excitedly lick around her jaws and this stimulates her to regurgitate food for them.
And adding to that, domesticated, they do this as a sign that they are inferior and look up to you, being the leader of the pack. They’re basically sucking up.