Dogs are friendly animals. Sometimes they can be too friendly and even lick us! While some people don’t mind dog kisses, they can be quite gross. Why do they do it in the first place? Here are 5 reasons dogs lick us.
1. Food
The first reason why dogs like us is the most obvious reason: they smell food. Dogs may start to lick us if they smell the food we recently ate. When they smell food, the most common places to lick are the face and the hands. Always be sure to wash your hands and brush your teeth if you don’t want your dog to jump on you.
2. Love
Your dog loves you. One of the ways they can show you this is by licking you. It’s their way of letting you know how they feel about you. You’ll be able to tell your dog is licking you for love if you just got home and they seem to be especially happy and wagging their tail.
3. Heal wounds
When a dog gets injured, they lick their wounds to clean them. It has been shown that dogs can tell when a human is injured or ill. If your dog thinks that you are injured or ill, they will lick you to try to make you feel better. Often, it actually works.
4. Learning
Dogs are curious creatures by nature. They want to know things. One of the things they may want to know is how you taste. They may lick a new person out of trying to get to know them. They may also lick an owner to get intel. The taste can help the dog learn where their owner was or if they were around any other dogs or animals. And you thought your significant other was the curious one.
5. Cry for attention
Your dog wants your attention all of the time. If they want attention at any given moment, they are likely to start licking you. Hopefully, this will result in you playing with them or taking them outside.
Licking is a way for your dog to communicate with you. To get to the bottom of what they want to say, you should look for other clues. When was the last time your dog ate? How long have you been gone? When was the last time you played with your dog and rubbed his belly? You’ll know what the lick is trying to say.
