Behaviour
Your face when you get home, your feet after a shower, visitors and children. Licking nearly always has a simple reason, and you are the one who sets the rule.
Worth knowing. A dog who has suddenly started licking a lot, especially if he also licks the floor, walls or thin air and swallows often, may be feeling sick or have a stomach problem. See your own vet before starting any plan.
You sit down on the sofa, the dog leaps into your lap and licks your face until you can barely breathe. Another dog goes for your hands, your feet when you step out of the shower, your ears first thing in the morning. Or yours licks every visitor, including the aunt who cannot stand dogs and your two-year-old nephew, and you are never sure whether to laugh or step in. Licking people is one of the most ordinary things dogs do, and most of the time it is no problem at all. It becomes one when it bothers other people, when it will not stop, or when there is something else behind it. Below is why your dog does it and what you can change if you want less of it.
For a few days, jot down when he licks you: where, who, what happened just before and what you did afterwards. The answer is usually one of these, or a mix.
Saying hello. Puppies, both dogs and wolves, lick the mouths of adults coming home. It is a welcome and, originally, a request for food. Plenty of dogs keep the habit for life and use it on people: he licks your face as you walk in, body low, tail swinging wide.
Smoothing things over. Dogs lick to take the heat out of a situation. When he licks your hands or face while you raise your voice, lean over him or after a row at home, he is saying "I don't want trouble". He makes himself small, ears back, sometimes rolls onto his back. That is a stress signal rather than affection, and you take notice of it.
Taste. After exercise your skin is salty. You have hand cream on, or you have been eating with your fingers. Feet after a shower, hands after cooking, face after a run: he checks with his tongue what his nose already told him.
Attention. This is where most persistent licking comes from. Every time he licked you, you laughed, talked to him, pushed him off (for lots of dogs, being pushed is play) or at least looked at him. He has learnt that his tongue puts him centre stage. And if he licks a visitor and the visitor giggles, he has learnt it all over again.
Over-excitement. Some dogs lick more when they are wound up: when someone arrives, before a walk, during play. It is how they let off steam, the way other dogs jump up.
Settling his own nerves. In anxious dogs, licking, whether themselves or you, can turn into a way of calming down. If he licks you a lot when you are getting ready to go out, during a storm or every evening at the same time, this may be what is going on.
Grooming. Dogs who live together lick each other's faces and ears. Some do the same with their people, ears and hair, slowly and calmly, before settling down to sleep.
Pushing him off and saying "no!" while laughing. To the dog that is a toy with sound effects. A push with your hand is exactly what another dog does in play. Result: more licking.
Telling him off or tapping his nose. For a dog who licks to calm you, a telling-off is the very tension he is trying to switch off. He will lick more, or learn that coming close to you is risky. Some dogs start growling when their muzzle is grabbed. It is not worth it.
Yes today, no tomorrow. Today you laugh and let him wash your face; tomorrow you tell him off for the same thing because you are dressed to go out. He has no way of working out the rule. And a behaviour that only works now and then gets tried even harder.
Leaving everyone to manage on their own. A three-year-old cannot stop him. A polite visitor says nothing. The dog concludes that licking strangers is fine.
Ignoring stress licking altogether. If he licks you with his ears flat and his body tucked up, the licking is not what needs work; whatever worried him is.
First decide what you want. Plenty of people do not want to stop licking altogether. They just want it off their face, or off visitors, or off the children, and that is absolutely fine. Tell everyone at home clearly, so there is one rule.
A dog cannot sit calmly and lick your face at the same time. Choose something that takes the place of licking and make a fuss of it every time: warm praise and his favourite treat.
When he starts licking where you do not want him to, stand up calmly without a word, or turn your head away and take your hand back, for two or three seconds. No laughing, no pushing, no "no". When he stops or sits, turn back to him with a warm voice and a stroke. Dogs catch on fast: the tongue makes you go away, calm brings you back.
If the licking comes with flattened ears, a tucked-up body, yawning or a turned-away head, stop what you are doing. Do not lean over him or hug him; give him room. Think about what put him in that spot and change the situation. If it keeps happening, have a look at our page on fear and anxiety.
| Day | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | The diary: when he licks, who, what happened just before. Everyone at home agrees the rule. |
| 1 to 7 | Practise nose to palm, 5 minutes a day, somewhere quiet. |
| 2 to 7 | Every time you come in: wait for the sit, then say hello. If he licks your face, you stand up. |
| 4 to 7 | Visitors: dog on a lead or with his toy for the first meeting; tell them beforehand what to do. |
| 7 | Read back through the diary: where it has dropped, where it has not, and whether the stress licking follows a pattern. |
Licking people is rarely a sign of illness. A few situations are still worth a trip to your own vet:
And the other way round, a few rules for your own health. Do not let him lick open wounds, burns or fresh scratches: dog saliva carries bacteria that, rarely, cause serious infections in people, especially those with weakened immunity. Babies and anyone with a weakened immune system (on cancer treatment, after a transplant, without a spleen) keep their faces away from the dog's tongue. Keeping his worming up to date matters here as well.
A trainer or behaviour professional sees your dog in his own surroundings, may film a greeting at the door, and tells you which part is greeting, which is stress and which is habit. Very often a pair of outside eyes cuts the road short.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer.
Sometimes it is a hello and closeness, especially with a loose body and a wide, swinging tail. Other times it is a learnt bid for attention, the salty taste of your skin or an attempt to calm a tense moment. Look at his body: flattened ears, a tucked-up posture and yawning mean stress, not happiness.
For a healthy adult the risk is small, as long as the dog is wormed and vaccinated. Dog saliva does carry bacteria that, rarely, cause serious infections in people with weakened immunity. Do not let him lick open wounds, and keep babies and anyone with a weakened immune system away from his tongue.
Mostly for the taste: the skin on your feet is salty, especially after exercise or a shower, and smells strongly of you. Sometimes it is attention as well: you looked, laughed, pulled your foot away and it turned into a game. If it bothers you, put socks on and praise him, with a tasty treat, when he lies quietly beside you.
For the first few meetings, keep him on a lead beside you or in another room with a stuffed toy until the excitement passes. Teach him to sit to say hello, and ask visitors to stand up and look away if he starts licking. When he is calm, he gets praise and a tasty treat.
He is probably trying to calm things down. Dogs lick to ease tension, especially when voices rise or someone leans over them. A telling-off will not stop it; the licking is a sign the situation stresses him. Give him room and, if it keeps happening, think about what is unsettling him.
A behaviour that appears suddenly or changes for no apparent reason can have a medical cause. For full details, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
You walk in and his paws are on your chest before the door has shut. Jumping up is a greeting, and he keeps doing it because it has worked every single time.
The wet slurping every evening, rusty paws, a bald patch on the wrist. Licking is a symptom, and "he's bored" is the diagnosis that comes last, not first.
Four months to go and a dog who sleeps on your bed. The preparation starts now, and there is one rule above all others: never alone together.
To the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom and back. A dog who follows you is usually a perfectly normal dog. What matters is how he feels when he cannot.
An assessment session tells you where you stand and which plan makes sense for your dog. The behaviour programme then works step by step, reward-based only.