The reasons dogs like to lick people

One of the most tell-tale habits of any dog is licking anything.

Dogs love to lick things, some of which make sense and others not so much. It seems that one of the places they love to slobber the most is all over us. 

Why do dogs lick all over their owners, anyway? Let’s find out.

When a dog licks you, they may be trying to communicate something to you. Dogs greet each other by licking, so when they lick a human, they may be trying to say hello. Since Dogs can’t speak like humans, they have to rely on their body language to communicate. When your dog licks you, they could be saying hello or showing excitement at seeing you. It could also be that they enjoy the taste of your salty sweat. It could also be your dog’s way of submitting and indicating that you are the leader. But communication is a two-way process. 

The second reason your dog might be licking you is that they are trying to gather information about you. When a dog licks you, they are effectively learning everything about you in one go. A dog’s sense of taste is much more acute than a human’s, and they can glean a lot of information from licking someone. They can tell if that person has interacted with other dogs, and they can even get an idea of that person’s health. It’s amazing that dogs can learn so much from licking, when they only have 1,700 tastebuds compared to the 9,000 humans have. It would be very difficult to learn that much from licking your dog. 

Puppies are curious by nature and this curiosity explains why they might lick you. However, there is another big reason why your pup might be licking you and that is because you have trained them to. If you laugh or giggle when your pup lavishes you with kisses, it tells your dog that it is doing something right. Since your dog wants to feel good, it will keep doing it. 

There are many reasons why dogs lick their owners, but one thing’s for sure, they mainly do it to know you more and show you how much they love you.