# My dog doesn't kiss me!



## FriarBri

Hi friends,

This may sound like a strange question but I have an 8 month old loveable Italian greyhound. He is great in every way but I'm jealous because he gives everyone else kisses (licks on the face) but not me! Does this mean he doesn't like me? We have a great relationship otherwise.

Jealous in Boston


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## Curbside Prophet

Well, I'd be perfectly fine if Elsa didn't kiss me because there is a theory that dogs lick our faces expecting regurgitation. And the thought of that grosses me out. It goes back to the study of wolves and how wolf puppies lick their mother's face to stimulate regurgitation. Sorry, I don't mean to gross you out...just wanted to point out that it could be a good thing. But no, it does not mean she doesn't like you. In fact it could mean just the opposite. She may respect your space and leadership more than others. And since your relationship is great otherwise, I'd say love her even more still. Welcome to our forum!


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## nrhareiner

Personally that would be fine with me. I really hate it when dogs kiss me. I discurage it in all my dogs. 

Why he does others and not you. Are you on any type of medications or do you eat something others in your family do not. Animals can tell these type of things in poeple.

Heidi


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## atldoglover

"Young puppies instinctively begin licking their mother's mouths looking for a meal. In the wild, a wolf cub's diet will include regurgitated food along with mother's milk. Licking mom's mouth triggers the regurgitation. I believe that when dogs lick humans on the mouth, they instinctively are hoping for the same result."- John Ross- Dog Talk Forum-_Tribute Review_ 

If you want to get technical as to why dogs lick, I would have to agree with Curbside Prophet. 

I'm sure that your puppy loves and respects you and whether or not you get "kisses" has nothing to do with it.


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## chubby

hahaha I had the same jealousy! I also found my dog kissed me more when I ate something particularly smelly


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## lisahi

My puppy generally only kisses me on the face when I get home from work and she's particularly excited. Maybe she thinks I've brought her back a yummy regurgitated meal. She's never been much of a licker otherwise, except when I have lotion on, and then I discourage it because I don't want her to ingest lotion.


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## doxiemommy

Ok, I _used_ to like being kissed by my dogs until you all brought up the regurgitation thing. Ewww.


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## lisahi

My dog also occassionally eats her poop... sooooo not too fond of poop mouth.


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## Mizuno

My dog was a licker and I "trained" her to kiss (shaping the nose poke action she did to a command, no tongue) because I would rather her do that than lick my hands or face. She, like Coco, is an occasional poop connoisseur and I really don't want that tongue anywhere near my mouth. I've also watched all of my dogs thoroughly clean themselves and don't want that anywhere near my mouth either.

Maybe your little guy has figured out you won't regurgitate food for him  and is still trying to get strangers to, lol.

ETA:... there totally was more to this post and I have no idea what happened to it! Re-adding it to the best of my memory!


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## Polywoggy

My dog is very affectionate, but not a kisser. A lot of people think that's a good thing since a dog's tongue is also doggy toilet paper. Really, the only time Willow would kiss me was first thing in the morning when I first started to stir and wake up. I guess she was saying, "I'm hungry Mom- get up and get breakfast!."
Sometimes I feed her from her from my mouth as well as handfeed her. Today I fed her some cherrywood sausage this way. Is that gross and abnormal?


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## lil_fuzzy

Pixie would lick my face if I let her, Obi isn't a licker, but he is clearly more attached to me than Pixie is, so licking or not doesn't say anything about liking you. I prefer it when they don't lick me.


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## KBLover

FriarBri said:


> Hi friends,
> 
> This may sound like a strange question but I have an 8 month old loveable Italian greyhound. He is great in every way but I'm jealous because he gives everyone else kisses (licks on the face) but not me! Does this mean he doesn't like me? We have a great relationship otherwise.
> 
> Jealous in Boston


Licking isn't necessarily affection.

It can be:

-Appeasement (maybe this will make her happy)
-Greeting (which is different than affection - he's being polite to the stranger)
-Calming Signal (I don't know you, but I hope by doing this, you'll be peaceful to me)
-Scent (he might be trying to taste their skin - Wally tries to lick kids because they smell like food)
-Affection (licking can be a sign of affection - not always and not the only one)
-Like CP said - the "maybe you'll puke up food for me, let me try it and see."
-Mutual Grooming (if he does start licking you, he could be grooming you since dogs sometimes do this to each other as a social ritual/sign of a relationship)
-Excitement (he just HAS to do something with that energy, and dogs like to do things with their mouths...so why not lick?)

You can tell if your dog likes you in many other ways than if he licks. I wouldn't worry about it just from the licking.

For Wally - he licks my mom all the time and it's usually the mutual grooming part (trying to lick off her lotion and stuff) or scent (she was holding food/eating recently and he licks her hands to see what it was). For me, he usually does it either for mutual grooming (I'm petting, running my fingers through his fur and he's licking me all over at the same time) or expression of excitement (we're playing and he's close to my face and I keep saying "good boy" and he'll sometimes lick me REALLY HARD a couple times while playing.)


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## Mac'N'Roe

My dog Mac will not kiss me at all...and it really bugs me. I trained him to give me "kiss kiss" and he bops his little mouth on mine. Its cute, but he only does it when he wants something from me, like food or chest scratches. I'll take what I can get.


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## hanksimon

I agree with KBLOver, licking can have many purposes. Another one, that fits into those categories (Appeasement or Calming Signal?) - Please don't do that to me (but I'm not going to bite you, because I know you, and it isn't that big a deal)

I think that dogs lick you when you blow in their face, because of the above. It's fairly easy to stop a dog from licking, but I usually recommend against it, because they may stop completely (using a minor variation of the Yelp - Bite Stops Here).

I'd imagine that that if you put just a small bit of peanut butter on your cheek, that you could teach your dog to lick on cue... (Or you could get a Labrador Retriever  )


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## spotted nikes

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/hes-just-not-that-into-you/29704/main?flv=1


Just kidding!!!


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## Abbylynn

Polywoggy said:


> My dog is very affectionate, but not a kisser. A lot of people think that's a good thing since a dog's tongue is also doggy toilet paper. Really, the only time Willow would kiss me was first thing in the morning when I first started to stir and wake up. I guess she was saying, "I'm hungry Mom- get up and get breakfast!."
> Sometimes I feed her from her from my mouth as well as handfeed her. Today I fed her some cherrywood sausage this way. Is that gross and abnormal?


 I find that not strange. We used to put something really small in our mouths just to see if the dog could get it without touching our lips. It was a sort of game. The dogs liked it too. They just got something tasty! My dogs alsways lick my knees. What's up with that?


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## shellbeme

I liked Rocky kisses until I realized all the bugs, bird poop and rabbit poop he tries to eat, npt to mention the fact that he licks his own butt. Now, I prefer he doesnt give me kisses.


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