# Obsessive licking of other dogs mouths...



## dogwoman

I can not find this if I posted it allready? Question: my 1 yr & 3 month old pitbull wants to obsessively & constantly lick the mouths of new dogs he meets. Not every one but usually it is an older male( unneuterd or neuterd) Funny it seems the unneutered ones handle it better!!!!!
He is obedient and we are going to do Rally! He has never been insecure acting about anything. Never had fear of anything ( even though he came to me at 12 weeks in terrible shape) Is happy to the point of hysteria sometimes! 
I know what he is trying to say to them but why does he say it for an hour! WHile they are trying their best either to growl or get away from him...He will not stop( even if they take him down)None have ever hurt him I try to intervene the moment I see him doing it. He doesn't do it all the time.. It also seems to be more with a new dog!
But the other day he was doing it to a dog he knew and then he started humping him too....What kind of confusion is this!!!! LOL. 
Can a dog not have any idea of the proper way to communcate to another dog? Like being a social misfit? I also wonder if this has to do with how he can to me...He was found with 11 other puppies in a pen with some 1-2 yr old pits ( apparently these dogs were given insufficent amounts of food & water so they would fight to get what they needed) He has never nhown any food agression or resource guarding. He is definelty a submissive fellow too.
Any suggestions on how to deal with this? 
Oh yeah I use only positive training techniques.Thanks


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## Lonewolfblue

I think licking on the mouth, or muzzle, is a sign of acceptance and play. My Nell does it with Betty and Chloe all the time, especially when she's wanting to play. It's really funny to watch her do it.

As for the humping, it could be the dog is showing some dominance. My Betty does it quite a bit, she's the leader of the pack when I'm not around. But she also shares everything as well, has no guarding at all.


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## Poly

Mouth-licking is a sign from the "licker-dog" that he is willing to be submissive to the "lickee" if the latter accepts it. So you would think that the "lickee" would always take up the offer. But it doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes the "lickee" doesn't want to be the leader. 

As I said, mouth licking is a sign of *willingness* to be submissive, not yet an actual submission. If the other dog does not respond by signalling that it wants to be a leader, your dog has no choice but to assert leadership himself, e.g., by humping. 

In the dog world, especially among same-sex dogs, there is no such position between two dogs as equality. One is either a leader or a follower. 

But keep in mind that some dogs are so poorly socialized these days - either on purpose or inadvertantly - that *interaction *with another dog is unacceptable to them. They simply cannot have other dogs around them. So if a dog is displaying outright hostility to your dog, it would be best to remove him from the situation.


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## GreatDaneMom

i agree with poly on the licking part. BUT what i want to point out is at this point your dogs humping has NOTHING to do with dominance!! he is just looking for an outlet for his pent up energy and excitement. if you dont like the humping (which many people dont, as it can become quite habitual) just teach your dog its unaccaptable. remove the dog and give a command "off" and let him calm down a second before returning to play. thats all, its that simple. dont even start thinking about the whole dominance thing


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## 4dogs3cats

Chance, as he was growing up, would ALWAYS lick Mooses mouth.

The thing though was that Moose was a VERY submissive dog. He would never take the opportunity to have Chance be submissive. This led to Chance's constant licking of Mooses mouth, tongue, etc. Moose moved out when SO's brother moved out, but when Chance sees him, he still licks.

This is the only dog Chance has ever done this with but Moose just WONT put him in his place! lol


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## GreatDaneMom

4dogs3cats said:


> This is the only dog Chance has ever done this with but Moose just WONT put him in his place! lol


bah, no need to put the little bugger in his place! lol. we have a lab named Jack whos a complete spazzzzz, that comes into daycare a lot. as soon as he runs in, every single dog he greets, he licks their faces. its just Jack, hes just saying "hi, im here! im not threatening, just here to have fun!!" and hes just a ball of fire, one of the roughest players ive ever seen. its just a little bit of a submissive thing. he backs down to every dog as well, never tries to be tough lol.


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## 4dogs3cats

GreatDaneMom said:


> bah, no need to put the little bugger in his place! lol. we have a lab named Jack whos a complete spazzzzz, that comes into daycare a lot. as soon as he runs in, every single dog he greets, he licks their faces. its just Jack, hes just saying "hi, im here! im not threatening, just here to have fun!!" and hes just a ball of fire, one of the roughest players ive ever seen. its just a little bit of a submissive thing. he backs down to every dog as well, never tries to be tough lol.


haha thats cute. Those licky silly all over the place dogs are my favs!


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