Dogs are very enthusiastic about their owners, and their way of expressing love is simple and straightforward. They keep wagging their tails, sometimes making whining sounds, and dogs really like to lick people. Sometimes, their licking leaves your hands covered in saliva, yet dogs remain enthusiastic about it. Why do dogs like to lick people? What are the reasons dogs lick people?

Many people think dogs like to lick because this is a habit inherited from their ancestors, wolves. In wolf packs, newly weaned wolf pups eat food regurgitated by the mother wolf, so the pups often lick the mother wolf’s mouth to stimulate her to regurgitate food to feed them. Over time, this habit has been passed down!

Dogs, being very similar to wolves, also have this liking. When they want to eat, they like to lick their mother’s mouth and face to ask for food! Of course, besides requesting food, dogs also use licking the mouths of other dogs to calm the mother dog’s anger, similar to human flirting!

Within dog packs, puppies also lick faces to ask other dogs for food. Because the dog community is very tolerant of puppies, whatever the puppies need will be given, and they are allowed to act spoiled without being attacked!

Additionally, in a dog group, a lower-ranking dog may lick the noses and mouths of higher-ranking dogs to show submission, which is a way of showing weakness and also a sign of respect!

So over time, in the process of raising dogs in families, we as owners are the leaders, and dogs are the followers. To show obedience, dogs will lick their owners! If owners scold them, dogs will quietly run to their owners, licking their hands and mouths to show they are sorry and ask the owner not to be angry. Usually, owners find these spoiled behaviors amusing!

If as owners we dislike this behavior, we can refuse to let dogs lick us, but this will make dogs very sad and anxious, so it is best not to refuse dog licking. After all, dogs mean it kindly!