| BLOG OVERVIEW & KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Takeaway 1: Licking in dogs is a multifunctional behavior with at least six distinct motivations: social bonding and appeasement, information gathering through taste, communication of emotional state, attention-seeking, self-soothing, and genuine taste preference for salt. Most licking is a combination of several of these at once. Key Takeaway 2: The most significant function of licking in the context of human-dog relationships is communication and appeasement. Dogs lick the faces and hands of higher-status social partners as a deference signal. Your dog licking you is partly a statement about how they see your relationship. Key Takeaway 3: Excessive licking that is constant, compulsive, or directed at specific body areas on you or on themselves can signal anxiety, pain, or behavioral compulsion. The difference between normal licking and problematic licking is about frequency, context, and whether it can be interrupted without significant distress. |
It Is Not Just Because They Like You
Although they do like you. That part is true.
But if you have ever watched your dog lick you and wondered what is actually going on in their head, the answer is more layered than any single explanation covers.
Licking is one of the most ancient and multifunctional behaviors in the canine behavioral repertoire. It begins at birth (the mother licking the puppy to stimulate breathing and elimination) and continues across the lifespan as a communication tool, a bonding mechanism, a sensory exploration method, and a self-regulation behavior.
Here is what is actually happening when your dog licks you.
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Reason 1: Social Communication and Appeasement
This is likely the primary function of face and hand licking directed at humans, and it is also the least understood by most dog owners.
In wolf and wild dog social groups, lower-ranking individuals lick the faces and mouths of higher-ranking individuals as a deference and affiliation signal. It communicates: I acknowledge your status. I am not a threat. I want to maintain social connection with you.
Puppies lick their mother’s face to stimulate food regurgitation. Adult wolves lick the muzzles of pack leaders upon their return. The behavior is deeply embedded in canine social communication as a gesture of deference and affiliation.
When your dog licks your face or hands, they are participating in this social language. They are saying: I see you as my trusted social partner and I want to affirm that relationship.
This is not the same as dominance. It is the opposite. Licking up toward a face is a submissive and affiliative behavior in canine social language.
Reason 2: Information Gathering
A dog’s tongue is a chemical analysis instrument.
Human skin constantly secretes information through sweat, skin oils, residual food particles, environmental chemical exposures, and pheromones. To a dog with 300 million scent receptors and a sophisticated chemical analysis system in the vomeronasal organ (Jacobson’s organ, located in the roof of the mouth and used to analyze non-volatile chemical compounds), licking a human’s skin is reading a detailed report.
Your dog licks you after you have been outside to analyze where you went. After you have been to the gym to assess your physical state. After you have eaten to identify what you consumed. After you have been near other animals to register that information.
The licking is partly data collection. Your skin is a library your dog reads regularly.
Reason 3: Salt and Taste
Human skin secretes sweat that contains sodium chloride. To a dog’s palate, salt is highly appealing. The flavor of your skin, particularly after physical activity or in warm weather, genuinely tastes good to your dog.
This is one of the simpler explanations for licking, but it is also genuinely real. It works alongside other motivations rather than replacing them, but the taste factor is real and consistent.
Reason 4: Emotional Expression and Bonding
Licking releases endorphins in dogs. It is a self-soothing behavior that produces measurable physiological calming. When a dog licks a person they are bonded to, this calming effect is amplified by the social context.
The oxytocin connection is relevant here too. Physical contact including licking can elevate oxytocin in dogs in the same way petting does. Your dog licking you may be, in part, a way of generating the neurochemical state associated with bonding and security.
The emotional expression reading: dogs who are anxious or stressed often increase licking. Dogs who are relaxed and content also lick, but the quality is different. Anxious licking tends to be more frantic, repetitive, and difficult to redirect. Content licking tends to be slower and more intermittent.
Reason 5: Attention Seeking
If your dog has learned that licking you produces a response, any response, the licking behavior has been reinforced.
Pulling your hand away, saying “no,” laughing, moving away, or enthusiastically petting them all provide the response that motivated the lick. For an attention-motivated dog, all of these outcomes are wins.
Dogs who lick primarily when they want something (food, a walk, play, attention) are displaying learned attention-seeking behavior that the dog has trained their owner to respond to reliably.
When Licking Becomes Excessive
Normal licking is intermittent and context-appropriate. It can be redirected without significant distress. The dog does not seem to need to lick to function.
Excessive or compulsive licking looks different:
- The dog licks constantly and cannot easily be redirected
- Licking escalates when the dog is anxious or stressed
- The dog licks themselves compulsively at the same location (can indicate pain, allergies, or OCD)
- Licking is accompanied by other anxiety behaviors
Compulsive licking in dogs is classified as a stereotypy in some cases and can be associated with anxiety, boredom, or underlying pain at a specific body site. If your dog licks one area of their own body repeatedly to the point of creating a wound or hair loss, this is a veterinary concern. These are called acral lick dermatitis or lick granulomas and are associated with both pain and anxiety.
Should You Let Your Dog Lick Your Face?
This is a personal decision with some medical context worth knowing.
Dog saliva contains bacteria from their oral microbiome. In immunocompetent healthy adults, routine face licking poses minimal infection risk. Dogs who regularly eat feces, drink from contaminated water sources, or are not current on parasite prevention have higher bacterial and parasite loads in their saliva.
For immunocompromised people, infants, and elderly individuals, the risk-benefit assessment may differ. The AVMA generally advises against allowing dogs to lick wounds or mucous membranes for this reason.
If you are comfortable with your dog’s general health and hygiene and allow face licking, the medical risk for healthy adults is low. If you prefer to redirect to hand or arm licking, this is a completely reasonable middle ground.
Q&A
Q: My dog only licks me when I am upset or crying. Is this empathy?
Behavioral research suggests it is a real response to emotional signals. Studies have found that dogs approach and make contact with humans displaying distress signals (crying) more than humans displaying neutral behaviors. Whether this constitutes empathy in the philosophical sense is debated. That it is a genuine, contextually appropriate response to human emotional state is supported by the research.
Q: How do I get my dog to lick less?
Consistently redirect the licking to a specific toy or acceptable target. Reward enthusiastically when the dog uses the toy or redirects elsewhere. Do not provide any reward, positive or negative, for the unwanted licking. Consistency across all household members is essential. If the licking is anxiety-driven, addressing the underlying anxiety is more effective than managing the symptom.
Q: Is it true that dog saliva heals wounds?
Dog saliva contains compounds including histatin, which has antimicrobial properties, and lactoferrin. These have been studied in laboratory conditions. However, dog saliva also contains bacteria that can cause infection in wounds, and the net clinical outcome of wound licking is generally negative. Veterinary guidance is consistently to prevent wound licking.
Final Thought
Your dog licks you because they are communicating affiliation, gathering information, self-soothing, seeking attention, and tasting something they find appealing. Often all simultaneously.
It is ancient social language, chemical analysis, endorphin delivery, and a snack all at once.
That is a lot of information packed into something your dog does several times a day without thinking about it.
| DISCLAIMER This article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute veterinary or behavioral advice. Always consult a licensed veterinarian or certified behaviorist for concerns about your dog’s specific health or behavior. Shop With Pets is not liable for any outcomes from reliance on this content. |
Sources and References:
- Miklósi Á. Dog Behavior, Evolution and Cognition. Oxford University Press. 2016.
- Custance D, Mayer J. Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs. Animal Cognition. 2012.
- Horowitz A. Being a Dog. Scribner. 2016.
- AVMA, Pet Hygiene and Human Health. avma.org