In daily life, we see that dogs like to lick all kinds of things. They are especially excited when they see their owners coming back from going out! Does licking by dogs have any other meaning? In fact, in dogs In dog language, every action has a different meaning and needs to be understood in conjunction with different scenarios. There are generally three situations when dogs "lick": licking themselves, licking their owners, and licking other people or things. These three situations express the meaning of failure respectively.

1. Licking yourself

Cats lick themselves to clean themselves, but dogs do not. Dogs licking themselves reflect different conditions, and often some abnormalities in the body. If your dog frequently licks certain parts of their body, they may be injured. At this time, the owner should check the area where the dog licked to see if any wounds are found around it. If the dog still keeps licking its paws, nose or lips even though no wounds are found, it means they may be in a nervous state and need to lick themselves to calm down. At this time, the owner should pay attention to whether he has taken his dog out too little recently, or whether the appearance of some strange things has made the dog feel stressed? Long-term stress may even cause the behavior of licking oneself to develop into obsessive-compulsive disorder.

　2. Lick the master

The owner is the dog’s closest and most frequent contact person. The person who is most often licked by the dog is the owner. But did you know? Dogs lick different parts and express different meanings. In the world of dogs, class status is very clear. Generally speaking, when a dog licks its owner, it means submission. If your dog licks you, your status in the dog's mind must be very important. Another situation is that when a dog does something wrong and the owner is scolding it, the dog will keep licking the owner's hands or feet to ask for forgiveness.

3. Licking other people or things

Generally, dogs are very wary of strangers or other strange dogs, and will rarely lick outsiders or other animals (unless there is residual food fragrance on your hands). If a strange dog licks you, congratulations! The dog likes you very much. Because in the social language of dogs, the action of licking contains friendly meanings. So when a strange dog licks you, it is telling you: "I like you very much, do you want to be a friend?" After understanding the meaning of the dog's "licking", let's talk about how to deal with it. For foreigners who are more open-minded, many people happily accept the enthusiastic behavior of dogs. But for us who are relatively conservative, the love of dogs may be too passionate. In this case, we shouldHow to do it appropriately?

In fact, dogs are very smart. If you don’t want the dog to lick you, you can gently pinch the dog’s mouth and give the “no” command to let the dog understand that it is not allowed. You can also take a relatively tactful approach and take some measures, such as asking the dog to sit down, or giving some snacks or toys to divert the dog's attention. But rejecting a dog will always make the dog a little sad, so remember to touch the dog’s head after rejection to give the dog some comfort.

The licking behavior of a dog is a very basic behavior, but such a small action can also reflect the different physical and mental states of the dog. By understanding the language of dog licking, maybe we can get closer to dogs.

References

Philip W, Page A V. Pasteurella multocida non-native joint infection after a dog lick: A case report describing a complicated two-stage revision and a comprehensive review of the literature[J]. Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, 2015 , 26(4): 212-217.