Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss?

Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss?  Are your greeted each day with a wet sloppy "kiss" from your poodle or dog?  It is rather instinctive to dogs and there are several reasons why this is very common among our canine companions. 

It's not just "puppy love" as they say.  There is some truth to that assumption that your poodle is expressing love and affection when it licks your face or hand.   But don't forget that dogs experience the world through their mouth and their nose.   I know that Lucy is so happy to see me every day that I get a wet sloppy greeting from her on my face.  I think it's part affection and part respect.  In a way, I think she is letting me know I am in charge.  In the wild, the more subordinate dogs will lick the pack leaders.   Sometimes Lucy will lick me when someone comes into the house she does not know.  This sort of lets the person know that I am important to them.

Lucy, our poodle,  licking my face

For one thing, the licking process is learned early on in dogs from the mother.  The mother will lick it's newborn pups to stimulate them and get them to begin breathing, as well as getting them cleaned up a bit.  The licking process is an instinctive one and it goes back to when they were born.
Poodles like to lick their human friends because we taste good.  In actuality, our skin is slightly salty and our glands are constantly emitting our scent along with salt.  Dogs get information from their nose and we are unconsciously giving information to our poodles all of the time.

Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss?

Taken from petplace.com, the following excerpt offers a perspective on the question of why poodles like to lick people.

I don't believe dogs express their sometimes quite profound feelings for their owners by licking or "kissing." In fact, I don't believe dogs really "kiss" at all. Perhaps some dogs are so awed by their owners that they feel the need to signal their ongoing deference by face licking. Call it love, if you will.

One other thing we should always bear in mind is that any behavior can be enhanced learning. Psychologist BF Skinner immortalized the concept that reward increases the likelihood of a response. So it is with licking. If a dog licks his owner's face – perhaps as a vestige of maternal lip licking, perhaps out of anxiety, or just because his owner's face tastes salty – and his behavior is greeted with attention, hugs and (human) kisses, he will likely repeat the behavior in future. In such cases the dog learns just how to push he owners buttons and the owner becomes analogous to a vending machine.

So while face licking may not represent true romantic love, it nevertheless can sometimes be interpreted as some token of a dog's affection or respect ... and that's nothing to sniff at.

Original story may be found here

I wonder Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss as much as mine does?  Probably so, I would imagine.  It's a sign of loyalty and respect as well as affection.  But what does your poodle get out of the act of licking?  Well, for many dogs, licking releases pleasurable endorphins which gives dogs a sense of comfort and pleasure.  It offers a release of stress for the animal.  If it is compulsive or it is getting to be a bit too much for you, just get up and walk away, or just ignore the licking.  If every time your poodle or dog begins to lick you and the petting stops and you get up and ignore the dog, it will most likely subside, little by little.