dog loves licking my head

antocann

basicly as title says , my dog every night before she goes asleep she fights with me to lick my head , theres no winning with her, she then usualy bites me ear :P

she's friendly dog , well spioled , think thats the problem , but any one any tips on how to stop it ,

thanks

Gremlin

Just tell her no and don't allow her do it, she'll get the message soon enough.

Eever

I could be wrong but I think licking your head like that is a challenge to your authority. I'm pretty sure they do it to other dogs to establish who the leader is which, if true, would mean your dog is basically telling you that he's the pack leader and can lick your face as much as he wants. (Like I said though, I'm not positive about this)

I don't understand how it's possible that the dog wins the struggle to lick your face?? Can you not just tell him no? How does he get up to your face? Sounds more like you've been letting him do it for ages because you thought it was funny, now that you've decided to put a stop to it, it really shouldn't be difficult for the dog to learn.

LucyBliss

My dog Meg would lick your face off if you let her. I mean, forget about being bit; with her you're more at risk of being smothered to death when she tries to clean your nose! She grooms Jack and Rosie a lot too and Jack for all his would be attitude is quite fond of having his ears and head cleaned off, though he's well able to walk away if he's not interested.

Meg is very tenacious so when she decides she wants to lick your face, she goes for you with guns blazing and I have to tell her 'No' many times and gently move her away from me. I do a thing with her where I say "Kiss!" and she licks the tip of my nose.

I don't see it myself as her angling for leadership or trying to best me. She's very companionable, she watches people and will come over and lie or sit beside you if you're not well.
But like with all things dog, they have to learn to respect your boundaries and your rules. So working on the No and Leave it commands should do the trick. Not always easy and like I said, once Meg gets a notion to lick your face, she can be very determined! But you have to be consistent.

alexa5x5

I’ve always thought that a they do this as a sign of affection. I know when I had my own dog he only ever licked people on the face when he really like them (which I knew by the demented tail wagging :pac:).

When I wanted him to stop I just said NO, which he accepted more as he grew up. If your dog is quite young then she will probably grow out of it.

Viper_JB

Put a load of pepper on your head, that'll show her who's boss!

piperh

antocann wrote: »

basicly as title says , my dog every night before she goes asleep she fights with me to lick my head , theres no winning with her, she then usualy bites me ear :P
thanks

She thinks this is a game now because its turned into a struggle and she obviously gets your attention by doing this.

Don't bend down so she can reach your head, put her into bed with a pat and say a firm but friendly goodnight and walk away. If she is sleeping in the same room as you simply gentle move her away with a firm no and return her to her bed. It might take time but she will realise you're no longer willing to play her game.

Eever

Yes sorry, I didn't mean to say that the only option is that the dog is challenging you, I would think it's an affectionate thing too, I don't know where I read that it's something to do with establishing leadership, affection obviously makes more sense.

My dog does it too, but to the other dog, not people. We've got three dogs and my one goes absolutely mad for licking the boxers face because her nose is abnormally squished so there's a few folds in the skin that my dog really loves getting right into. I guess that's why it sounded so crazy to me that your dog is doing it to you, I'm picturing how persistent and mental my dog is about doing it to the boxer, the very thought of him doing it to a person and them being helpless to stop him sounds both bonkers and hilarious.

**Have just googled the meaning of when a dog licks your face and got a few things back saying it's a sign of submission that they do to their pack leader. It's just from random people posting on sites so don't know how true it is, but at least I knew I heard the meaning somewhere...... and then got it completely backwards.

Jackasaurus rex

If you look at the pack of wolves next time your in the zoo they all do it to the biggest fella. who i can only assume is the boss. He is a monster

barbiegirl

Our little terrier x does the very same thing. He's grooming you. If he's like ours he only does it to people he loves. We call it the love bomb

antocann

thanks for the replies guys ,

she's a pug x beagle ,

verry playfull and she's like my bestfriend ( that problay sounds gay )

as how she licks my head , she just jumps on me and goes for it , when i tell her no and move her away , she comes back and go's for it again and again ,
usualy leads to her bitting me ,but not hard or vicorious just playing ,

i was reading that pugs love licking/ giving kisses, could this have anything to do with her breed ?

she is always with me also , weather that has anything to do with it

thanks for the tips
but regarding pepper ... id rather not , as i dont think it would bother her as she eats absalutly anything

antocann

barbiegirl wrote: »

Our little terrier x does the very same thing. He's grooming you. If he's like ours he only does it to people he loves. We call it the love bomb

yep only doe's it to me ,

**Vai**

Your dog is being dominant over you. If u want to have an easy life I'd put a stop to it now. What the guy said above about wolves is true to a point but wolves do that for many reasons and will stop when the alpha tells them too.. What your dog is doing is not the same thing, especially the biting (even if its just playful biting). Trust me, my own dogs will come up to me and lick my chin as a sign of submission, they will then stop when they are told and wont lick any other part of my face because Ive taught them not too.

Its nothing to do with the breed, any dog, pug or boerboel, should stop any behaviour when they are told to. Personally I wouldnt have it but each to his own, if u want to stop it theres loads of sites/books about dog training.

Sigma Force

Our Papillon does this all the time to hubby he cycles a lot so is a sweaty old man dogs like the salt in the sweat. I find it annoying but hubby lets him so that's why he does it, coz he can and coz he's let.
Don't believe it's a dominant thing in our case anyway.