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dog licking other's mouth



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 1st 08, 05:39 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Harlett O'Dowd
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Posts: 1
Default dog licking other's mouth

This is something odd.

We have a five year-old male lab/shepard mix and had him since he was
a pup. we also have a 17 1/2(!) year old female chow/corgie(?) mix.
Since the lab was a pup he would lick the chow's mouth repeatedly -
usually until the chow had had enough and growled or snapped at him to
get him to stop.

At the time I thought it was some sort of submissive behavior on the
part of the puppy, perhaps a request for food. But now the lab is over
five and no longer a puppy, but he still does it all the time. Is is
trying to clean her teeth? What? He almost never does it to out 10
year old female lab/boxer/chow.

Any explanation on what this behavior is and if it should be
discouraged would be appreciated.

Thanks!
  #2  
Old July 1st 08, 06:54 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
montana wildhack
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Posts: 3,032
Default dog licking other's mouth

On 2008-07-01 12:39:10 -0400, "Harlett O'Dowd"
said:

At the time I thought it was some sort of submissive behavior on the
part of the puppy, perhaps a request for food. But now the lab is over
five and no longer a puppy, but he still does it all the time.


I think there are a lot of different things going on with this behavior
and from what I have observed, I cannot call it submissive behavior -
although it can be.

This is a way that dogs communicate with each other and it appears to
me to be too complex to assign it one or two meanings. Context can be a
key. So, is it submissive? A challenge? An acknowledgement? A greeting?
I don't think there's one answer.

  #3  
Old July 1st 08, 11:01 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Jan, Kozzie Girl and Sylvie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 72
Default dog licking other's mouth

On Jul 1, 12:39*pm, "Harlett O'Dowd"
wrote:
This is something odd.

We have a five year-old male lab/shepard mix and had him since he was
a pup. we also have a 17 1/2(!) year old female chow/corgie(?) mix.
Since the lab was a pup he would lick the chow's mouth repeatedly -
usually until the chow had had enough and growled or snapped at him to
get him to stop.

At the time I thought it was some sort of submissive behavior on the
part of the puppy, perhaps a request for food. But now the lab is over
five and no longer a puppy, but he still does it all the time. Is is
trying to clean her teeth? What? He almost never does it to out 10
year old female lab/boxer/chow.

Any explanation on what this behavior is and if it should be
discouraged would be appreciated.

Thanks!


We have 3 dogs, only one of the 3 licks the mouth of the older dog.
She has done it since we brought her home. I always figured it was
her saying hi, or being submissive. It has never bothered the older
dog and I never stopped her from doing it.

Jan and the girls
http://www.thefineartcafe.com
 




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