Why Dogs Lick Our Faces or Feet (And 12 Other Behaviors Explained)

Dog lovers melt when their furry friends gently paw in their sleep, when they tilt their heads or simply run around frantically after a bath. What many of us don’t know is that such cute behaviors have a reason for being and that explanation is often simpler than it seems.

O awesome.club wants to explain the reason for these behaviors, which almost always tend to provoke more than one smile.

This action can have three meanings, and whatever it is, it needs your attention. The first: your dog is very bored and looking to have fun. The second is that he may have parasites causing burning or itching. As a third point, if you do it often, it may be an OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) due to stress, anxiety or frustration.

This can be one of the most common ways they show love and respect for their owner. They say that licking is equivalent to kissing. If your puppy licks your feet, it may be identifying your taste, your chemical composition and your state of health. Sometimes it can also do it just to get your attention.

One of the cutest things dogs do is tilt their heads to try and understand you better. Some theories claim that, in this way, they hear tones and words more accurately, and others mention that the muzzle hinders them, and the position gives them a broader view. Either way, the little heads tilted to one side always generate a long, heartfelt “Own”.

Spending time with your puppy or puppy and playing what they enjoy means just about everything to him or her. Not only is it fun, but the fact of bringing him the ball can be a way of “gifting” him or pleasing him.

Dogs are distant relatives of wolves and this defines their way of being. Your toy can be interpreted as prey, and shaking it vigorously reflects your hunting instincts. However, most domestic dogs do this just for fun.

Dogs’ front paws can help them clean their face when they feel that something is bothering them or even stop an itch. This can also mean a sign of submission to other animals or to their own owners.

If your dog takes off running at lightning speed after taking a nice bath, then he might be experiencing FRAPS (Frenzied Periods of Random Activity). What is it? It’s an extreme buildup of energy. Most dogs hate bath time. And when they finally feel free, they go crazy with joy. This, at the same time, helps them to dry themselves and recover their natural smell, since shampoos are not usually to their liking.

As we mentioned earlier, dogs are distantly related to wolves. Rotating several times on its own axis can be a way of checking that there is nothing dangerous around them that could catch them by surprise. And that even includes pet dogs, which do this by inherited instinct. They also “fluff their bed” to ensure their space is comfortable.

Smell is one of the most acute senses of dogs, and they are able to perceive a multitude of smells that humans cannot. Rolling in the grass helps you identify a new smell that has caught your attention, or even get rid of the smells you don’t like. On certain occasions, they do so to get rid of the itchy back.

Dogs love to feel the warmth of their pack and you are their family. So, such behavior is like a way of showing your affection. This is also how they mark their territory. This can happen more often when they have visitors to whom they want to make it clear that they are not willing to share what is theirs. Other experts claim that sitting on the owner’s feet and not letting them move is a defiant attitude, which makes them feel dominating. This behavior should not be reinforced, but corrected.

Dogs can sleep calmly and deeply and enter the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase, characterized by rapid eye movements, in which they begin to dream and have spasms. Therefore, their little face can shake uncontrollably, they can kick or even bark. It is not recommended to wake them up at this time, as they may feel disoriented and in a bad mood, as with any human being.

The movement of the tail has many meanings, but when it moves in circles, it means that your dog is in the mood to play, and the greater the speed, the greater the emotion. No matter how old they are, they are so faithful that they will always be happy to see you.

Experts claim that this is the “scratching reflex”, in which nerve endings are activated that send the signal that there is an agent causing itchiness or irritation (although most seem to like it a lot).

What behaviors do you love in your furry? Don’t forget to share this information with other dog lovers.