Why Does A Dog Lick Your Hand When You Pet Them. If you are curious about why your dog does this check out the reasons below. Dogs may want to lick the salt left behind from sweat on the feet as well. Dogs lick your hands when they play and you might not notice it. First it is a form of self-grooming and at times grooming of others in the social group also called all-grooming.
If your dog is excited nervous or anxious they might lick more frantically to communicate their feelings. In certain cases the licking behavior can be interpreted as a sign of affection. Conversely some dogs will try their upmost to get to your face to give you kisses. You may find that you dog likes to lick your hands but wont lick your face. This is just an enhanced form of the above reasons why dogs lick you. They learned it from the grooming and affection given to them as puppies by their mothers.
Possible reasons why your dog licks you when you pet it are that it is showing affection back to you it has not learned that it is not ok to lick you or that it has learned that the behavior is rewarded.
When your dog cannot reach your face he may lick the closest body part which may be your hand arm or leg. Dogs may be attracted to the odor since it smells different from the rest of the body. If not they might just dog for any available patch of skin such as hands arms legs and feet. Possible reasons why your dog licks you when you pet it are that it is showing affection back to you it has not learned that it is not ok to lick you or that it has learned that the behavior is rewarded. There is no dominance in the dog as he licks your hand affectionately. Licking is a natural action for dogs.