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barnaby has had this habit since he was a baby and now he's 12...not always, but sometimes, when he wakes up in the morning, he'll come to the top of the bed and stare at me until i wake up or open my eyes from pretending to be asleep.
and then he'll start to lick my face, paying special attention to my closed eyes, around my nose, and my lips where i've tucked them in so he can't reach them.
it's gentle but also very insistent and sort of...loving. i swear it's almost like he's giving me a face bath.
i've always wondered if he's grooming me...if this is something he would be doing in the wild if he weren't domesticated.
anyone know?
(oh, and no, i don't think this is disgusting...i love it, it is my favorite way to wake up!)
There are studies of wolves that have demonstrated that submissive pack members roll on their backs and lick the faces of the dominant pack members when they greet each other.
There are studies of wolves that have demonstrated that submissive pack members roll on their backs and lick the faces of the dominant pack members when they greet each other.
Make of that what you will!
Yep, what you said. Plus maybe he's licking some salt(sweat) and of course... He has to go to the bathroom so hurry up and get up!
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I really believe that there's some feeling -- for us and for the dog -- that accompanies the licks/kisses.
When Artie sees me bending over to pick up my gloves, he knows that I'm taking him for a walk and he positions himself under my head and licks my face like crazy.
When we're sitting on the couch, he'll lick my hand (the whole hand -- palm, top, fingers) over and over, all the while looking up at my eyes. It's practically romantic! (It makes my husband crazy to watch this, but I love it.)
Or if he's lying on the arm of the couch and I'm at the end, he'll nuzzle into my neck and lick my ear, my neck, my cheek. Again, quite the little Casanova.
He's a rambunctious little guy, my Artie, but like Barnaby's, Artie's kisses are very gentle. It's really the sweetest thing, and it would be tough to convince me that there's no feeling/love to it on Artie's (or Barnaby's) part.
dandj,yes! it does seem as if there is feeling in it, an intent to it. i will have to look at the wolf studies that viralmd mentioned b/c i am interested in knowing what the grooming practices are for the wolves, especially for the males. i guess i have always thought it would be the females who groom, but when i think through that line of reasoning, i ask myself why i think the males WOULDN'T groom each other?
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