{"id":378,"date":"2023-03-20T23:17:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T23:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dogtrainingisfun.com\/?p=378"},"modified":"2023-03-22T05:58:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T05:58:19","slug":"dog-lip-licking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/dog-lip-licking\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Lip Licking Meaning | Understanding Dog Body Language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You may often see your dog lip licking quite often, it may be because it is hungry or drooling over something, or maybe it wants to express a completely different thought. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what exactly does lip licking in dogs mean? Is it some kind of behavior, or is it trying to convey a specific message to its owner? Let\u2019s discuss this in detail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do dogs lick their lips?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First of all, to understand any type of dog behavior, you got to understand each behavior properly. The first is Lip licking. It is a type of communication method used by dogs very often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dog is found to lick its lips mostly when trying to communicate with its owners<\/a>, trying to convey a particular type of feeling, which is certainly not hunger or casual drooling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what does Lip licking in dogs look like? In most cases, you can see a dog taking its tongue out and simply rubbing around its mouth, like a common lip licking, it means to say something to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, there are various messages that a dog could convey; trying to know them is the real deal here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your dog trying to say when it is licking its lips?<\/h3>\n\n\n

\"dog-lip-licking-2\"<\/p>\n\n\n

Now that you have understood that your dog is neither hungry nor drooling for some food, you need to figure out what your dog wants to say to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may often take help from a dog trainer or an animal behavior expert<\/a>. Most dog trainers and animal behaviorists have noticed this lip-licking as a calming signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, this Lip licking behavior is also directed as a type of appeasement gesture, according to which dogs often try to quell the anger of another dog due to some sort of aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dogs usually take an inferior social stance to avoid conflict or aggressive behavior<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dogs also exhibit this lip-licking and certain other behaviors when they feel uncomfortable with their surroundings. This uncomfortable feeling arises due to stress, anxiety, or some actions around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By licking their lips, they convey to their owner that they aren\u2019t feeling good in these surroundings and should be immediately taken to another place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lip licking is also seen in dogs when they feel worried; this could be due to some external stimuli or internal stress or a feeling of imminent danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the reasons, lip licking is the convey method they use. Lip licking at times is common and can be taken as a simple gesture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But sometimes, when you feel that your dog is licking its lips excessively, it may be a sign of some health-related disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dogs are often seen to lick their lips when they feel nausea, mouth pain, illness, or some kind of dental problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is advised to take your dog to the vet as soon as possible and get them thoroughly checked and diagnosed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do dogs adopt lips licking behaviors as an appeasement gesture?<\/h3>\n\n\n

\"dog-lip-licking-4\"<\/p>\n\n\n

Dogs choose to show their appeasement gestures in various ways. First is the sign of incoming threat and to respond with calmness rather than being aggressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be easily seen in domestic environments. Either with their owners or the person they are familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, when you come home from work after a tiring day and see your dog has made a mess all around the house, you could often feel agitated or irritated and decide to scold your dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such circumstances, the dog may not understand the sudden scolding or yelling from the owner and often may see their owner as a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such situations, dogs often reside in appeasement gestures. They either lick their lips or turn their head around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this, the dogs want to convey a message of him not being a threat and avoid any aggressive behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dog feels the need to connect to his owner more emotionally than acting aggressively towards him.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"dog-lip-licking\"<\/p>\n\n\n

Dogs exhibit such behavior when they feel frustrated, confused, anxious, or stressed in other circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be easily noticed when your dog show appeasement signs such as lip licking, ground sniffing, scratching or yawning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This happens mostly in the case of training sessions. The dog cannot grasp what the owner is trying to teach him and refuses to learn or train anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such circumstances, it is recommended to stop the training immediately. A dog cannot perform well or learn anything new when it feels frustrated, confused, anxious, or stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, it is often said that you should take things lightly and ask your dog to follow simple instructions, like sit, stand, or walk around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treat your dog with some eatables, or praise it. You can also decide to pet it or play around with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These simple instructions will help the dog to relax. And maybe start training all over again, now in a more straightforward way than before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How should you respond when you see your dog licking its lips?<\/h3>\n\n\n

\"dog-lip-licking-5\"<\/p>\n\n\n

In most cases, a dog licks its lips to display its submissive behavior towards a person or other animal in situations of conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also warns the other person that it feels uncomfortable or stressed with the surroundings. Dogs use their lip-licking as the first warning attempt before coming into their defensive stance in front of an enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice this behavior properly and then decide the act accordingly. No one wants their dogs to get aggressive with their owners or other animals around them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to give it some space if you see your dog licking its lips, scratching its paws, sniffing the ground, or any other defensive behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t come near or confront him; this could agitate the dog that might turn him aggressive towards you. Try to remove anything that the dog feels concerned about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often during a training session, a dog might feel frustrated and confused; at such times, make sure that you make your dog more uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to use means which end the training in a positive mean. Use simple gestures that display a sign of no threat and act friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to break it down into simple tasks such as catching a ball or wood piece. Praise it, caress it, pet it in the most friendly manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take better measures for your dog to learn new things; instead of keeping the same activities in training, try to make it simpler and easy for your dog to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will keep it from getting furious. Use shaping behaviors under expert supervision to handle a dog\u2019s behavior during training sessions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may often see your dog lip licking quite often, it may be because it is hungry or drooling over something, or maybe it wants to express a completely different thought.  So, what exactly does lip licking in dogs mean? Is it some kind of behavior, or is it trying to convey a specific message to its owner? … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":21025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puppiesclub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}