Non Stop Licking Us!!

[BARNSTORMER]

Hello everyone. Well now that we have had out little darling for a week or so we are all getting used to each other.As you may or may not remember we took in a stray 2 yo rottie. 3 days ago she started licking us non stop. We cant get away from her! She keeps us up at night licking us while we are trying to sleep. Las tnight she kept jumping on the bed. We had to keep getting up to drag her off. We finally put her out in the den and shut the bedroom door which she tried to dismantle trying to get back in the bedroom.
When I am doing the dishes she is licking any part of exposed skin. feet elbows, anything.She does the same to hubby. She follows us every step and walks behind us trying to lick us. Tonight I had a pillow on my lap covering up my knees and when I got up she grabbed it off the couch and was shaking it and ripping it to shreads. Ok People..... whats going on here???
Other than this current thing she is a pretty good girl . Puhleese someone give me some insight.
Thanks
Cody

[moz205]

I will leave this to the more experienced but will put my 2 cents in for what it's worth. My guy is 10 mo and still licks us, sometimes a lot. I feel it is him showing his affection as I dont wear creams etc. He does this during his quiet times which at 10 mths is rare or when I first come home after being out. His licking has decreased as we would distract him and redirect with something else. (I can't refrain from asking for kisses at times though and Buddy will gladly oblige planting wet ones on my neck and face.) As far as ripping the pillow to shreds, she was having fun. She is still young and maybe is feeling comfortable enough to still be a pup. If I remember, my 13 yo didn't calm down until 2 1/2 or so.

[BARNSTORMER]

Hmmm. This is where I am getting a little confused. On this forum some say never let your Rottie get face to face. Others say they let their Rot lick them on the face.Some say licking is affection and some say it is a dominance thing. Everyone seems to be all over the board here on Rott behavior. If I give in and let her het her licks in (suppose to be funny) she will take it a step further and want to get up in my lap. If I pet her while I am sitting down she wants to press into me and put her paws on my shoulders then one leg up then another then on our lap.( hubby too) Its like she wants to get in our skin with us. Is she loving us or dominating us??? She stays with one of us all the time. We move ... she moves. She sits at my feet and hubby too while we are brushing our teeth, sits outside the shower, hangs in the doorway of what ever room I am in. She even stands at my side while washing dishes.
She will even walk alongside the vacume cleaner while we vacume. Its weird.
Cody

[Troodie's Mom]

All I can think of is I have heard that dogs sometimes will lick your skin for the salt, I don't know if that applies here or not.

[suenos]

Our rottie is 3 years old and he constantly licks us, too. I believe it's his way of showing his affection for us by "kissing" us. Sometimes, I'm just laying on the couch and he'll walk by and "kiss" me and keep on walking. Or, I'll say "I love you" and he'll come over and start kissing me. At time, it does get a little annoying so I'll put his chin up and say "I don't want anymore" and keep doing it until he gets it and of course, I'll praise him for stopping.

[jemarspujo]

Rotties are a strange sometimes neurotic breed which much like shepards seem to become extremely attached to their owners. If we go in the car and stop at the gas station my guys will sit as close to the window as possible and stare at the door like statues until we come out. One figured out where i stand the most in the kitchen and will wait until i move and lay down right there so that i have to work around him. he will lay right on top of our feet when we are sitting on the couch. He licks us nonstop. Most people who i have spoken with will say the same about their rotties, unfortunately i have never gotten an explanation as to why. unfortunately we have not gotten to a point where we can read our animals minds and any opinion will be just that, an opinion. If you don't like the licking take your foot or hand away and say no, if she tears up a pillow put her in time out. Clearly it would be easier to say we understand the behavior and then correct it but with all the inconsistency in opinions (even from one book to the next) out there the easiest way is to correct the behavior if it bothers you so that you can just enjoy time spent with your dog.

[moz205]

I really don't feel with my guy it is a dominance thing. He's not pushy with kissing us. That I would think would be a dominating sign. Buddy will just kiss me and then continue what he was doing. For me, I like them. Like I said, I'll even ask for a kiss which he will oblige. If it bothered me, I would not let him do it just like any other behavior. Tell him no and redirect. I miss the kisses from my last Rottie so I cherish the ones I get from Buddy.

[Shelby427]

I'm with moz205 - Shelby licks a lot too, but not to the point where it's overbearing. She'll stop when I tell her to. She licked a lot more when she was a puppy, and it was either feet or hands that she likes. But these days, she's just a kisser I think, it's never dominating or pushy, just a lick. And to be honest, I love it!

[Carol Burke]

I don't believe licking is a dominance thing. It can be a learned behavior if someone encourages it but I think it is more a submissive, needy behavior. I don't enjoy being licked and my dogs never offer to lick me, however a friend has a dog that came from the same litter as one of mine and she will lick, but my friend enjoys it, so learned behavior?

[damp]

An inferior dog will lick the ”master” to show submissiveness… but NO leder will accept endlessness licking!
Tell your dog: I am not stupid, I already got your message and STOP licking me! (don’t add to the submissiveness behaviour or OCD!)

[ljs0827]

My Rudy wanted to be a lap dog and would kiss like crazy. Proper training and constant, consistent repetition taught him to ease off on the kissing and only do it when asked. He never got over wanting to be in our laps, and the kids got kisses whenever they got near his head. My husband never got a kiss because he was the pack leader and made it very clear he didn't want them. It was never a dominance issue. I agree with the others - train, be consistent, and train some more...