Dog licking

[suzi-q]

Our 1 yr old Jack Russel has developed a bad habit of constantly trying to lick my husbands face every time he sits down with the dog.

We think its a sign of affection but it does get a bit much as he would lick him all the time if we let it go on.

This gets so frustrating for my husband as he doesnt want to tell the dog off for being affectionate but this its irritating to have this keep happening every time he sits down.

Any ideas on how we can kindly stop the dog from doing this?

[Eels]

As soon as the dog starts licking, get up and walk out of the room. Repeat ad nauseum for a few days (it'll be really annoying but worth it) and the dog will quickly learn that licking results in the person he wants to get close to getting further away! Make sure you all reward good (non-licking) behaviour with tons of praise.

[logman]

My dog likes to show his affection by licking the faces of those he considers to friends, that is appart from women who wear make-up,i'am not suggesting for one minute that your hubby gets all girly and puts on make-up, but a little dab of manely after-shave or some anti-wrinkle cream might do the trick..

[WendyS]

I suppose it's possible that on a previous occasion your husband might have been sweating and the dog enjoyed getting a "salty lick" which supplied some essential minerals. It's also possibly part of the "pack mentality" where dogs lick each other to show acceptability as part of the group. However, as most dogs put their noses and faces to sniff in some pretty unacceptable places (and at some rather unpleasant objects) in their walks, it may be better to discourage the practice by simply pushing him away on a regular basis. Am sure he will eventually get the message, especially if affection is provided in some other way at the same time.

[nagnag]

You are lucky, my jack russell used to try and have sex with the arms of visitors to the house and worked hard on my friend's fur coat, the coat refused to partake!

[tazman566]

high suzi, there is no panic the dog is only after the salt in hand and faces thats why they do it. its not for affection im afraid the only way is to either scold the dog or just give a gentle push for him to stop doing it.I hope this works and dont worry this is the only way they get there salt.

from mark.