Your Dog Licks You? Here’s What It Really Means (SHOCKING)

Your Dog Licks You? Here’s What It Really Means (SHOCKING)

Your dog licks you and you probably think it’s because they love you or maybe because you taste like whatever you just ate. But after living with dogs for the last 27 years, breaking down canine behavior, helping train hundreds and being a canine nutritionist, I can tell you the real reason is something that almost no dog owner ever really figures [music] out on their own.

 Now, I’m going to tell you exactly what it is, but before I do, you need to understand nine other weird little things that your dog does every single day that are them secretly trying to talk to you. Because once you see these, the licking is going to hit different and you’re going to understand how your dog really interacts with you every single day.

 Number one, your dog leans their full weight on you like a big moose. Most people think this is affection and sometimes it is, but at least not the way you probably are thinking it is. When a dog leans on you, they’re doing two things at once. First, they’re anchoring themselves to you, literally in a physical sense, right? They’re leaning against you to touch you.

Now, that’s a trust behavior and they’re actually, in a way, kind of claiming you. Um, you know, when any other dog walks over, any other person leans into the room, they come over, they lean on you, they’re like, “Hey, this guy’s mine.” That’s basically like the canine version of putting your arm around your wife or your partner.

 It’s subtle, but kind of all the other dogs in the room get the message and Gunner actually does this. He’ll barge through a group of dogs that are I’m trying to give attention to, put himself between me and them and come lean all over me. Number two is the head tilt and, you know, you say a certain word and your dog tilts their head to the side and every dog owner thinks it’s just the cutest thing ever and it is, but they’re not doing it to get you to give them piece of bacon with puppy dog eyes.

Here’s what’s actually happening. Now, your dog isn’t trying to be super cute and adorable on purpose. What they’re actually doing is trying to re-position and recalculate and triangulate their ear flaps so that they can better understand the sounds that they’re hearing. Now, it often happens with you know, maybe it’s a different unique sound or a sound that they’re familiar with and they just are trying to confirm that and you’ll see that a lot of times this happens with dogs that are very intelligent. Dogs like border collies

tend to do this a lot more often. All right. Now, number three is your dog stealing your laundry. Now, I usually have at least a couple socks missing from these two and you know, people get embarrassed. They get frustrated. I’ll find my socks out in the middle of the yard in the sprinklers in the morning. My shoes, too.

And it’s not because your dog is like trying to frustrate you and reposition your clothing, okay? They’re not an artist. Now, your scent on a piece of worn clothing is a hundred times stronger than it is on a piece of clean clothing. That’s why the dirtier, the better for these guys. And they just want to be close to you and your scent at all times.

 That’s dogs can smell, obviously, a heck of a lot better than we can and they associate a lot of things with scent more than we do. Now, maybe your dog is anxious, maybe they’re lonely, maybe you leave the house and they grab your sock, right? These are all things that are are fairly common, especially with my retriever over there.

With retrievers having such a strong need to like have something in their mouth at all times with that like oral fixation. Like he always needs something in his mouth. I’ll catch him, you know, in the mornings he’s sleeping with either his favorite toy or maybe my shoe or one of my socks, right? And he always has it and honestly, I don’t get too frustrated because I think it’s kind of cute and it just shows how much they really do love you.

All right. Now, number four is the deep sigh. Now, if your dog flops down next to you and they let out this big  [snorts]  like decompressive sigh, then that means that they are fully fully relaxed. Uh and that is like a absolute state of surrender and submission from them um that they only do when they are truly comfortable.

 Another way that your dog can show that they’re extremely comfortable is by shaking. A lot of times, if you get out of the car at at a park or a new spot and they shake right away, that’s called a stress shake and they’re literally it’s a a body function that you can use as a cue to realize that um your dog is shaking off whatever um potential anxiety.

 You know, if they’re getting ready to meet a new dog and they shake after sniffing them for a second, that is a really good sign. It means that they’re shaking off any of that stress um and they’re moving about whatever they’re doing in a happy-go-lucky kind of way. Now, if your dog is, you know, kind of always twitchy, never really fully settles, never lets out deep breaths, um kind of always seems tense, like a coiled snake, you know what I mean, um then that’s definitely something that you should try and look into and figure out ways to try

and remedy that. And you guys can subscribe and watch some other videos that we’ll have coming out or already have out to try and help with that. Because honestly, that’s how this guy is. This is my little anxious guy right here. Number five is grass eating. Now, these guys were just munching on some some tall grass over this bank right here.

 Um and I’m sure everyone has seen their dog just chow down on some grass and wonder, “Oh my gosh, like is he okay?” Um you know, I’ve had people take their dog to the vet because they were eating grass. And I don’t think you need to do that. Now, for decades, everyone’s assumed that dogs who eat grass are doing it to make themselves throw up, right? And in reality, less than 25% of the dogs who eat grass actually end up vomiting.

 What’s really happening is usually one of two things. Now, dogs are really good about knowing when they have a nutrient deficiency and when there’s a gap in their diet. What’s up, buddy? And so, they could be trying to fill that gap. Grass contains fiber and trace nutrients, and dogs instinctively seek those things out when they feel something isn’t as it should be.

 Maybe, you know, the other thing is they just like the texture and the taste. And I think that happens more often than not, especially with my guys. Um dogs are evolutionary omnivores, and you know, sometimes they do eat plant matter. So, I I would definitely wouldn’t rush to the vet right away. Now, if you think it could be a gut-related issue, uh and they have other symptoms as well, such as paw chewing, um paw licking, yeasty ears, itching all the time, bad breath, then it very well could be a gut issue. And there are

things that you can do to try and remedy that as well. And, you know, them eating grass is just a sign of them kind of trying to say, “Hey, dude, like I need something better for my gut.” And if you guys are interested in learning more about the products that we created to help with dogs’ guts and their immune systems, then you can check us out at back40dogs.com.

There’s a link in the description below. Number six is your dog’s using their paws to communicate. Cowi.    Left me hanging. Now, you could be sitting on the couch and your dog reaches out and they put a paw on your arm or your leg, and they don’t move it at all. They just place it there respectfully, not overly pushy.

That’s just them trying to communicate, and a paw placement is your dog asking you for attention without, um I would say, being overly pushy. Now, yes, maybe some dogs are a little bit pushy with it, right? Um but, it’s the equivalent of a human kind of tapping you on the shoulder to get your attention.

 Now, when they want something, you know, it could be food, it could be outside, it could be they just want you to look at them or scratch their belly or play with them or give them attention. But, the fact is that they chose the paw. They didn’t choose to bark. They’re not whining. They’re not jumping. And that’s tends to be a more emotionally regulated dog.

 That’s a dog who’s learned that you respond better to quiet asks and not loud ones. Now, if your dog does this a lot, you’ve probably conditioned them and trained them even though you didn’t really know you were doing it. Now, number seven is your dog sleeping belly up. Ah, he’s got my shirt all wet, dude. If your dog is sleeping belly up, then it tends to be a sign of them being 100% [snorts] comfortable in their environment.

 Uh a dog’s stomach is their literally their most vulnerable spot in their entire body. It has all their vital organs. And if they’re exposing that up while they’re asleep and not alert, that means that they are 100% content with their environment. A dog would never do that in the wild. I found it is very dependent on the personality and the breed as well.

Like my golden will I find him in the mornings almost every morning all four legs straight up in the air not a care in the world. Whereas Cowboy is very rarely caught on his back. He is usually coiled in a tight little ball when he sleeps. And he’s a much more like primal and wild dog.

 He’s closer to what a wild dog would be like. So, I found that’s a personality thing, but how your dog sleeps um is a huge huge way to tell their personality and tell kind of the state of mind that they’re in all the time. Almost to number nine, guys, but before we do number eight is why your dog sneezes. Now, a play sneeze.

 I’m not talking about they sniff something on the ground and they start to sneeze. I’m talking about maybe you’re wrestling with your dog. Maybe your dog’s playing with another dog and they sneeze. It It’s kind of like this um It’s not a sharp or not a sick sneeze, but it’s more of this sharp short  [snorts]  And that’s just your dog basically saying, “Hey, easy bro. Easy.

 Like I’m not trying to do anything like crazy. Like we’re all good here.” Um and it’s kind of a way for dogs to de-escalate certain situations. My golden over there does it almost every single day. I’ll get him riled up and he comes over and he starts to like smile and sneeze at me.

 And he’s like, “It’s It’s a way for them to be like, oh, I’m not too serious. I don’t want to fight. You know, this is just um a way for that dogs communicate with other dogs as well.” He does it with with Cowboy over there so that Cowboy doesn’t think he wants to to go head-to-head with him cuz he doesn’t.    But it’s a good way for dogs to prevent conflict.

 All right, number nine guys, we’re almost there. Last one before you really figure out the real reason that your dog licks you, which is why you clicked on this video. But number nine is super interesting. Before we do, I wanted to share your dog used to crush their food and now they’re a picky eater for no reason, right? Now they sniff the bowl. They they walk away.

 They come back later. They pick at it. Maybe they wander off. Um you know, dogs in the wild they eat as much as they can when they can. And then, you know, because they don’t know when their next meal would be. So, everybody blames your dog being a picky eater on um you know, maybe they don’t like the food.

 Maybe the food is spoiled, right? Uh but sudden pickiness in a dog who used to eat normally is almost always one of three things. Now, the first could be that their food has gone stale or it’s slightly rancid. Kibble oxidizes faster once the bag is open. So, that’s it’s actually a very high possibility. And dogs can smell this way before you’ll be able to tell that it’s spoiled.

 Two, something off could be off with their health, right? It could be there either there may be something wrong with their teeth in their mouth or maybe something is um off with their nutrition and their body is telling them to stop eating whatever specific thing is in that food, which is also a pretty high chance with modern dog diets being as highly processed and full of crap as they are.

 Um you know, our dogs aren’t stupid. They know when something probably isn’t great for them. And third, could be they’re just bored, right? Uh you know, eating the same exact dried pellets every day if you’re feeding kibble, uh you know, uh they could literally just be bored. And if it’s a highly intelligent dog, um often times those are the dogs that get bored more easily.

 So, you know, ours to be quite honest, my golden would eat the same thing every day and smile. So, um you know, it could be it could be that. They just want some diet diversity. That’s one of the best ways that you can promote your dog’s longevity is to add some diversity to their bowl. Now, the quickest and most effective fix that I’ve found is adding something that is going to make that bowl interesting again, right? And it’s also not just going to make it interesting again, but it’s actually going to benefit their health long term. It could be something

as simple as adding some water on top of their food. That’s going to help them hydrate. It’s going to make their food easier to eat. It could be as simple as adding um a cracked egg on top of their food. Or if you want to do something like adding superfood supplements and toppers designed to promote things like skin and coat, help reduce itching, help clean teeth, help um promote hip and joints in like aging more gracefully, then you can check out any of our supplements and toppers at back40dogs.com.

That’s literally what we do. We’re 100% picky eater guaranteed. So, if your dog doesn’t like it, um just email us at [email protected] and we’ll make sure to take care of you. And I’ll put the link in the description of this video so you guys can go check those out after you learn about number 10 that’s coming up right now. Okay.

Number 10, the real reason that your dog licks you. Now, most people think it’s because they love you or because you’re sweaty and you taste salty or you taste like your last meal that you just ate. Possibly, right? Those could all be tiny pieces to the story here. But here’s the real one. When your dog licks you, they’re gathering information.

 Your skin is literally covered in chemical signals, you know, whether it’s sweat, hormones, pheromones, you know, what you ate recently, what was on your clothes, if you pet another dog or another animal or a scent you walked past a barbecue and the smoke got on your t-shirt. Your dog’s tongue is wired to be a part of the brain that processes all that data and it can capture way more data than any of us give them credit for.

 That’s why dogs lick their wounds. It’s why they lick you harder when um you know, they might think you’re getting sick. Like I’ve literally like these guys are all over me if they think I’m getting sick or if they think I’m getting a migraine or something. Gunner is like especially you know, very clingy.

 They’re not just tasting you, right? They’re reading you. They’re they’re figuring out like what’s going on with my person. That’s what a dog’s tongue is doing. So it’s not a kiss, right? You know, it’s more of a conversation. And and they do it every single day, whether we realize it or not. And so once you understand this, you know, when your dog starts to lick you, you’re like, oh um you know, they’re trying to collect information.

 They’re trying to see what’s going on. And I don’t know what those two are doing back there. So if you guys found any of that interesting, if you learned anything little nuggets, then please hit like and subscribe. Send this video to a friend with a dog. Now, really quick before I go, remember what I said about dogs eating grass or becoming picky or licking their paws.

 A lot of times all those things are related to them instinctively trying to fill the gaps in their nutrition. And there are certain superfoods that you can feed back into their diet. The diet you’re feeding your dog is so processed that all those things are baked out of it essentially. Um and I have a lot of videos talking about this, so I won’t go into it here.

But you can add those things back into their diet in a fresh natural source that is going to help them have stronger joints, have stronger hair follicles, have like shed less, to have cleaner teeth, to um itch less, to lick their paws less. 75% of your dog’s immune system is based in their gut and if their gut is having problems, then that can translate to other things such as allergies and you know, all kinds of other stuff, yeasty ears, etc.

 So, if you guys want to learn more about our products and what we do to help dogs live their absolute highest quality of life possible, you can check us out at back40dogs.com. Again, I put the link in the description of this video and you guys can go get a a coupon code if it’s your first time purchasing from us over at that link down below.

 So, uh thanks for watching. Cowboy says, “See you later.” Uh if you guys aren’t following us on Instagram @cowboythecatdog and we’ll see you in the next one.