Puppy Licking older dogs face / lips ??

We've had Bill for 4 weeks now and mostly it's going good

BUT - he has just one vice. He makes a pest of himself with Dennis (4 yr old Rott). Whenever he gets overexcited (playing or when he first sees him) he just wants to lick Dennis' face and lips. Dennis hates this and growls at him (snaps very occasionally but never makes contact!)

We've tried saying NO, dragging him off, distracting him, even just leaving them to it for Dennis to tell him off himself (although this is a scary option ). He's doing it less and less but some days (like today) it just doesn't seem to be sinking in?!

Has anyone ever experienced this?
What does it mean and why does he do it?
And finally, how on earth do I stop it?
I want them to get on and at the moment this seems to be the only stumbling block

Thanks

Em

He is doing what he is meant to do, don't stop it. He won't get hurt. He is saying that he is submitting and it sounds awful to us but is OK and has to happen.

Zeff (Tassles pup) does it to all ours.

rune

Its a puppy thing
Saw a documentry saying wolf pups do it to stimulate returning wolves to regurgitate food for them
But mainly it just seems to be a puppy saying 'I am a nice puppy'

Hi,

I agree with rune... Tess did it as well.... bugs the h@ll out of the older dogs, but they do understand, and in the long run you'll see it helps their relationship... the pup is showing it know's it's less important.... funny thing: so far I've only seen it in GSD's and BC pups.... any other pups doing this?

Agree with everyone. appeasement gesture. Pup is saying "I am harmless, and respect you."

Puppies do it to bitches too often around the time when they are almost weaned and the bitch is losing her milk . Some bitches will bring back a half digested meal to feed their puppies .

CuteRotts please don't tell your puppy off for normal behaviour, he will grow out of it. When he is doing it better to call him /distract him as you have been doing.

Thanks folks!

It's just a bit scary watching a 10lb puppy annoying a 10 stone dog

I'm a bit confused now though. Am I best to leave them to it for the most part, and if it looks like Dennis is starting to get too annoyed then distract Bill? Or just try and distract Bill anyway for the most part?

Ta

Em

What you are describing is perfectly nomal puppy behaviour. There are links to the mouth-licking that wolf cubs do to returning adults, to provoke them to regurgitate food. But domestication of dogs has resulted in the mouth-licking as being no more than a ritualised greeting behaviour between puppies & adults.

If I were you, I would try to distract Bill when you can ~ use a toy, or call him to you for attention/petting etc. But don't make a big deal of it. It's not unusual for adults to get a bit grumpy with unwanted attention from puppies, but it's rare that an adult dog would badly hurt a young puppy. If growling & mild snapping doesn't work, most adult dogs just remove themselves from the puppy. But to be fair on Dennis, it's probably best not to let Bill do it too often or for too long.

But don't worry ~ it's a puppy thing so Bill will soon grow out of it (& then he'll find 101 other ways to annoy Dennis!! ).

I think that's the bit I'm looking forward to

Thanks - i'll carry on with just trying to distract him.

Em

my Bichon does this to my son's king charles cavalier, I just thought he was happy to see him.