Dogsey

Hi Musher! I love your comment! I jokingly say to Ben sometimes when he is getting a bit tonguey "Ben, I just know you have been licking your **** or worse, so please don't!!"

If my dog or cat licks me on the mouth, high compliment or maybe the Chinese food I had for lunch...even someone else's dog licking my face, I take it as affection and trust. Funny I'm great with human hugs, but air kisses or cheek kisses? Uh no...unless you're married to me or an offspring...but critters it's fine.

I quite like my own space around adult friends and family but I'm happy and comfortable around children and animals and love their hugs and kisses.
I loved Cookie's kisses, especially the ones where I would kneel down to greet him and he would land his front paws on my shoulders and knock me to the ground and stand on me licking me like crazy. He only ever did this with me and my OH, everyone else got lots of licks but never with so much enthusiasm and force.
I also have ferrets and take great pride that my 2 males love me enough to give me kisses, my female 'kisses' with her teeth...
I do agree though that the animal needs to be healthy and I wouldn't want a strange dog licking around my mouth. My hands, cheek etc is fine, but unless I know I'm not going to catch something then no.

Something that will give the rodent phobics chills...a tamed rat will lick you, especially ear lobes...they love snuzzling your ears.

One of the happiest days of my life was the first time Georgina, my Shar-Pei came up to me and licked my hand and face. I could have cried with joy, because she'd had so many operations on her eyes and visits to the vets, she had every reason not to trust me. That simple gesture on her part let me know that despite all she'd been through she loved me!