Being a dog owner is a lot of fun, and you likely enjoy how much love you get from your dog. It’s nice having a dog that’s excited to see you when you get home.
Many dogs will sleep near their owners as well. Your dog might sleep in a dog bed that’s in your bedroom.
When you wake up in the morning, the first thing that you experience might be your dog excitedly barking and licking you. Some people will find this to be cute, but others might think that it’s a little annoying.
Why would a dog lick you in the morning, though? Is there some purpose behind this?
Keep reading to get information about why dogs feel the urge to lick their owners in the morning. It should help you to better understand what’s going on.
1 – Dogs Use Licking to Communicate
You may or may not know that dogs use licking to communicate. If you have multiple dogs, then you might have noticed that they will lick each other from time to time.
Licking is an action that can communicate many things in the dog world. Dogs might lick each other to show that they’re being friendly toward the dog.
Dogs learn that licking is a communication method as soon as they’re born. Their mothers lick them to help them breathe properly and they also lick their pups to clean them.
When dogs lick each other, they could be communicating a variety of different things. Sometimes animals that are being submissive to an alpha animal will lick to show that they know their place in the pecking order.
This information doesn’t necessarily mean too much when it comes to determining why your dog licks you in the morning. However, it does tell you that dogs are trying to communicate something.
2 – Your Dog Is Just Saying “Good Morning”
There’s a good chance that your dog licking you in the morning is totally normal. Dogs just like to lick people and they sometimes lick people when they get excited.
Your dog loves you a lot because you take care of it. Dogs are extremely loyal and loving animals, after all, and it makes sense for them to show affection this way.
When your dog excitedly licks you in the morning, it’s pretty safe to assume that this is the dog’s way of saying good morning and telling you that it’s happy you’re awake. Many dogs are more active with their licking in the morning due to being happy and excited that their owners are up.
Some owners might find this to be cute and will welcome it. Others will think that it’s kind of gross and will try to get the dog to stop doing that.
3 – Your Dog Wants Food
You remember that dogs usually communicate through licking, right? Well, it’s very possible that your dog is so excited for you to wake up because it’s hungry.
Many people feed their dogs on schedules rather than just leaving a large amount of food in a bowl out for the dog to eat whenever. A dog might not have enough self-control to know when to stop eating dog food, and this could lead to the dog becoming overweight.
When you feed your dog on a schedule, you’re only going to give the dog one serving of food at a time. The dog will eat everything in the bowl pretty soon after you place the bowl down.
Your dog likely gets fed in the morning during breakfast time. The dog being excited and licking could mean good morning, but it could also mean “yes, I can eat breakfast now.”
If your dog excitedly jumps up and down at the mention of food in the morning, then you’ll know what it wants. It’s still likely happy to see you’re up, but it could have something to do with wanting dog food.
4 – Your Dog Likes the Taste
Weirdly enough, it’s possible that your dog could start licking you in the morning simply because it likes the taste. Your skin might taste good to the dog if you have just woken up in the morning.
You see, people sweat while they’re sleeping, and this means that your skin is going to be kind of salty. Animals like that salt taste, and that might make the dog want to keep licking you more.
You might notice that your dog will be more likely to want to lick you when you’ve used certain lotions as well. Creamy lotions that have a flavor will definitely make dogs more interested in licking you.
If you have an aversion to being licked by dogs, then you might want to take precautions in the morning to keep your dog away from you. Of course, you can discourage this behavior in your dog and it will eventually understand that you don’t like being licked.
Train Your Dog to Stop Licking
You can train your dog to stop licking you if you find it to be off-putting. Dogs are very smart animals that can be trained in a variety of ways.
If you use positive reinforcement methods, then you can get dogs to exhibit the right types of behavior. Getting your dog to stop licking people and to stop jumping on people is important, though.
Most people don’t want their dogs to bother guests when they come to their homes. Dogs that haven’t been trained simply don’t know how to act, though.
Thankfully, you can learn how to train a dog over time by just reading up on it. If you’re really struggling, then you could sign your dog up for training classes, too.
Professional help might make a big difference, and your dog will be better behaved than before. This will cost money, but some dog owners will think that it’s worth it.
If your dog licking you doesn’t bother you, then that’s fine, too. You still might want to train your dog enough so that it knows not to jump on people and not to bother strangers, though.
I have two Associate’s degrees, one in Medical Assisting and the other in Computer Technician, and I am roughly five classes from a bachelor’s degree. Though I never ended up working in the medical field, I have five and a half years of experience in IT. I recently became a stay-at-home mom to my two young boys and also have two dogs and two cats. I grew up with pet dogs, cats, hamsters, budgies, cockatiels, and fish and also love horseback riding. In my spare time, I love to bake and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.