Dog licking another dog's face

Does anyone with more than one dog ever see them lick each other's faces? Tiree has started doing this to Theo. Is it affection or is he basting him?

Basting - I love it! My dog used to lick my friend's retriever's face (she has passed now). He did it as a puppy, I thought it was how a puppy might prompt his mother to regurgitate partly digested food as he was being weaned. I believe it can also be an appeasement gesture but Timber continued to do it to the retriever and I think he just found it comforting.

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is the lickee bearded, or does he have messy eating habits? -
Dogs who often have food on their faces, or who've recently eaten, can smell appetizing to their housemate, plus allogrooming [cleaning a familiar buddy or relative] is a social behavior -
cats who are related, esp'ly dam / daughter or siblings, will often allogroom from an early age, & a cat grooming another cat in the same household who is unrelated is a good sign of affectionate bonds developing.
So, even if he recently ate, it's not only appetite & a yummy odor - it's also friendly & sociable.

Social grooming - Wikipedia
Social grooming - Wikipedia
A related term, allogrooming, indicates social grooming between members of the same species. Grooming is a major social activity, and a means by which animals who live in close proximity may bond and reinforce social structures, family links, and build companionships.
‎Evolutionary advantages · ‎Mutual grooming · ‎Primates · ‎Cattle

Allogrooming | animal behaviour | Britannica.com
Allogrooming | animal behaviour
Allogrooming: …another individual, called allopreening or allogrooming, has both hygienic and signal functions in many birds and mammals. Courtship signals may include a tactile component for synchronizing mating or gamete release. Roosting with body contact not only preserves heat but also appears to signal pair or ...


Is the licker younger than the lickee? -
size isn't significant, but M dogs have more social status with age, & if the licker arrived as a pup, facial licks can be active appeasement or a social / submissive gesture, especially when it's done when they reunite after being separated [e-g, the licker went for a walk solo or was playing fetch outside, & when he returns, he greets the other dog with a facial lick, often near the flews or commissure].
The flews, corner of the mouth, & chin are where pups begging an adult to urp up some food, will usually lick. // That hardwired puppy behavior, soliciting an adult for food, is the reason that pups jump on humans; it's not their fault that we're an average 5-ft tall & bipedal, they are demonstrating affection, active submission, & asking their 'parent' for food, more as a social / communicative signal than literally as a sign they're hungry.
[Dogs being opportunistic eaters, they're willing to eat anytime. Being literally hungry is a separate thing.]


Dogs Behaving Badly: An A-Z Guide to Understanding and Curing ...
isbn:0553379682 - Google Search
Nicholas H. Dodman - 2000 - ‎Pets
Face licking of this variety is a care-soliciting (etepimeletic) behavior, not to my mind what kissing in humans is all about.
Another form of licking that pups display is licking their own lips. Initially this behavior may have evolved for the purpose of cleaning the lips after feeding, but when it occurs out of context it indicates (anxiety)...

Dog Licking: Are Canine Kisses a Good Thing? | Andrea Arden Dog ...
Dog Licking: Are Canine Kisses a Good Thing?
Puppies lick their litter mates as a social bonding function as well as for grooming. They also lick their mother as a way of soliciting feedings. In turn, mother dogs spend quite a bit of time licking their pups starting from the moment they are born as a way of stimulating them and keeping them clean of urine and feces. Adult ...


Anxious or excessively-submissive dogs can take facial licking of their k9 housemate or out-of-house buddies to an extreme degree; i once saw a brother-sister pair of Boxers who'd lived in a pen in their owner's backyard for over a year, 24/7, & the F pup obsessively licked her taller brother's lips, chin, & face to the point that he had a chronic rash & swelling from the nonstop wetting with saliva!
They had no toys, minimal social contact [only to be fed], & only one another as company. // I was amazed at how tolerant he was of his sister's mania - when she saw ppl approaching, she trebled her licking speed & the frequency of her assaults, but all he did was try to lift his chin out of her reach & turn his head aside, poor dog.

If excess facial licking makes the recipient cranky, intervene after a token one or two licks, & take the licker aside to calm down. This most-often happens during reunions - if U just keep them in the same space briefly, but out of reach of one another, the overenthusiastic licker can relax before getting within touching distance of their buddy.

- terry
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It can be a sign of being overly submissive.
Our German Shepherd rescue is very submissive and will often walk around the house licking our other dog's faces. They don't mind the first few but if she does it for too long they get a little cranky. The others never do anything back and will tend to just turn away.
We always stop it before the others do get cranky but on the odd occasion, we might hear a little grumble but its never anything more than that.

She didn't have the best start in life before we got her so we can only put it down to that.
She's such a softy though.

Dudley and his friend Belle lick each other's tongues when they meet. Only once or twice then they continue to run around and play as usual.

Dennis has a best friend called Mac who is a chocolate full male Labrador. Every time they meet he always licks Den's ears!

Josie said:

Dennis has a best friend called Mac who is a chocolate full male Labrador. Every time they meet he always licks Den's ears!

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cute