Tongue happy?

I recently commented in a discussion on this video on Patricia McConnell's blog about do dogs "kiss to dismiss" This is the link to her thoughts about it and then below is my response to the video. (http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/kiss-to-dismiss#comment-1680199).

I watched this video several times before commenting and then again & again & again. As I watch, I think this dog is using the lick as a distancing behavior. I feel the dog is guarding the bone but not to the degree that most people think of as resource guarding. All the calming signals are stacking up. The intensity of the lick increases the more invasive the child gets and when the child backs away or stops the licking also stops. I would say the dog had been trained to have great tolerance when items are taken away, either through R+ or through means of reprimand.
The reasons why I see guarding. The ears are never forward, but one time that I noticed, but always back in a slightly stressed fashion. The dog is very fixated on the bone when not licking the child's face; when the kid is waving it around the dog is following it with his eyes. The licking happens when the child is very involved with the bone or has possession of it. While the dog isn't growling and does seem to be very gentle, he uses his feet several times to stop the child's hand & he moves away from the kid like giving the cold shoulder (calming signal). After moving, and the kid comes back in closer, the licking goes to the most extreme and he licks and licks and licks. Could it be the tongue flick calming signal but making contact with skin? The lick isn't going from chin to the forehead, they are quick repetitive licks. Tongue flicks  are another distancing signal. Around 1:25 after regaining the bone the dog becomes quite still & starts intently sniffing the bone, another displacement/distancing behavior. After the kid reaches for the bone again the dog gives a direct stare, although maybe not a hard stare. In the dog world, direct eye contact or direct staring should lead the other dog to respectfully move away or increase distance. To then make his point more clear, the dog gets up and licks a lot, almost as to say enough is enough. It would have been interesting to see if left uninterrupted would the dog have licked until the kid crawled away and then the dog taken his bone and relocated?
 I would be interested to see other footage of this "Kiss to Dismiss". In this case, I feel strongly it is a distancing behavior based off of all the other calming signals the dog is giving.

Bite Inhibition

Puppies bite and it is a good thing they do! They practice biting each other in play and they mouth us the same way. It is important for us to teach our dogs how gentle to bite.

As a puppy they have needle sharp teeth to make it hurt but they don't have the power behind the jaws yet to inflict damage. It is extremely important when you get a puppy to practice dog bite inhibition. Because they have those needle teeth they often do elicit a reaction from us "Ouch!" and a pause in our interaction with the dog. Puppies love to play bite and will learn how to inhibit the force of their jaws to keep the game going. So your puppy learns to bite gently before he acquires strong jaws and big teeth.

To teach your puppy to not bite you all together may offer relief temporarily but it will not change the fact that your dog will not know how to control the pressure behind his jaws, which can be dangerous. As an adult, the dog that was forbidden to play bite, may be provoked or fearful and will likely result in a bite that is painful and a severe injury.




Dogs play together and often are able to aggress without damage. They can play and teeth clash because they are practicing bite inhibition with each other. A dog that doesn't get to interact with other dogs and learn from a young age appropriate play is likely to cause more damage to another dog when giving a correction.

It is easy to teach our dogs how to bite appropriately. Encourage interacting with your puppy and allow mouthing. When your puppy bites you too hard you need not punish it or scare it, simply say "Ouch" and withdraw all attention. The puppy learns the result of biting too hard makes all play stop. It is equally important that your puppy then doesn't go pick up a toy or play with another person. Only pause for a couple seconds and then resume your interaction. Continue to play with your puppy in this manor, anytime you feel your puppy bites too hard, "Ouch" and ignore the pup. If your pup doesn't respond to the yelp, get up and leave the room if necessary. Continue to practice this even when the bites don't hurt. Fake it! We want your puppy to learn that we are so sensitive that we can't handle the lightest amount of pressure. Soon play biting turns into just play mouthing. We have now taught our dogs that in the event that they might bite a person, little pressure is sufficient, thus resulting in barely a red mark on the skin. Again a dog that is punished or taught never to bite will likely result in a puncture to the skin if ever the need to bite was there.