Why does my male dachshund lick my face? He does it in the morning and
as a greeting . he does it for quite some time and is very determined
with it. Also, more so on my husbands face. Why?

Hi quipster,

Ah... the age-old "why does my dog like to lick my face" question! 

Interesting subject and there's many theories.  Of course, the answer
I'm providing doesn't specifically address male daschunds because Dog
Licking Human Faces is universal to all dogs - no matter what breed or
sex!

As to why your doggie likes to concentrate on licking your husband's
face more than yours - perhaps it's the after shave he uses, perhaps
it's just because he allows your dog to lick his face more than you
do, or any possible reason.  Impossible to know!

========

HealtyPet.com
http://www.healthypet.com/faq_view.aspx?ID=88&sid=1

Question: 

Why does my dog lick me? 
  
"My dog likes to lick me a lot, especially when I'm sitting on the
couch watching TV or just after a shower. Sometimes it feels like he's
giving me a bath. Why does he do this?"

Answer:

"Dogs lick for a lot of reasons. Licking is a submissive social
signal, first of all, allowing dogs to show deference to dominant
"pack members." Puppies lick to solicit solid food from their mothers
when they're weaned, so a young dog may lick to request its dinner.
Some dogs lick as a substitute for puppy mouthing behavior. They've
been trained not to put their teeth on people, so they lick to occupy
their mouths. Licking may be a sign of affection, your dog's way of
showing you that he's enjoying spending time cuddled on the couch with
you. Or, he may just like the taste of your soap!

Though it's usually harmless, licking can be a problem if carried to an extreme." 
 
=========

Do Dogs Really Love Us?
http://www.byarden.com/pets/ddrlu.html

"CAVE MEN FIRST TAMED PACKS OF wild dogs tens of thousands of years
ago. Descendants of wolves, dogs proved worthy hunting partners and
carriers of heavy loads. Their role: Serve people.

Somewhere along the way, early canines wagged their tails and
delivered friendly licks to their keepers' faces. Could their actions
be interpreted as the earliest signs of love from dogs toward people?
Or were these dogs merely driven by the basic hunger instinct and
smelled food trapped in the beards of cave men?

Archaeologists and animal behaviorists can only speculate."


See photo top right side of page:
Is that a kiss or a replication of wolf behavior shown below? 

See photo bottom of page:
Wolf pups lick their mother's faces so they would regurgitate food for them.

=========

http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-1187.html

"Your chihuahua will like to lick your face since you are pack leader,
it's not a good idea to try to break them of it, it's a way of showing
respect and acknowledging that you outrank them.  You can teach them
the command "Enough" so that they stop after a few token 'kisses' on
the cheek, you don't have to allow on the mouth kisses..."

=========

Greeting
http://hk.geocities.com/lau_tania/key10.htm

"All dog lovers have seen how a dog greets either its owner or another
dog by wagging its tail, pulling its lips back in a grin or licking
the face of the welcome friend."

[...]

"The licking of the face is an intriguing gesture, coming directly
from the instinct of the wolf.  When the mother wolf has returned from
the hunt, her pups will lick her face to stimulate the mother to
regurgitate food for them.  In this way, they are weaned from milk to
solids. Little do most dog owners know that when their dog gives them
a kiss on their return home, it is actually asking them to regurgitate
some food!"

=========

An interesting article about Dog Saliva can be found at:
http://www.unclematty.com/woofpub/articles/dogsaliva.htm?#342

=========

keyword search:

why do dogs lick their humans face
dog licks human faces
why do dogs lick us
dog licks my face
dog saliva

=========


Best regards,
tlspiegel


"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your
face." - Ben Williams

Great! Nice email and greeting.

perhaps interesting for you to read?
http://malteseforum.com/indexer/why-do-dogs-lick-us-3659_10.htm

Hi quipster,

Thank you for the 5 star rating!

Best regards,
tlspiegel  (Human to 2 miniature poodles who must wake me up at the
break of dawn by - yep... you guessed it!  Happy licks and kisses.)  
:)

Hi quipster,

I meant to type: there are many theories, 

instead of there's many theories.

Regards,
tlspiegel

I know that face licking is usually more vigorous than other licking
purposes, but is there anything a dog will NOT lick?  In addition to
their own parts and our faces (yuck!), I have seen them lick toys,
walls, carpet, rocks, and dirt.  With this in mind, I think we can
lower our requirement for a reason why they lick our faces.  I would
say a combination of cleaning instinct (they do the same thing to
puppies, sometimes for a very long time), a standard greeting,
exploratory purposes (mouth and toungue are their primary method of
manipulation--ever see a dog use a lick to poke at small objects like
frogs?), and a nice salty human face should leave us asking why a dog
wouldn't want to lick people.

Dogs like salt, as do most animals, and perhaps this is why they lick
your face. I know that my dogs will lick my bare arms and legs in the
summer.

The other reason could have to do with regurgitating food as posted by
someone else, but I'm not sure on it.