Why do dogs french kiss? (not kidding, just stumped)

My 10-year-old standard poodle, Tommy, lets my eight year old schnauzer walk up to him while he is lying down and lick his muzzle. He then licks her back. They really do look like they are "making out." When my poodle was young, he used to so this with my (now deceased) other standard. THEY would coo and moan while they did it.

I don't really care, they don't seem to be hurting each other, but they did this while my mother was visiting and she was really disburbed.

Do any of your dogs do this? Is it common?

 

Its a food thing, puppies will lick at the dams mouth to encourage her to feed them in the wild, generally with pets we feed the puppies dog food at weaning time so this is not necessary but it is a natural function. They can carry this on into adulthood.

 

Usually the more submissive dog will lick the more dominant one. As DeLaUK said, it's a carryover from puppyhood.

 

I have an older dog who is 9. He doesn't live with me but when I went to visit my grandma, where he lives, my Aussie puppy would do the same thing. So I would say it is normal. Neither of the dogs have any relationship and the older one is a boy and the pup is a girl.

 

Mouth licking serves several functions. As previously stated puppies will mob their mother to encourage her to regurgitate food. This behavior is vital to the survival of wolf puppies who are too young to join in the hunt. It's the only way the adult wolves have to carry food back to the pups.

Adult wolves also engage in mouth licking as a greeting if one or more have been gone on a hunt. It's a way of reestablishing familial connections; sort of like shaking hands or hugging. Subordinate animals lick the muzzle of dominant animals.

This is also a means of monitoring the health condition of other dogs. Diseases like diabetes, kidney failure or dental abcesses cause distinct changes in mouth odors. If a subordinant dog is looking to move up in rank, these odor changes can indicate that the dominant dogs health is failing, and a change in rank could be in the near future.