[RubyLove]

I have never seen this initiated by another dog, including the two I have owned in the past so I was wondering if anyone else had seen it or had ideas on why she does this.

Generally when two dogs meet they will sniff butts. Whenever Ruby meets another dog she sniffs and licks at their nose, even if they appear to have been going for her butt. I never thought much of it until a couple of days ago when I was walking with my neighbor and her dog. We met a terrier, and my neighbors dog and the terrier sniffed butts, then Ruby and the terrier sniffed/licked noses.

I don't have a problem with it, but she does look submissive when she does it, as she will go down low and often lick the underside of the jaw.

The only problem there might be is if someone thought she was trying to bite, as it can look like that when she goes to do it. But she definitely only wants to lick and sniff.

 

[winniec777]

The licking is friendly submission. My dog does it all the time, much like a puppy would to an older dog. The approach is usually from the side (more polite, less challenging than a direct approach). Getting down low and licking from underneath is another, stronger, sign of submission. My dog will still do that with dogs that are a little pushier than she is. But generally it's a toss-up what she'll go for first - butt or face! Depends entirely on the vibes she's getting from the other dog.

 

[jesirose]

Hadley does this every time she meets a new dog. It's actually a very active submission. It's like "I really really wanna be your friend please please please?"

I wouldn't worry too much about what other people think unless a lot of people complain.

 

[cshellenberger]

I have never seen this initiated by another dog, including the two I have owned in the past so I was wondering if anyone else had seen it or had ideas on why she does this.

Generally when two dogs meet they will sniff butts. Whenever Ruby meets another dog she sniffs and licks at their nose, even if they appear to have been going for her butt. I never thought much of it until a couple of days ago when I was walking with my neighbor and her dog. We met a terrier, and my neighbors dog and the terrier sniffed butts, then Ruby and the terrier sniffed/licked noses.

I don't have a problem with it, but she does look submissive when she does it, as she will go down low and often lick the underside of the jaw.

The only problem there might be is if someone thought she was trying to bite, as it can look like that when she goes to do it. But she definitely only wants to lick and sniff.

All the things you describing are calming signals, she's basically telling the other dogs she's not a threat. Sounds like she's got good doggy language skills.

 

[RubyLove]

"I really really wanna be your friend please please please?"

That's exactly what it looks like!

 

[NalaBaby]

Nala and Elvis kind of do this too, I never really thought about what it meant until seeing this thread. The difference is though, that Nala will be trying to get Elvis to play, and when she is sniffing his nose or trying to bite his collar (weird thing she does) Elvis will start licking her, but it's not her jaw, it's her whole mouth... I think he does it to keep her from biting his collar, but is it a sign of submission? Is he submitting to her?

 

[cshellenberger]

He's probably trying to get her to calm down. As I said, it's a calming signal, which isn't necessarily submissive.