Licking can be a show of empathy

Photo by Kvs Sidhu

For dogs, licking is a comforting behaviour. If your dog is concerned about you, they may try and lick you to make you feel better and care for you. In a 2012 study, researchers asked owners to pretend to cry and found that their dogs were more likely to lick and nuzzle them than when their owners were just humming or talking. It’s possible that these dogs were just displaying a learnt behaviour, but many of us would argue that dogs can, to some extent at least, share and understand our feelings.