Is this a behavior I should stop?

Question
I have a 2 year old male boxer and I got him when he was 1. I also have 4 children ages 9, 7, 6, and 2. Our boxer is great with the children. He just loves them and always gets excited whenever they come home from school. He is gentle with them although sometimes when he buffalo runs through the house he doesn't always watch where he is going and tends to run into people and things, it is actually quite comical. He doesn't growl or bite whenever anyone gets around his food, actually I got down one day to see if he would share and he gladly moved over so I could eat some too. Of course I didn't I just wanted to see how he would act. Anyway, you know how dogs itch with their teeth? Well that's what he does to us. It is usually when we play with him and we are laying on the floor, he'll come over and do that all over our heads and ears and neck. The children just laugh with delight at how much it tickles and sends shivers down our spines. Why does he do this and is it a behavior I should stop or is he just loving on us?

Answer
Hi Gena,

Some people call this "corncobbing". :)  It sounds like he's a well-behaved dog who knows the rules and does well at following them.  There are some schools of thought that dog teeth should never touch human skin, and others who feel that something of this nature - so long as the dog respects the rules and will stop if you ask him to - is just a sign of affection.  I have not heard of this 'nibbling' escalating to a more serious bite, but of course that doesn't mean it couldn't.  The only caution would be that he's in an adolescent/young adult stage, and so you might see some more obnoxious behaviors in the next few months; in that case, I'd maybe stop the corncobbing, at least until he's settled back down to a well-behaved gentleman.  :)  (And he may not go through this at all - some dogs hit that stage younger and are finished with it by two years, but Boxers in general tend to mature more slowly.)