Dominant Licking Dog

Question
Kristen,

I read in one of your other answers (that I came upon through search engine) that a dog that licks you in the face/mouth is 99% submissive to you, but there is 1% chance that it is a dominant lick.

My question is, how do I find out which it is, and if it is dominant, is that bad?

My dog is a rescued pitbull mixed with something we don't know.  She is a very dominant dog when we take her to the dog park.  No dog have ever made her submissive.  She has a great personality, is always happy, not mean, just very dominant and playful.  She is between 1.5 yrs and 2.5 years old.

She loves to lick my mouth and nose uncontrollably.  If I try to push her away she comes back for more.  I don't mind a kiss here or there and I read your other article so I know how to stop her if I want, but what I really want to know is about the dominant versus submissive mouth lick.

Can you elaborate?

Answer
It could be one of two things,though i think it is the first one

1-Even if a dog is very dominant with other dogs,it can still be submissive to you and other people. Being dominant towards people and animals are two different things,so she could still be submissive to you. Generally dogs that are dominate towards people tend to be stubborn to train,and often act like you are not there. and they will sometimes challenge you from time to time. Also tend to be over protective of the house

2-Now if it's dominance(and some dogs don't have the characteristics I mentioned)another sign of a dominant dog is one that demands attention,and sometimes includes licking,but is generally more pushy in the fact that they want you to pet them all of the time,and the most common thing is to do is keep there head near your lap or by pawing at you. So if she isn't really bothering you to pet her,the chances are she is human submissive