Puppy loves to lick and mouth us when we pet her

Question
Our 7-month-old, female papillon (Bella) is very sweet, never aggressive, and wants to play all day.  She has always been a big licker when being petted or even just held.  She also has this habit of sort of mouthing (for lack of a better word) our hands if we are petting her around her neck/ears/head.  It's obvious to us she likes to be pet like that, but for anyone who is not used to her, it may seem like she is going to bite them even though that is not what she is doing.  I have tried using a firm "no" and discontinuing the petting when she does this, but she's not getting the idea that we don't like it.  Is it common for puppies to do this?  How can we discourage her from using her tongue and mouth on us constantly?  Is this a puppy thing that she will outgrow?  I hope my description makes sense.  

Answer
Yes, Nadine, this is very common. You will have to be persistent with her because this is a natural behavior and it can take a while to extinguish. Keep doing what you've been doing (saying no and stopping the attention), and in addition to that you may want to try putting something like Bitter Apple Spray or tabasco sauce on your hands (let it dry first!) so that licking and mouthing tastes bad to her. You could also stop petting around her head for awhile so as not to encourage the behavior.