Golden Retriever question.

Question
A friend of my is away for a few weeks and I was left with the task of taking care of her dog Shasta. I had walked her a few times in the past so she knows who I am. But since my girlfriend and I would be her only real human contact for a few weeks I wanted to make sure that Shasta respected me and we would have a good time togeather. I've done alot of studying on training and dog psychology and have been using many of the methods i've learned on her.

Everything is going great but there is one thing that she is doing that i'm not sure to dicipline (just let her know its not allowed) or if its doesn't relly mean anything.

She constantly puts her face & mouth right next to the side of my head. She is panting and it doesn't seem aggressive. What does this mean. I've read that your not supposed to let a dog force themselves on you because its allowing them to be the dominant one. But im not sure if thats what she is doing. Any advice would be great advice! Thanks in advance.. Shawn.

Answer
Hi Shawn,  She is not trying to be dominant, she is trying to be affectionate.  Watch how dogs interact with each other.  They mouth each other, lick each other etc.  It is a form of affection.  I don't know what you are reading about a dog forcing themselves on you, but throw it away.  A dog does a lot of other things to show dominance over someone, and with a Golden, you really don't have to worry about that too much.  They are very much followers, not too many of them are dominant leaders.  The last thing a Golden needs is dominance type training.  Hope this helps,

Dawn