Quit licking my toes, oh - all right

As I sit here right now, the little dog pictured here, Buddy, is licking my toes.

Persistently. Why does a dog lick your toes? For taste? For minerals and complex compounds? Yeast? Salt? To exhibit some dog-centric ethic of inter-animal interaction? He's not talking, but I guess I could read about it in one of those Canine Psychology and Self-Help books.

Another thought - he was licking the foot that has plantar fasciaitis (ie: heel hurts like murder). Maybe that's the interaction he was doing - healing the toe. (that's a pun right there).

So, I have a complex relationship with Buddy - he usually only wants to hang out with me on his terms - when I want to hang with him, uh uh nothing doing.

He's not a very "good" dog, but he has gotten next to me more than any dog or cat I have ever been associated with. He has gotten into my head and emotions further than most people ever get. It seems stupid, but dogs operate with humans on a really subtle level. Why can't they be the perfect dogs we want them to be? Well, what fun would that be?