It is usually a sign of submission. My lower ranking dogs do it all the time to the higher ranking ones.
I think it can also be a sign of concern. Earle does it to dogs he is deeply attached to when they are sick or injured. I brought Muskwa home from the vet once still very groggy after having porcupine quills removed--it was a Sunday afternoon, both the vet and I wanted to go home. He couldn't walk under his own power yet so I carried him in from the truck. Earle was in a pen by himself. Muskwa is Earle's best friend. It's the only time in his life Earle's ever done anything like this, but he ripped the gate apart on his pen and bolted for the house. I let him and he curled up beside Muskwa and stayed there for hours. Every few minutes he would give Muskwa a little lick. Earle is a great nurse.
I took some pictures this afternoon of my guys displaying classic pack order behavior. I'll post them in a bit.
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) She is twice Daisy's size so she laps her with that big tongue but Daisy doesn't like it too much. She licks Daisy's head and mouth and after about two or three kisses, Daisy growls at Delilah to stop. It's pretty comical. Just another thing that keeps me laughing with these girls 
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