Why does Skeet lick Buck 's wounds?

John Thornton, the man who rescues Buck from the cruel hands of Hal, Mercedes, and Charles, has two dogs, Skeet and Nig. Skeet is a “little Irish setter” who befriends Buck easily soon after he joins John’s camp. Buck has many wounds from the hands of his previous owners, and Skeet “washes and cleanses” Buck’s wounds because she has a “doctor trait” that makes her want to take care of others. By licking Buck’s wounds, she offers her friendship to Buck. Also, the licking is a way of pampering Buck so as to soothe the pain he is feeling.
Buck and his mates undergo great difficulties at the hands of Hal’s family. First of all, Hal’s family is ill prepared for the long journey to Dawson. They carry with them excessive non-essential baggage: a heavy tent that Mercedes insists is useful for the cold weather, among other bits and pieces of household utensils. Once on the journey, the heavy load fell onto the road, scattering around the family’s belongings everywhere. Hal was then advised to reduce his load and to increase the number of sled dogs, which he did, however, without considering things such as the food to be eaten by the dogs through the journey. Even Buck knows that his owners “do not know how to do anything, neither can they learn.” They force the sled dogs to work through the use of the whip. Also, the difficulty of the rough “arctic travel” weighs down Buck’s owners so much so that they are permanently in a bad mood and therefore unkind to their dogs: “They were stiff and in pain; their muscles ached, their bones ached, their very hearts ached, and because of this they became sharp of speech, and hard words were first on their lips in the morning and last at night.” By the time that Buck comes across John Thornton, his pack is reduced from fourteen dogs to a small team of only five dogs, all of whom are “perambulating skeletons” for lack of enough food and rest. John rescues Buck from Hal’s thrashes when he is unable to rise, having fallen down on the trail from hunger and exhaustion. He takes Buck in and becomes one of the best owners Buck has in his domestic life.