a few questions i need help with ..... ?

hello . i have just got a new blenheim girl puppy, and i was wondering why do they lick all different surfaces? is this just the puppy trying to experience different tastes? sometimes she will lick the door, or a vase or anything! is this normal? also i put the hoover on for the first time since i got her today and it terrified her! i put her into our hallway and closed the puppy gate (so she could still see me) and it scared her so much she did a poo in the sitting room! anyone know how you can go about them not being scared by the hoover?

My puppy is 12 weeks and wants to lick and chew everything around him!!! I think that is normal puppy curiousity and you just need to keep redirecting their attention to an item that is safe and acceptable for them to lick/chew.

You'll also want to make sure to keep a close eye on her when you have her out and make sure she does not lick or swallow something she shouldn't.

I can't help with the Hoover unfortunately ... but would love to hear how to make dog's enjoy hearing that sound.

My new girl isn't a big licker (unless we are talking ears and faces) but she is quite the bitter. She will bite anything in sight - alive or inanimate - doesn't seem to matter. We have used a little bitter apple to keep her from chewing on things that we don't want her to chew on.

If their paws were more like hands I’m sure they would use them when discovering new things – unfortunately they use their mouths so I think that is their way of “touching” things. Maybe?

As for the vacuum - I don't know yet but I would imagine it would frighten her a little.

I'm no expert but you could try giving her a little treat every time you put the hoover on. Then she will associate the hoover noise with a treat. Don't make a fuss, you'll only make her think she has good reason to be frightened. :v*cuum: (Yay, I've wanted to use this icon!) Turn on hoover and treat a few times in one go, if you only hoover once a week she might not catch on to the hoover/treat thing.

sounds like a brilliant idea to me!!! I'll have to try it out. :v*cuum:

Most dogs and cats really hate hoovers and unless there is some reason you need her to be around one, I'd just put her in another room where she feels safe. Forcing her to adapt to a hoover is a challenge and I don't think is desirable or necessary though you could go the route of treating her a few times while it is on by tossing her some small treats. I doubt she will hang around by you for the treats though -- better to have her in another room where someone esle can give her a few treats while the hoover is running and she can hear it.

It is VERY important not to scare puppies at this point of their life with loud noises and bad experiences, or you can have a dog that is scared of loud noises for the rest of its life. You can introduce her (and you should) to the sound of household appliances from a pleasant and non-threatening distance and by doing so calmly -- not rushing to comfort her when she looks to you for a cue as to how to react, or you just reinforce that this is something to be afraid of. But a vacuum is a bit much for even many adult dogs to adapt to. Many will clear out of the room even at the sight of it! None of my dogs has to be in the same room as the vacuum so I don;t care if they stick around or run upstairs. Mostly they just sit and watch from a distance though Jaspar likes to bark and charge the nozzle as it moves across the floor. :roll:

Both of my cavs can be annoyingly licky, and they are both over a year old! Many people have mentioned that cavaliers just like to lick, period. And they aren't obsessingly licking themselves--it's people they lick. Skin is preferred, but they'll lick clothing if skin isnt available. My Cedar LOVES to lick my feet!

I have heard or read that puppies use their mouth like we do our hands...to feel. And everything is new to them so they mouth/lick things to figure them out. We just need to keep them safe in their learning process.

I had a cabinet door open in my office today and Jake walked over and starting licking it...he's kind of a goofball. Both of mine like the vacuum. Jake thinks that's the time to drop a toy or ball in front of the vacuum so I'll have to pick it up and toss it out of the way (he's idea of a game) and Shelby just lays there looking at me and daring me to run her over. I have to tell her "watch out Shelby" before she moves.

Our darn boy Cooper decided, out of the blue, to start licking walls about a year ago :shock: . I have no idea what that is about, but it just drive me crazy! We try to keep an eye on him as much as we can and correct him when he starts. He is a little better than he was, but by no means cured.

My brother suggested we teach him to dip his tongue in a bucket of paint and just let him lick :lol: . I can think of a few problems with that idea!!

Bruce H said:

Our darn boy Cooper decided, out of the blue, to start licking walls about a year ago :shock:

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Oh my goodness this mental picture still has me laughing. I bet it is adorable (at lease the first few times )

Woody loves to lick my neck - just out of the shower though.... :shock: - Ozzy trys to get in the shower to lick the water and Busta has to be in the mood to lick.... :yuk: - none of them like the hoover.

Pippin is two and a half and he loves to lick .... well anything really. A list of some things............. Gus's face! our faces, my pillow ( a favourite of his not mine) feet, walls, radiators, and the disgusting one socks and underwear for the wash..it's a mad dash to get them into the washing machine before he gets them!

Funny thing is he doesn't lick himself at all really apart from the odd time if he gets something on his paw.

Merlin is a licker too!

He hangs round the bathroom waiting to pounce on your legs as you get out the shower. Ears, face nose are prime targets if you've been gone for a few minutes!

On the :v*cuum: front - Merlin thinks this is a great game and barks at the hoover ( probably because we have always made a game out of it and chase him round with it - turned off and on!) :lol: :lol: :lol:

:v*cuum:

Cedar loves the vacuum, too. But she doesnt get all barky; she gets excited!! We always find a bunch of mini tennis balls under the sofas and tables and so she gets a bunch of "new" toys from the vacuum. It's like her very own Santa Claus!

I don't know if this would help but they make the same sound so maybe. This morning I went to dry my hair and the dryer scared Ella so much that she ran under the bed and bumped her head on the way. I turned it off and called her over to it using the happiest voice I could muster early in the morning. She gave it a good sniff and we continued playing for a couple min. Then I turned it on low and patted and talked to the dryer in my happy voice. Aside from looking monumentally stupid :fool: , Ella came to check out what was getting my attention away from her. Before long, she was sitting on my lap while I was drying my hair. It's funny the things that work - but if praising the dryer helps, then alright I'll make an complete idiot of myself. I'm just glad no one else was around to see it. icon_whistling

Daisy Boo takes absolutely no notice of the vacuum cleaner but Twinkle moves to another room when she sees it. :roll:

I love the Cedar Santa Clause story!!! :rotfl:

We had a trainer speak at our club meeting last night and she suggested exactly what you did. Make the hair dryer a really interesting object, one that totally has your fascination and attention. Your pup will come over to see what the big deal is and see that you're not afraid of it. I had to laugh at how she was describing being your silliest goofiest self and how well it works on the dogs....and scares people away :lol:

Kdemars said:

I don't know if this would help but they make the same sound so maybe. This morning I went to dry my hair and the dryer scared Ella so much that she ran under the bed and bumped her head on the way. I turned it off and called her over to it using the happiest voice I could muster early in the morning. She gave it a good sniff and we continued playing for a couple min. Then I turned it on low and patted and talked to the dryer in my happy voice. Aside from looking monumentally stupid :fool: , Ella came to check out what was getting my attention away from her. Before long, she was sitting on my lap while I was drying my hair. It's funny the things that work - but if praising the dryer helps, then alright I'll make an complete idiot of myself. I'm just glad no one else was around to see it. icon_whistling

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