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Excessive Licking of Everthing!

Shivers

Shivers

Well-known member
Any idea why a dog would compulsively lick pretty much everything? Its weird because he licks the floors (wood) and the couches (leather) but not anything fabric. He would lick my OH's feet till the cows came home :grnyuk: but doesn't do it if he has socks on. He licks any hand or face that comes anywhere near him.
The reason I am making the distinction between fabric surfaces and not is that I dont think its an obsessive compulsive behaviour.

He eats and drinks normally, pees and poops on schedule and enjoys long walks (sounds like a personal ad now!).:lol:

The couches and floors are wiped daily as well just to remove dog hair / smell / baby crumbs.

Any ideas?
 
Hiya!

When we had Prince as a foster he would do this mainly on the steel legs of the stools in the kitchen. I don't have an answer for you, but just to let you know!

(Totally forgot to send the stuff to you - will do it this eve)
 
I have no idea Siobhán. We have a little miss who licks the back of doors and skirting boards(oh and car windows). I think this great because up until six months ago she would have eaten the doors and skirting boards.
I think she's either thirsty or needs to cool off or just assume that there's the essence of some smell or foodstuff that tickles her fancy.Someone else may have an actual explanation as to why cavaliers do this:)
Sinéad.
 
Its not actually Prince thats the culprit. Its our foster. I dont think he's unwell or anything, its just a bit worrying in case he licks something he shouldn't by mistake.

No worries about the docs and stuff, whenever you get a chance :biggrin:
 
My akita lad loves to lick any hard surface & especialy windows, i have some pretty scary photos of him doing it! also he loves to "rest" his lips whilst we are traveling!

i to was concerned & asked my vets, he said that may be Thor, my dog liked the feel/texture of the surfaces he was licking & also it cooled him down - the window licking! but there is nothing wrong with him!
 
Jato licks the kitchen cabinets (they are Oak). He used to do it quite a bit when he was younger, but only once in a while now. There is nothing on them to attract his licking, it is very strange. icon_whistling I just redirect his attention when he does it.
 
Some Experts Recommend something that they don't like. For Teddy i took an old cleaner bottle and Rinsed it out extremely well, then washed and repeated. I mixed 1 tablespoon chile powder with almost a liter of water and mixed that up. It is like that "Bittle apple" that you can buy at the pet store, but there are no chemicals and it won't do anything to hurt your furbaby. They may drink some more water, but I only had to put it on the legs of my dining room chairs.

Best of luck. maybe he a neurological vet visit would be better though because they can tell you whats going on!
 
Bella licks the leather recliner we sit in every night! Along with faces, feet and any other body part she can reach! She is just a licker!!! She does it like it relaxes her. She will fall asleep once she stops licking. :confused:
Who knows why they do it!!! Its just another cavalier quirk!!! :biggrin:
 
Excessive licking can be due to a neurological problem or an obsessive compulsive disorder as well. It isn't an uncommon OCD. Sometimes it can be a learned behaviour or a reaction to stress... or something a dog just seems to like to do! it sure seems to be one of the common things people mention about their dogs -- most often it isn't a big problem but it can be... or develop to be.

Have a read of these as they should be of help just for some ideas on what to do (or whether to do anything... :) ):

http://www.VeterinaryPartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=117&A=969&S=0

http://www.VeterinaryPartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=117&A=2180&S=0
 
That was very informative reading....thanks :p
It has reinforced my thinking that its not a neurological or OCD issue. I think he just likes to lick. He doesnt obsessively lick himself mostly just the couches and us! He is easily distracted away from it so I wont worry too much.
I might just try a kong or something just to keep his mouth busy but he'll have to work for the reward.
 
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