I’m currently fostering a dog who compulsively licks everything, from tables and wooden chairs, to notebook covers and books. For him, the pattern seems to be anything with a smooth surface. Other dogs may lick other types of surfaces such as the carpet, you, or himself. So you might be wondering, why does my dog lick so much?
Why Does My Dog Lick Everything?
Licking objects doesn’t satisfy a dogs hunger, in fact it doesn’t satisfy any “true” need whatsoever, so why the obsessive, compulsive behavior?
There are many reasons as to why a dog may lick you, himself, or objects repetitively, but quite often the behavior arises due to stress, anxiety, or some type of conflict.
You can observe your dog to see if you can pinpoint a source of conflict or stress. Here are some things to look for:
- Is there a conflict with another pet in the house?
- Was he a shelter dog that has recently been separated from his long-time companion?
- Was he an abused dog?
- Is he afraid of being reprimanded, or punished, by you for a particular behavior or incident?
- Did something recently give him a good scare that is now causing him fear?
If you can identify the cause, and eliminate it, it may be possible to stop the behavior. Unfortunately, a long-time compulsive behavior can sometimes persist even after the cause has been identified and corrected. Sometimes there may be a medical condition causing the behavior such as a cognitive dysfunction. If it is himself he is licking, medical conditions may exist such as fleas, a skin condition, allergies, or pain in the specific area. You should consult your vet in order to rule out this possibility.
Additional Things You Can Do To Help Your Dog
- Purchase a taste deterrent made for animals. This is a product that can be applied to the things your dog licks. They taste horrible and will deter your dog from desiring a scrumptious taste of your carpet, skin, or other object. There are multiple brands, and flavors, which range from being bitter, or hot & spicy. Since dogs have different tastes, you may need to experiment as some dogs have actually been known to like the taste (the little stinkers!). However, fortunately most will be repulsed by it. The one that worked for my little foster dog was Grannick’s Bitter Apple for Dogs.
- Try to distract your dog. Play with him, take him for a walk, ask him to perform a trick, or present him with something that will occupy him for a lengthy period of time such as a rawhide. What works wonderful for our dog is a KONG toy. You can fill the toy with a mix of tasty treats, both wet and dry, such as peanut butter and broken pieces of dog biscuits, and your dog will work for 20 minutes or more trying to get it all out! They look forward so much to getting the treats out that they completely forget about all else…….now that’s a fun distraction!
- Consult a vet if you feel it may be a medical issue that needs attention.
Do NOT Do this
- Never scold or punish your dog because it will increase his anxiety and worsen the behavior.
- Never give your dog positive attention, such as petting or praising, when he begins his compulsive licking. You don’t want him to think his compulsiveness is a good thing!
Interesting post and great idea for a website.
I also have a rescue dog who not only likes to lick, but also jump. In fact he can lift himself 2 metres off the floor with his back legs – and strongly resembles a kangaroo.
Back to the licking, he and our other dog lick each other from top to toe each night before they go to bed. I think this is rather cat-like behavior for a dog, is it not?
Yes, the grooming of each other does bring cats to mind, but it is actually quite common for dogs to groom each other as well, and is a bonding experience for them. The behavior is learned early on when they are groomed by their mother as pups.
It’s great isn’t it when your dog comes up to give you a lick but after a while, if the dog keeps licking, it can get tedious. Soon everything in the house is wet and/or sticky. This post goes through all the problems of obsessive compulsive licking and gives tips as to how to identify the problem’s source. I did have a dog that wanted to licked any bare skin that was available. She was a lovely dog but when we had visitors you could see them getting visibly irritated and trying to cover up legs and arms. Distracting her with food, was not a good idea in case she thought she was being rewarded for her licking. She did grow out of it as she got older but the one thing that stopped her was a long walk. She would be so tired after, she didn’t have the energy to lick anything! Nice post! Ches
That’s great that your dog finally grew out of that stage. Your comment brought back memories of when my dog was a puppy, he was very “mouthy”, and just like you experienced, I don’t think my guests were always so thrilled about being drooled upon during their visits. Ah, but we love them anyway, don’t we? Thanks for dropping by and posting your comment!
This by far is one of the best dog behavior sites I’ve seen. The behaviors described from licking to dragging their butts on the ground to humping to peeing on the carpet…these are questions I’ve always had so thank you for providing such an in depth, compelling blog!
What would you say is your biggest dog misbehavor problem?
My GSD used to lick a lot but now she’s mellowed out after I run her to exhaustion 🙂
There is such a wide range of behavioral problems and depend on the unique personality of each individual dog. I hope to address the majority of them within this site. Some of the most common are jumping up on people, accidents in the house, excessive barking, and a fear of some sort (e.g. fear of thunder). Thank you for your complimentary comment! 🙂
Hi, Carol! Great tips on how to handle these crazy lickin’ puppies. I have had 4 dogs at different times in my life, and only one of them presented this behavior eventually. It turned out he had skin prone to rashes close to his rear left leg, and we had to be extra careful to really dry out completely after showers or he got wet to avoid them from developing. I think the most important thing is to pay close attention to your dog – they really do talk in their own way.
Hi Daniel,
Yes, I agree, dogs certainly do talk in their own way! There are many things we can learn simply by watching their behaviors. Thanks for commenting.
This was a very fascinating read!
What is strange is my puppy licks a lot. It’s such a weird feeling to be driving down the road with a puppy head poking out of the back seat while she repeatedly licks my arm, ear and side of my face. I had her since she was 2 weeks old, the mother abandoned her and the owner refused to take care of her. So I took her in and fell in love. But dear lord does she love to spread her slobber everywhere.
Why is it that we find human slobber disgusting, but puppy slobber is fine, lol. Your pup is lucky to have you!
Why would a puppy take food to the rug to eat it then turn around a pee where he just took food to eat in the same spot? He is also a compusive licker! I adopted him from a shelter. He is a Chihuahua.