Jump to content
Dogomania

Licking


DogPaddle

Recommended Posts

Zaphod has an odd behaviour, it's not really a problem, I'm just curious.

He licks a lot. He licks people to death, very persistant about it. We have calmly been working on the "NoLick" command at are making slow but gradual progress, at this point he is pretty good with others but still fairly persistant with me. At night he will also lick his paws for 5 to 10 mins.

We adopted Zaphod from the shelter and they claim he was around 8 weeks but I think he must have been 7 weeks. Additionally the shelter has to check them over and hold them for a period before adopting them out and who knows how long the poor little guy was away from his momma before someone found him wandering the street. I'm guessing he must have been 5 1/2 to 6 weeks when seperated from his mother and litter. Do you think this would be the cause of the licking?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

my friends Dobie Roy....is a lick-a-holic. but the killer is he is so slick about it. The most frequent visitors know his behaviors and are pretty wary of the tounge. but he will jog by and get a quick lick in without missing a step. People who dont know any better will REALLY get it he will sit and lick for 5-10 minutes no problem. usually he runs up get his lick in and then runs off. you always know he got someone becuase youll hear "DAMMIT ROY!!!!" and he comes bouncing into the room wagging his tail, in full "trot" (for those that dont know happy dobies have a funny little bouncy trot they do) with a goofy grin on his face. like "HA HA got another one"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

face licking is a submissive behavior. correcting the dog is not a bad thing to do if you dislike this--in a pack, the subordinate member will lick an alpha's face. depending on the dog, the alpha either ignores it by lifting thier face out of range and walking away or by giving a swift, aggressive "bite" to the muzzle--a dog's way of saying CUT IT OUT!! Licking the legs is grooming. If they lick you after licking themselves, they are wiping the taste off of thier tongue. Licking you as you pet them is also a subordinate thing--beta grooming alpha. Licking the floor can indicate nausea, as a dog that spends alot of time indoors substitutes carpet/floor/furniture licking for grass eating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

my friends Dobie Roy....is a lick-a-holic. but the killer is he is so slick about it. The most frequent visitors know his behaviors and are pretty wary of the tounge. but he will jog by and get a quick lick in without missing a step. People who dont know any better will REALLY get it he will sit and lick for 5-10 minutes no problem. usually he runs up get his lick in and then runs off. you always know he got someone becuase youll hear "DAMMIT ROY!!!!" and he comes bouncing into the room wagging his tail, in full "trot" (for those that dont know happy dobies have a funny little bouncy trot they do) with a goofy grin on his face. like "HA HA got another one"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pengz is right, in most cases, the licking is a submissive behavior (Joey, the extra submissive Chi does it ALL the time). Sometimes though it can also be a manipulative or even dominant gesture... "I'm going to lick you because I feel like it". Haley does it to Goo all the time, sometimes she's being submissive, other times it's coupled with dominance posturing and the "eff off" expression, and I have to seperate her until she can get herself under control again. Annie is a manipulative licker... the only time she usually licks another dog's mouth is when it's hot outside and she wants a drink, at that point, ANY dog will do, and she's determined to get her snout in there.

BTW, good to see you back Sashagirl :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jackie is a big licker. She jumps in bed and gives me wet sloppy kisses to wake me up, and she'll lick my arms and legs and feet too. I don't mind it at all, but if she tries to lick someone who doesn't like it, all I have to say is "no" and she'll stop.

Maya isn't as much of a licker as Jackie is, but she'll lick the arms of the "dog chair" (used to be my recliner) where I was resting my arm, and she'll lick my arms and feet once in a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Mutts4Me

My friend's guide dog has serious licking problems. She'd lay and lick her feet for long periods of time, and lick the carpet, and lick my friend's hand. My friend would just hang her hand down off her seat or whatever, and Gretchen (the guide dog) would just lay there and lick her hand for as long as Lindsay felt like letting her.

It drove me crazy because my lab Bandit had allergy problems all his life, and he'd lick himself to the point of rawness, so we'd have to tell him to stop for his own good. For 12 years. So to sit in the same room with this perpetually licking dog had my nerves standing on edge, lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Licking hands" is our dog Sam's night-time ritual.

Every night, when I get in bed, he starts nudging my hand until I flip it over so he can lick. He'll lick for about two minutes or so, then he starts looking for my other hand. Once he finished licking that one, then he's happy and we can all go to sleep.

He flips though if I don't let him. It seems to be an important thing to him. And its only at night in bed. During the day he never licks hands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

courtnek--that is a very good observation cuz i was JUST abotu to say this :

Holly(my female) is SOOOO "licky" lol...she NEVER stops licking me! lol
but on the other hand, Boomer(my male) hardly ever licks me unless im petting him in the first place..
im gonna do a bit of research on that becuz i find it interesting..wonder if theres a reason :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 2 intact male dogs...they are big time lickers...one of my males Gil licks my male Dilon on the legs while they are laying down and Dilon licks Gil's ears and flews...they like to clean each other...my female Rottie licks all the dogs flews constantly...she loves the drool....she is also the most dominant dog I have in my group...my 2 female Newf's are not much for licking at all.
Dogs lick for a number of reasons. They lick to groom themselves and others. Mothers lick their puppies to clean them and stimulate their urination and defecation. Older puppies and the young of wild canids (relatives of the dog such as wolves) lick the mouths of the adults as a greeting to stimulate them to regurgitate. The puppies eat this regurgitated food as they are weaned from their mother and begin to eat solid food. As the puppies grow older, the licking becomes a way of welcoming others back into the pack and increasing the bonds between the pack members.
The last reason for licking (greeting and begging) is probably the one that has developed into the licking tendency of pet dogs. Licking is a way our pet dogs can greet us, say 'glad you're back!' and strengthen their relationship with us.

I was reading an interesting article as well regarding dogs which lick their feet...this can be related to a poor diet...some dog foods add Sugar Beet pulp which is used to hold toxic waste such as animal fats which are essentially toxic waste ....slows down the transition of the fat going rancid....interesting....the feet of the dog actually swell which makes the dog lick at them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well this is all interesting.
Zaphod is male.
Zaphod is not the dominant male of the two dogs.
Zaphod eats the same food as Kavik, who doesn't lick much.
I think this must be a submissive affection type thing although sometimes he can be pretty pushy about it. I don't mind it sometimes but sometimes enough is enough, hence the NOLICK command.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

Coal licks me every chance he gets on my legs and my arms sometimes, but most often it's in the morning, when I first get up, and when I'm REALLY growchy. Poor Coal, I feel bad afterwards for shooshing him away, but it's just SOOOO irritating!! :evil:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BK is a licker though not an obssessive one. If you hold out your hand to him he'll lick it a few times, same if you get up close to his face. If you stick your hand or foot in his way while he's grooming his front legs he'll give you a nice tongue bath. He gets slower and slower and after a while his tongue just kind of stays in one spot and *quivers* for a few seconds. Kind of gross but nice at the same time. :D :D He and Rinny used to lick each other's faces/ears all the time. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

[quote name='DogPaddle']Shara how much does Coal weigh now, how tall is he, approximately? He is around a year now isn't he?[/quote]

To tell you the truth, I have no idea :o I have no idea how much he weighs, his sholder is about up to my knee, but I haven't mesured him, and I'm PRETTY sure he'll be year in a few months, but I have really forgoten when his aprox. birthday was and all his adoption papers are still at the vets :evil:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...