Why is my puppy always licking something?

[nymph]

My 3 month old puppy Golden/Lab mix puppy Diego started to lick almost everything since a few days ago: furnitures, the floor, my appliances, the doors, my cloths, socks, and us. Other than sleeping, he's always licking something. He's on Nutro large breed puppy chow and he gets his daily intake of fatty acid supplement (one pill per day) and 2 tbsp of yougurt with active bacterial culture, and a few other treats like cheese, baby carrots, ice cubes and kibble treats.

He is crated 8 hours a day, but my husband comes home during lunch for about one hour to feed him and let him out. He also sleeps in the crate right beside our bed.

My question is: why is he constantly licking? Is he bored? Is he missing something in his diet?

[nymph]

anyone has any idea?

[amber416]

Hmm..i know that a sign of stress/anxiety in dogs is often excessive licking but i've always heard of the dog licking itself in that situation, so i'm not sure if it applies here. I also don't know if licking has anything to do with boredom but if your puppy is in a crate all day and all night, even if your husband lets him out for an hour during the day, that's still, what, 14/15 hours out of a 24 hour day...i would probably be bored if i was in a crate over half of the day. Once again i have no idea if that is in anyway related to the licking. Good luck figuring it out!

[Prin]

That's true amber. It could be anxiety related only instead of licking or chewing himself, he's doing it to other things. What if you take this doggy out for a great play, like one or two hours (depending on his age of course-- you wouldn't want to overdo it...). If a doggy is tired, he's happy and relaxed. If you come home and there is no licking, that's probably it.

One major issue I have with people is that they bring their dogs for a walk or jogging with them and they think that it's enough. Dogs need to be challenged and need to play. It is not their nature to jog aimlessly strapped to a person. They need interaction.

[nymph]

My puppy hasn't had his last rabies shot yet, so we've been excercising him in the house and in the backyard only. I am concerned about his level of excercise, but have been told that I'd better take it easy since he's going to be a big boy, around 80 lbs according to our vet.

amber: I don't suppose that crate him at night would consider "crate" since he's sleeping anyway. Placing his crate by our bed gives him company and comfort. Diego actually likes his crate, he goes in every night on his own, and lies down quietly, falls to sleep before I do. The minute he wakes up we take him out, which is usually around 7 a.m. I may be wrong of course, in that case, what would you recommend?

[mandiez]

it's not unusual!!!!!!!!!!

I have a pup, shih-poo, who is 4 months old and is a licker too. I know it is more in their nature because she's a little girl, but it's normal.

Your pups last rabies shot is coming up soon, so no worries. I am also a BIG FAN of crate training!!!! I think you're doing fine.

One way u can distract the licking is by giving it something to lick. My pup doesn't lick a lot of things besides our faces...but i am willing to bet that the reason your dog licks everywhere is because of the yogurt, cheese, etc...that you give him.

As humans, we are naturally inclined to wipe our hands everywhere...we do it without even thinking. I think perhaps that the reason the dog is licking everywhere is cuz it smells all these yummy things. Perhaps cutting the human food out would be good?!?!?! I haven't given my pup any human food what so ever and it's working fine. I don't own a lab sooo im not sure why u feed it all those extras. There should be enough in his puppy chow.

However, if u want it resort it to licking something...here is my best trick...my best friend...my LOVER ---> The Kong

You can pick it up at any pet store and it's a dog toy with a hollow centre. In the centre u can place cheese whiz, peanut butter, or dog treats...maybe this will help keep the little guy busy on one thing instead of all your clothing and furniture.

Hope this helps

Mandi

[nymph]

Thanks Mandie! I bought a kong last night, will try it out with Diego.

Yougurt is recommended by our vet to help his digestion, and cheese is a good training tool, so I've gathered from this forum.

[Eleni]

maybe its a pup thing, sammy is always licking the kids

i figure its because he usually finds the left overs from their meals on their clothes or whatever.

However i am trying to train him to stop licking on command because he likes to lick the baby and can get carried away and we have to stop him so the baby can get a breath of air in and a giggle or 2 hehe
I agree with the kong too, whenever i need to distract sam for any length of time i put a bit of Peanut butter in the kong and hes amused for quite awhile. I bought sammy one thats supposed to be good for teething pups, im not sure of the difference however because it looks the same as the other one except its blue and smaller, either way sam loves it, he often brings it to me and drops it in my lap asking for a treat hehe


Eleni

[Princesss04]

Chino likes to lick but I figured this was normal puppy stuff. He like to like people and their bodies. LOL So as long as you are dressed and do not talk to him with your mouth open the tongue is not as bad. Nothing like a doggie french kiss to wake up too!