Puppy - Biting? and licking

[ownedbycats]

I'm not really sure what to title this thread. Our puppy Sunshine has this odd habit that is going to get her into trouble. She's mostly good about nippin (occasionally grabs for toys but we are working on that). We started when we first got her with the "Ow! No bite!". As a result she is very good about not nipping but she stilll likes holding people's arms in her mouth. You start petting her and she will be SOOO happy, tail going like crazy, and she wants to lick you. She turns around and grabs whatever arm isn't petting her. She is very gentle about it, she doesn't bite down, she just grabs onto an arm and holds it. You don't even feel the teeth. Once she has you holding still, she proceeds to lick you all over. (She is constantly licking us.)

The problem with this habit is, if she does it to someone who doesn't know her they may take it as agression. It's not. She will let go the minute you say "no bite".

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to teach her to stop? (And does anyone know why she seems to feel she needs to always be licking us? We sit down, she washes our feet, we walk by she washes our legs. We pet her and she washes our hand. we do nothing and she comes up and washes us.)

[MadeleineI]

Constant licking can be that she is making sure you know that she knows she is at the bottom of the pecking order. The pecking order is extremely important to all dogs and I know of no better person than Jan Fennel, the Dog Listener to tell you how to fit into this appropriately.
http://www.janfennellthedoglistener.com/
Another possible cause is the nutrients she is getting from your sweat. Which may mean she is deficient in proper nutrients that she should be getting from her food. Quality raw food can redress this problem

[kandy]

If she'll let go of your arm with the 'no bite' command then use the command the instant she tries to grab your arm. You have to be consistent - if you allow her to hold your arm one time out of 10, you are sending the wrong message. If she tries to grab the arm again, then get up and walk away after using the no bite command. She'll soon learn that mouthing is not appropriate.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

Since this could be a submissive gesture just don't be snappy with the command for her to let go in this case.
I would just gently remove her mouth from my arm and say "no" (I'm assuming she knows what "no" means).

This is pretty much the tactic I take with dogs licking and stuff (to push them away gently and say no every time they engage in the behavior), because they're not doing anything that would be aggressive or unacceptable in dog language (it's actually kind of like a grooming behavior for them to hold something gently to stop it from moving and then lick, you see female dogs do it with their puppies to clean them) , it's just something that humans find icky or distastful

The licking you all the time is a submissive and friendly behavior to show that she considers people dominant. Do be careful about being harsh with commands because some dogs that are very submissive can start submissive peeing when they were already doing something considered submissive between dogs and are harshly corrected for it.

[Bailey_]

The problem with this scenario is that when a dog is constantly licking us (or themselves, or other animals) it can be a sign of an impending obsessive behavior.

Generally a dog will exhibit these kinds of behaviors when they are stressed out in an environment for whatever reason (if they're new to a home, if there have been any changes - new pets, new house, new family members) and is an extension of the dog attempting to deal with this.

It can also be a sign they aren't getting enough mental stimulation and don't know how else to express this. (Some dogs chew). Generally when you take your dog for a walk or a run, that isn't good enough stimulation for their brains - and often times they'll attempt to release that pent up energy through the anxious licking.

If you can have her assessed by a professional to determine what the cause of her licking really is, you'll have a better chance to help her through that. Constant licking is a major sign that your dog is extremley anxious in a situation which could be for a variety of reasons, and that she is attempting to comfort herself.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

The above can be true also.

BTW, I didn't see an age for this puppy, or did I just miss it? That could matter too. Very young puppies sometimes go through phases where they just do weird stuff and will grow out of it as long as you don't encourage it.
I noticed 2-3 month old puppies seem to go through the constant licking thing for a little while and then it just seems to kind of disappear.
If it's a prolonged thing then it's an issue.

The only thing I know for sure is that licking ITSELF is usually submissive, so you don't want to harshly punish it. The general interaction (stuff that leads up to the licking and comes after the licking, and other body language) can have completely different connotations, so I can't really make a statement on that since I haven't seen the behavior. Actually a video in this case would probably help us all.

I stated in another thread that though licking is a submissive behavior it can be exhibited by dominant dogs at certain times, and submissive dogs can exhibit dominant behaviors at certain times. The overall personality and interaction from the dog can make a huge difference in assessment.
For instance, a dog that's trying to assert dominance will sometimes lick submissively to manipulate you into letting the dog do what he wants. My min-pin (and many other small "cute" dogs i've noticed) does that because people seem to think "awww, how sweet!" when he starts licking them. So say they told him to get off their lap and he starts licking their arm, they might let him stay because he's being "nice". (I try to prevent this behavior, but I'm not with him 24/7)

Point being, it just depends on the overall interaction and your dogs general personality.

A lot of other things can come into play also. Bailey is right that that kind of behavior is really best assessed in person by someone experienced with dogs.