It is their boredom that you have to curtail (pardon the pun), not there energy or their spirit. I have four Bs, and they all have different personalities. The bones keep them occupied for a while, and they keep their teeth clean. Their teeth are important.
Foster won't stop licking the sofa (and everything else!)
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Well my lovely B cross (jack Russell) seems to have OCD. Whenever he is lying down he just starts licking whatever he is lying on. This is mostly the sofa, and thank god it's leather, but he does it for 10 minutes or so. Just keeps doing these long licks (not short quick ones like there is food on whatever he is licking), it's almost like he is in a trance and just can't help himself. The other night we got into bed only to find this huge wet spot where he had been laying and he had obviously been licking the duvet over and over so it was all wet. Does anyone else have this problem???
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My Parson Russell tends to get OCD about things. Including licking. He tends to lick people when he is sitting on their laps. He will just lick your arm to death, unless you give him something to chew on. I keep extra chew bones around the couch so when I sit down and Charlie wants up on my lap I can give him a bone to mess with.
Russells do tend to be a bit OCD as a breed, and the best thing you can do is to find things that help distract them from the behavior. Usually treats or a favorite toy can help. Just keep on him when he starts licking and imediatly distract him with something he cares about more.
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Sounds like he is trying to calm himself.
A chew distraction without any scolding, for licking, would probably work wonders. -
Mine are lickers too. Not so much furniture but rather human skin. Baron goes into an almost trance like state when he licks my ankles and calves. The other dogs do it too but not with the determination Baron has. I don't really know why. shrugs
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My boy is a licker too. He will lick humans, the furniture, the walls, etc. He will typically stop if I put a toy in front of him to distract him from licking.
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My B does the same, arms, ankles, feet, duvet but that's all, affection, love or calming herself? A bit of all of them I think.
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Jack will lick anything…..he loooooooooves licking cardboard. He has been known to lick the couch or me incessantly. I have gotten to where he understands "That's enough" and he stops. I think because I usually say "That's enough", which catches his attention, and then I distract him with something else.
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My female (Katie) will lick on the DH and DD a scab, scar, cut, mosquito bite, etc…, anything perceived as an "owie" to the point of re-opening a wound. We always thought of it as her overly active maternal instincts. (She's spayed--never had a litter--thank the B. gods;) )
We never had a licker of inanimate objects. Leather sofa I can see....scent or smell attraction.
Katie did go through a phase where she started to lick herself, usually a mosquito bite or something irritating, and she slobbered so much on her leg that the couch or bed around her was wet, so she'd OCD and want to clean the slobber area, thus creating a larger and larger Basenji spit area.
There's nothing like getting into what you think is a nice, cozy warm bed, then finding a huge damp spot--PANIC, PANIC, PANIC--first thought is someone has a peed on the bed, so you immediately, without thought, stick your nose right in it to smell:eek:
We also use the "that's enough" command, then re-direct the B's attention to a more appropriate object/behavior.
