Hi,
my beardie x constantly licks me or my boyfriend, if we are stroking her she will start licking our hands or arm, quite vigorously, sometimes if we take our hand away she will continue licking the cushion or couch. Last week she was have a cuddle in bed with us and started licking my arm, I got out of bed to get a book and when I returned she had licked my pillow to the point of saturation, yuk! We think its amusing but am baffled why she does this,
Is it our smell or is she grooming us, maybe cleaning the furniture too? Or just plain nuts?!
Anybody experience this or can you shed some light on the matter? Comments would be gratefully recieved!
Nicki

well my reef gives me some lovely foot massages lol.....i got the cleanest feet ever.....:) :).

Well, thats the thing, I would have thought if they lick because of the scent then feet would be irrestible but Sky wont lick our feet, much to my disappointment! I think its because when we first got her from the RSPCA she was a bit timid, when I went to stroke her with my foot she freaked, maybe she had been kicked before? A nice foot massage would be lovely but for now I guess I will have to put up with soggy hands, arms and furniture!

IMO she is submitting to you.

that makes sense, as she tends to lick my boyfriend (who rescued her from the RSPCA and who she dotes on), more than me, so she has the pecking order sussed! If I go to give my boyf a kiss she appears from nowhere, up on the couch between us, licking him like mad, cheeky monkey :) Its lucky Im not the jealous type!

If you don't like it push her off, and make her sit, then make a fuss of her but stop and walk away if she licks. Thats if you mind, if you don't then it is your affair and nothing to do with anyone else. I let my dogs do things other would be appalled by ;)

No, I dont mind it, she is such a character and never does anything wrong, we were just trying to figure out why she is so intent on licking us but we see it as a sign of affection!
Has anyone experienced their dog going doolally if you blow rasperries on them, Sky goes bananas and starts rolling around on the floor, she has us in hysterics :)

All the dogs I have ever owned will go stupid if you blow at them, mind your nose.

MB and Moose my two younger Labs are lickers!! It is definately a sign of a submissive dog. We normally have a licking frenzy after scoff time and all three girls have a massive licking session together. More so the younger two towards Min the oldie as she is the top dog. I must admit we do tend to discourage licking towards us and have successfully taught the no licking. It is just our preference.

Lucy

Dear Lucy,
What is the no licking rule? And how do you implement it?
We have a very licky BC who is also totally hyper.
Thanks,
coops

Hi Coops

All we do is discourage when they go to lick us by saying 'No licking' ! :) It works most of the time but more or less 100% of the time at our faces. We do occasionally get a slurp on our feet or legs though ! It takes some time for them to learn but we preper a non licky houseful of dogs ! Especially as two of them are ex poo eaters ! :(

Lucy

hi
how on earth did you manage them to stop eating their muck i have 2 bitches that wont stop no matter what i try please helpi will admit it saves me the back breaking job of picking it up lol but they dont have to go that far

robert

Aaahhh, when I say ex poo eaters I think poo eating is like alcoholism, once a poo eater always a poo eater ! What we do is try and pick the poop up as soon as possible and if caught in the act a severe telling off explaining teh error of their ways and telling them it is unacceptable anti-social behaviour !:)

It has got less and less but they do occasionally still have a dabble ! :D We have tried pineapple, and the stuff that you can get form the vets(can't remember the name) but nothing apart from what we do now seems to work.

Sorry not a miracle cure !

Lucy

thanks alot for your help i have 2 that do it i have in total 1 dog 2 bitches the lab i had ages and has started ages ago and does it now and then she eats it i recently got a german shepard and she has just started it i dont no y is she just copyin the lab
robert

Thanks for replying to my message lucy.
I will keep up the no licking message, not sure what the neighbours think as my husband generally joins in with cry also!
Ours also enjoys a little poo eating ,esp the cats, Urghh!

talkin about that my dog licks me all the time constantly too i never thought about it but shes always trying to lick everyones ears. but the weirdest thing is she gets her pillow and starts to suck the end with her eyes closed and she pushes both her feet while doing it.
A bit like a puppy feeding from its mother.anyone know why she dose it??

That is exactly what the sucking on the pillow is: she still acts as if she's feeding from its mother. I don't know if she needs it or not. My bitch does the same and I don't feel the need telling her that she can't. The really weird part is that almost the time when a bitch is licking she actually sees the one (or the thing) she's licking as her puppy. That is also the reason why some bitches can't be alone: they don't think you're the boss and feel bad you're gone, but they think you're their pup and feel bad you're gone...

yea i was thinking mabe she thought i was her pup or somthing shes always licking our ears. shes very mother like already even with our cats she licks( there not impressed):D infact she will bark and wait at the bowl so we feed her, she just walks off.its not her that wants the dinner its the cats ,hehe,and if shes got biscuits she will drop a load at there feet, funny thing she is!! i hope it will mean she will make a good mum.
as for the sucking of the pillow i let her do it. shes uses her teddys too so as long as its her own things i think its fine.