My 6mth pup seems to have a licking fetish.....he licks and licks and licks and licks to the point of wearing his tongue out.
No bare flesh is safe, he licks arms legs bellys feet forehead. Do I have to continue walking round the house dressed lick a mummy to prevent being licked to DEATH!!!

Can anyone shed any light on why he might be doing his....??????

cos he loves you :D :D

Cos you taste nice :D

Ha! I can believe that as I am sugar and spice and all things nice but he even licks my boyfriend to death!!!

I just worry that there something wrong!! But he obviously just loves his mum and dad ! Arh bless!

If he is a flatcoated retriever then I'd have to say there is no cure, they all do it. I always advise puppy buyers that they must like dog saliver a lot, otherwise it is not a good idea having a flatcoat. Some breeds are more "licky" than others.

Many years ago before I advised people about this trait, I sold a pup to a lovely couple. After about 6 months the lady rang me, she was in floods of tears, she said I'd have to have the puppy back. I asked why, and was told "Well we are told by our vet there must be something wrong with him as he licks all the time. We thought it must be a vitamin or mineral deficiency, but the vet has tested for every type of deficiencey and we really can't get to the bottom of it"  She then told me "The problem started as soon as we got him, we noticed he licked the horses, he licked the children, he licked us, the walls, the floors the car anything within reach of his tongue!"  I explained that this is normal behaviour for many flatcoats and not to worry, I'd have the puppy back. Instead I had a very happy family, who yelled their relief into the phone and told me "Well if it is normal, then then there is nothing wrong, so we can keep him!" They were overjoyed to know their pup was not suffering and decided they would rather live with the slobber than not have the pup.

The family had been advised by the vet to return the puppy to the breeder as it was obviously ill, even though he couldn't find anything wrong. The pup lived his entire life with the family and he was as happy as they were that he had stayed with them and not been returned.

He's a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and is so soppy

I don't mind so much the slobber saves me having a shower in the mornings!!!!!

Honestly though I thought there might be something wrong with him like the people your refering too so its good to know that theres nothing wrong. I just better get used to it!!!
;)
Thanks

I have 3 Staffs, and one of the boys is the king of licking..he just finds human skin irresistable! :-)  It does mean that I'm permanently soggy but it's just the way he is...Staffs, gotta love 'em! :-)

Polly,

That's a wonderful story!!!! I loved it!

My Chihuahuas are major lickers. I think too, besides the fact that they love me and love anyone they can reach with their tongues, they are also so small that they tend to be naturally a little submissive. So they are saying, "You're the boss, you're the boss. We know." LOL. It can be annoying, but I know that saying "no" to them will just make them more submissive and they'll lick more. LOL. So, I try to say, "enough kisses" in a sort of pretend strict voice that I use when I play with them. They know I'm not really mad but that I would like them to calm down with their kisses. It sort of works a little bit. LOL.

Carrie

what a nice problem to have!!!!

Our puppy SBT has been a persitent hand/finger/face/toe/leg in fact anything human licker since week 8 and is showing no signs of stopping and our 17mth old bitch is a licking and grunting machine when I get home from work. missus has tried to calm her down before I get in with mo success adn even if I manage to slip past here and get indoors she soon hunts me down and covers my hand in wonderful doggy drool! Enjoy it and remember if you've got a staff that they just can't help licking no matter how much you tell them to stop! Part of what makes them lovely along with the way they squeeze into a one inch gap that doesn't even exsist just to be close to you!

I have a female dally who licks me all the time, especially when I'm in the bath, just got out the bath/shower. Loves feet, my stepmother used to take her shoes off as soon as she walked in the house so she could get her feet licked. I have a male dally who doesn't lick atall. I was looking forward to one on each foot. He gives lovely kisses though but slobbers quite a lot so I don't ask him for a kiss much.

Glazby likes to lick us dry when we've got out of the bath/shower - the look of intense concentration on his face as he methodically starts at the foot, works up the leg, then the hand up to the neck, then the face and then the hair.....

Then its time to get back in the bath again!!!  :D

I don't mind the licks to begin with but after a while it gets a bit too much - especially with the grunting snorting noises he makes whilst attempting to breathe at the same time!!

Our dog is relentless on licking if we wear any kind of moisturizing cream or say an anti-itch cream for insect bites and etc.   Funny, but I now only put on hand cream when I will be leaving the house.  Ha! 

But, also she at times would really lick her paws until the skin became irritated, and there is a loss of hair.  We learned from our vet this was allergies (inhaled not contact to the skin).  We now treat her during those times.  If you think that is a possibility, you may want to talk with a vet about the matter.

Paw- and leg-licking like that can also be a sign of stress, rather like thumb-sucking in a small child.

What kind of hand lotion is your dog's favorite flavor? I put that stuff on my legs and they go for them right away. A-h-h-h-h-h....lotion lickers. Mine love the French Vanilla, Lilac and Clinique's Happy the best. LOL.

Do you remember there was a big incidence of paw licking that was related to that shake-and-vac stuff?