Our nearly 2 yr old Charlie has this week started to ecessively lick/gnaw our other dog Henry on the neck and will not leave him alone, the area is now raw and open. They usually clean/groom each other with no problems.  I have tried to keep them apart which is very difficult, as soon as they are back together he goes straight for it and as soon as they are on there own i know he is doing it! I have also tried to cover the area with cream and a t shirt but they manage to pull it away and get to the area.  It would be very difficult to seperate them totally for a long amount of time, does anyone have any idea of how to stop this?

Thanks

chrissy

If I had a dog excessively licking my other until it was raw, there is no way I would allow him to get anywhere near.

Two options, before your other dog becomes infected by a constant open wound.

Firstly have you tried giving Charlie a nice juicy knuckle bone or chew to occupie himself with instead, or secondly I would muzzle him until the wound is properly healed.

Is seperation really impractical, I'd even shut him in the bathroom with a dog bed and water if it does not stop.

Perhaps others will be able to recommend a harmless spray or something that tastes disgusting to put him off once the wound is healed, but in the meantime, just go buy a muzzle if you can not seperate.

An elizabethan collar on the licking dog might work as it would stop him being physically able to get to the other dog's neck, just when you are unable to supervise them, which would give it a chance to heal and hopefully break the habit. I wouldn't want to leave a muzzle on a dog unsupervised incase the dog needed to vomit and then ended up choking on it. Just a thought!

Shaws anti chew spray is good to deter chewers, but can sting if the skin is abraded ;) 

Personally I would want a vet to see the dog just in case there's something amiss on his neck as it's something that's never happened before ;) once thats sorted then you may have to keep them separated until it heals

One of my girls has been doing the same with one of my dogs and he does have a little oily lump that's come up.  Carmen is a very sensitive soul and if I have any papercuts or anyting of the like she seems to find it straight away and wants to lick at it.

Alternating their time in a crate when you cannot watch them could work well they would still be with each other.

My worry would be that the dog being licked may have something growing there.  dogs have been known to spot humans cancer by licking a spot.

Also he could be doing it as a comfort displacement activity.  Has there been anything to upset him recently.

My own 11 month old pup is a bit on alert due to the fireworks.

Yes, I do agree about there possibly being something there.  I would take him to the vet to see if there is anything wrong.  The vet can give you an anti-lick lotion that you can put on the fur surrounding the wound to stop him licking that.  You put it on with cotton wool so you can direct it better than a spray.  You could spray cotton wool first of course and dab it around the wound.  But my thinking is that the dog recognises that something is wrong.  Could just be the fact that there is an open wound there now though so dont panic.  A trip to the vet to see whaat is happening is what I would do.

Good luck
Spettadog