Hi i have two Dobes who are nightmares for licking!
Not people but sores! Even a tiny bite ends up in a sore patch cos they keep licking it.
My youngster has a sore pad at the mo cos she's been licking it.
Any ideas?

I have a SWD who is the same she has actually licked the fur off her dad's ear and if people have the tiniest of paper cuts she knows!  I'm sure she'd be a great detector dog of illnesses.

Would also love to know how to stop her!

I'm actually getting a bit worried in case they get infected.
She's limping a little at the moment and making it worse by licking.
I found a site which sells 'lick strips' thought i might try them. I went to
the vets once with a sore spot and she suggested an elizabethan collar!!!
Well! the stress that caused. She was terrified and scared the other two dog too!

For my old boy after he injured his paw I got some size 3 children's socks and the adhesive plaster tape and it worked a wonder.

Thanks - will try that. Did he not pull it off?

I'm afraid the breed is well known for obsessive licking! As you say, the smallest cut is licked to death. They are also contortionists and manage to get to places you wouldn't think possible, so even the elizabethan collars often don't help unless you have one the size of an umbrella!

If possible cover the wound up, not so much that it can't breathe, but enough to deter the dog. I've resorted to childrens t-shirts for cuts on the body, and childs socks for feet injuries (wrapped with the cohesive bandages, not too tight, at the top to keep the sock attached to the leg). Taken off a moment too soon and you end up back to square one.

One of the many joys of being owned by Dobes!

i use tubagrip with tape if needed always found it works wonders usually put some soothing cream ie aloe vera first and it helps heal without licking

Thanks so much!
I love your signature!
My abmition in life was to have a Dobe - loved them since childhood.
I got one (20 yrs ago) and then I wanted a pair!
I got a brown and was amazed at how easy she was (stupid me!!) ....
so I thought now is the time to have two! I got a black.....
what hit me???
(love them both to bits)

What a lovely site with friendly people
Wish I had discovered it sooner :)

No it stayed on fine

Hi,

My old girl does this on occasions hers is more seasonal to do with pollen etc..but she does if I dont watch her lick her feet till they are sore. I would bathe their feet with some diluted hibiscrub to make the area clean in case it has any dirt in or they could cause it to become infected. once the area is clean and dried put some SuedoCrem on it and put something like a baby sock on their feet, this is what I do with my old girl, just secure it with some cellotape. You can buy special dog boots from either your vets or the http://www.hyperdrug.com website as well. If all else fails they may need a trip to the vets so as they can find out why they are so obsessed about their feet, they may have an allergy or something? rather  than it being behavioural?

  

This is exactly what we used to do for our Dobes - It was suggested to us by our vet and it saved me countless trips (& cost) to the surgery! I found once the sudocreme was on, they tended to leave it alone but the sock was an extra precaution and just keeping an eye on them was enough to deter them - 'corse a new bone helped take their mind of it!

>I got a brown and was amazed at how easy she was (stupid me!!) ....

More like lucky you!  The redheads are always the worst, from what I've read and from my experiences with my own girl - 9 years old next month, and still no-one believes me when I tell them that the mental furball charging around and barking at everyone and everything is 9 with crippling joint disease/arthritis/hypothyroidism!!

I also fostered two a little while ago - a brown male and black female - and Fox (the boy) was by far the most loopy of the two, always running off to do stuff and eat things he shouldn't.  By contrast my fawn boy is nearly dead, he's so laid back - but then he is medically not right... lol!

My girl is a swine for licking too - she tore her leg open the week before last on a bush, two days afterwards she'd pulled her staples out, had them redone then bashed the wound open doing laps of the back of my van.  I had to resort to the collar in the end but it did the trick - but every time I gave her a break from it, lick lick lick.

I usually do what pedlee does - t-shirt for the body, socks for the feet/legs.  When Cassie (the black foster girl) has abdominal surgery I used Remy's (my boy) pyjamas - made them myself, they are a full fleece body suit, legs and all (you can buy them on ebay too), and it covered her stitches nicely as they were too far back for a t-shirt.

Thanks all. sent hubbie to Tesco for sudocreme and socks and it worked!!!
Touch wood! She's so funny, she was limping before but once I cleaned it
and creamed it, the sock went on and for about two hours she walked three legged.
The sock is still in place (been off for cleaning) and she's walking fine.

How long do you think I should continue?
Don't want a set back. You've all saved me a fortune at the vets!
cheers

We usually leave it on for a few of days (with the usual clean and re-apply) and then try it without the sock and see how it goes. If she remembers it is there - put the sock back on! It should heal pretty quickly once she forgets about it and leaves it alone so just keep an eye on it and go by what you think.

> for about two hours she walked three legged

:-)  :-)

Brought back memories.  Many years ago I had a JR bitch with a very bloody patch on her side.  I had been working in the garden, and all the dogs were with me.  The vet reckoned that it had started out as an insect bite, but she had been sat scratching with her backleg, and torn herslef to pieces. 

So, after treatment, the vet wrapped the naughty leg carefully, just so the nails couldn't do any more damage.  I couldn't stop laughing as we walked back to the car.  I had tears streaming down my face.  Judy was walking 3 legged, holding her "baddie" up of the floor.  Everyone thought that she had a paw injury!