Licking Problem

[T-ProGuy]

I have an 11 1/2 year old male Springer that has developed a bit of an obsessive licking habit. He is constantly licking the tops of his front legs...in fact, it has gotten to the point that the fur on his legs is turning a deep reddish-brown.

I get after him, and tell him "no!" anytime he does it longer that 15-20 seconds. This helps for about a minute or two...it is worst at nighttime. He will lay in his bed and lick his legs for hours on end.

We have also taken the suggestion of our vet and put the "sour apple" spray on his legs to deter him, but it did not help at all.

Any suggestions as to why he may be doing this or how to get him to stop?

Thanks!

[CabinBoy]

My lab (11) does the same thing, but mainly in the fall and the vet says it is becaues of allergies. Also doesa lot of scratching of scratching on his face. I just buy benadryl and give him 2-3 pills/day and it seems to help - doesn't totally cure it, but at least you can tolerate having the dog around! I know what you mean about the licking for hours.

Another thing the vet told me is that when dogs get bored (this time of year when they aren't as active), they will lick and chew on themselves. My lab now finds himself sleeping on his bed in the basement instead of in the bedroom (wife's decision)!

[JPowell]

sounds like he is developing allergies to something. did you change his food lately?

[GotOne]

My lab started licking at about 4yrs of age. Sounds similar-non stop licking at night..bugged me so much had trouble sleeping, almost licked or chewed the hair off her back feet. Have to use boots when hunting. Vet put her on Temeril-p and it has helped. Also, can use Benedryl, but the only active ingredient must be Diphenhydramine.

[T-ProGuy]

Hey guys...thanks for the input! We haven't changed his food in quite some time. He used to eat Science Diet, but we changed to NutriSource about 2 or maybe 3 years ago. I didn't really notice a change in the licking pattern when we made the food change, but I can't honestly say that I would have thought to pay much attention to it either. The allergy thing certainly makes sense, although it never crossed my mind. I will make a call to the vet and see if she thinks it is a viable possibility, and then get some benadryl unless she suggests something else.

Whatever the case, I hope I can get this problem taken care of soon...it is driving my wife and I nuts!

[Maverick]

My Wiemaraner had a really bad licking problem, she would lick the tops of her feet until they were raw and almost bloody. I took her to the vet and she had allergies, this is common in dogs I guess. The vet said give her Benidryl 2 pills in the morning and 2 pills in the evening. Also give them to the dog with food, since I feed her in the morning and at night I just gave them to her after she ate. This really helps she didn't stop right away, I think is was more habit but over time she stopped completely. It was hard giving them to her since she would spit them up, so I just open her mouth and stick them down her throat and hold her mouth closed until she swallows them. I would recomend trying this. Hope it gets better.

[Gus]

I have a 11 year old male english springer and he does the EXACT SAME THING. Drives me nuts as well. He has pink front legs because of it. I think it started to happen when he became an inside dog instead of an outside kennel dog. (going on 4 years now) Vet said it was most likely due to bordem. Sprays didn't help. Haven't tried anything for alergies but if that works for some people I may.

[buzzsaw]

Atleast the anal gland problem isn't happening yet, that is disgusting!

[wyldewal]

I had a dog that did this. I had her checked by the vet and he recomended benyrdl. It didn't help. Then he sugjested it was from boredem. I tried the sour sprays, they didn't work either. I think she liked them. I then tried chyianne pepper.The vet said this would be fine as long as the dog wasn't rubbing her eyes with her paws. I think the dog licked her paws once after that, and it was never a problem agian.

It also worked on my inlaws "rat-dog" that liked taking food off peoples plates. That dog runs into the other room when it's dinner time now. That only took once too.