Can anyone explain...

sfangel

New Member
why my new puppy obsessively licks the carpet? She's been doing it for the last two evenings and ends up throwing up her dinner cause of hairballs she accumulates in the process. :dogsad:
 

ryleighgirl

New Member
Did you spill something there? My aunt's dog would keep going back to this one spot on her carpet where a piece of cake fell. It didn't matter how many times it was cleaned. She did this for months until she finally ate a hole in the carpet...
 

sfangel

New Member
No :( It's not one particular part of the carpet. She licks all over the living room and sometimes on the wood flooring. It' really strange...
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Hmmm. Innnnteresting. I have no idea, sorry, i am just posting so i can re-find this thread to find out what it was!!
Have you asked your vet?
Since the puppy is not tolerating this, i would stop the puppy, and then give puppy something safe to chew/lick on instead.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Maybe unrelated, but whenever i get out of the tub, and put lotion on, my dog tries to lick all my lotion off of my legs...maybe some ingredient in your rug shampoo smells yummy to the puppy?
but guess that wouldn't explain the bare floor licking, though...

I'd certainly forbid the puppy to continue though.
 

fickla

Experienced Member
I'm not sure why your puppy is doing this, but my parent's have a border collie mix who obsessively licks the floor. She's always done it a little bit since they adopted her at 7yrs, but now as she's gotten older (11yrs?) she does it more and more. I believe it's a type of OCD as she does it as a way of relieving some boredom, distracting herself from wanting dinner, etc.

I am not saying your puppy has OCD but it's something to think about. I would highly recommend redirecting your puppy to appropriate chew toys every single time she starts so she can learn how to keep herself entertained without licking. All puppies need to learn how to entertain themselves when they are bored- many puppies start chewing furniture, others steal paper, maybe some puppies lick the floor?
 

jackienmutts

Honored Member
I'd be inclined to agree with Fickla, it might be a kind of OCD behavior. Try to redirect or play with her when she starts it, maybe give her a special chew or stuffed kong she only gets when you notice her starting to lick, so hopefully she'll get out of the habit, get her mind off the licking. Try to be really consistent so you can (hopefully) break that habit while she's young, so it doesn't get too out of control.

And Tigerlily, my Alfie is a "lotion-licker" too :dogtongue2: Geez, handlotion, lotion after a shower, heck, the boy loves his lotion!!!
 

krazykai0905

Well-Known Member
Call your vet if she consistently throws up. Check her mouth, too. She might be teething or have a mouth sore. Of course, I wouldn't let your pup on the carpet without supervision and like fickla said, re-direct your puppy's licking to a stuffed Kong or (Kai's favorite) a ball with peanut butter(or baby food) smeared all over it and frozen. Again, call your vet, it might have something with her teeth.

~~*Harper & Kai*~~
 

sfangel

New Member
Thanks for all the input. I've tried giving her kongs with peanut butter and have noticed that she hasn't licked the carpet all week.
 

snooks

Experienced Member
It does sounds behavior in nature, like OCD, or some way to relieve anxiety, boredom, or stress. For things like this its generally best to distract puppy with something attention grabbing. Then redirect onto something appropriate and reward the appropriate behavior.

An example might be squeaking a favorite toy, getting puppy to pounce and play with the toy, and reward by playing or praise. This concentrates on rewarding what you do want while not provoking the stress/anxiety related behavior. If you scold or correct you don't encourage or get success as often.

Good luck on this one. Let us know how it goes.
 
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