I have a puppy that is about 11 months old. We cannot get her to stop licking us ! I mean, an ocassional kiss is great, but she constantly tries to lick us and is driving us crazy ! any help out there?
I read in the Post a few months back that that was a submission thing. Unfortunately I don't remember what they said to do.
Point her in the right direction, get a kick from her licks... know what I mean, Imogene?!!!....:shock: :lol:
Dogs licking humans and themselves is usually a sign of nervousness/anxiety. If they only lick themselves it can be the same as I just mentioned, or an allergy. When she licks, put an immediate stop to it. Do the correction sound (you know it) then, either ask her to sit/stay and do some tricks if you have time, or down/stay. If you do the down/stay - as soon as she lies down, give her something to chew - a chewie/Kong/rope to occupy her. Do NOT allow her to lick you - divert her attention. If everyone keeps up on it and doesn't permit the licking, she will cease doing it. If she is licking herself along with you, she could be bored and need a good workout. Have the boys take her for a run if possible. If not, divert her attention as I mentioned above. Cocoa is a smart pup, she should figure it out pretty quick.
Zookeeper - see if you can answer this one. We have a beagle, she's an outside dog (fenced yard), have had her about 6yrs. When we got her as a pup and was told she was old enough, we had her spayed. Shortly thereafter (guessing a couple of months later) she got where she would not come to us and let us pet her. We can get her 'cornered' in a nice way and she will sit and let us touch her. If its winter and we bring her inside the house, she stays in the laundry room and she will sit and let us pet her. When we're outside, she'll come up towards us, wagging tail, sorta barking like she's SO happy to see us, but she will not let us get close enough to touch her! If you extend your hand to pet her, she will lick it and back off....its the strangest thing! Is there something we can do to change her behavior? She's a very sweet dog. We have never hit her or abused her. The only thing I can think of is the spaying surgery made her afraid of us....but thats been yrs ago now :shock:
Actually, spay surgery usually has the opposite behavior - pets get more friendly, as hormones don't come into play (like PMS for female dogs) The are typically calmer and much more social. Did you spend a lot of time with her as a pup? Sometimes outside dogs who are alone without another dog, tend to get confused. See, dogs are 'pack animals' - they NEED to be with others, whether its other pets, or humans. They can't easily cope with being solitary - dogs need to know their place, and if she never established her 'place' in any real pack order, she is likely a tad fearful. Socialization is key to any pup's attitude towards life - but it is never too late. Try this: First - NEVER try to corner her - it makes the uneasieness increase. DO NOT look her in the eye - until she gets past this - looking a dog in the eye is intimidating if they are at all fearful. It can bring forth a bite in some dogs - or make others totally scared. Go out near her (is she in a kennel?) Be alone - one on one is best - more than one human approaching is VERY intimidating. Have some soft tasty treats - like cheese. Sit down - NOT facing her. Look at something else to the side and be quiet and hold out your hand with a treat (out to your side is best) Give her time to come and get it and DO NOT try to pet her. Do this with the entire treat - piece by piece. Again, do not try to look at her. AVOID praise - I know its hard, but if she is scared and she is taking the treat, she may get the idea that her behavior (being scared) is what's 'good' rather than the fact that she took the treat. Repeat this daily - twice a day if you can. Just about 5 minutes each time - just sit quietly with her. She will realize that humans can approach without haveing to touch her and she will get comfortable with your presence. Before long, she will come up where you can touch her. She will build trust. That's when you pet her (suggest with the back of your hand - under her chin) Don't pat on top of her head - she may take this as aggression until she gets used to being handled. Have patience, don't crowd her and she will come around In the winter, if she goes in the laundry room, leave her be, don't invade her space - if you want to spend time with her, invite her into the kitchen or another acceptable space. Let the laundry room be like her 'crate' or den. She needs to feel she can be there without being bothered. PM me if you have any ?'s and let me know how it works out for you. Excuse typos off to work again. Ahh - saw after posting you said fenced yard - better yet. Do the same thing. Just let her approach you and things should work out.
Zoo, would this approach work for a cat too? One of ours is a "touch me not" and drives me crazy. DS can per her till the cows come home, but she HATES for me or DH to do it, she licks herself like we have contaminated her if we touch her. :roll: The other one is a cuddle bug. Go figure! :?
Thanks, we have tried some of what you suggested but will take the steps that you suggested. We did have another dog up until a few months ago and we spent time with them both, but she always backed off. So we thought since she no longer had the other dog to compete with that she'd be more anxious to socialize with us, but no. Thanks for the tips. :-D
Cats, Iye, yi, yi :roll: Felines are an interesting species, that’s for sure. Many people appreciate the way you can’t ever take all of the wild out of them – no matter how social they might appear at times. I suppose that’s why there aren’t a whole lot of ‘cat behaviorists’ out there. While I have two kitties now, and have had a bunch throughout my life, I love the species, don’t get me wrong. . .I consider myself more of a ‘dog person.’ It’s because I can honestly understand where dogs are coming from – can figure out most of the time what makes each individual one tick. Cats, on the flipside are often really hard to predict. Ever be petting a kitty and they're all lover-dovey and BAM - they are biting into your flesh? Humans call them 'love bites', but sometimes it is real tough love. . .Or, walk by your cat and have them swat at you with claws extended, simply because they could? Dogs are by nature very social beings. Cats are, by nature, much more independent. Yes, there are some social cats, who behave very much like dogs – they will greet you at the door, cuddle up in your lap. Others prefer to exist in a household, just to be taken care of and more or less left alone – unless they are hungry. Some are like the weather and go back and forth with being social. Cats definitely tend to choose people they like. Our one cat loves my husband. She would follow him into a burning building, but won’t give me the time of day, unless she’s really hungry, or DH is away on business – then by day 3 she gets needy and will come to me for attention. I’ve never mistreated her, always been kind and patient, she doesn’t fear me, she just doesn’t seem to care much for my company. . .I have clients, whose cats LOVE me! I mean really love me – so I kind of think its cats as individuals who decide who they like and don’t and there is usually no rhyme or reason to their thought process. Think about it – did you ever have company over – someone who didn’t like cats, or was allergic and tried to avoid them? Didn’t your cat go right on up to them? I think they sense avoidance and do it on purpose :lol: Yes, the tactic of holding out the treats, like I described for the beagle, CAN work on cats as well. Patience can help them to come around, but with cats, there’s never a guarantee. They don’t feel that same need to please us humans, nor socialize unless it suits them, that dogs do. Cats don’t require a pack, just servants ;-)
Thanks Zoo, that makes me feel better. It kinda hurts our feelings that she can be so stand-offish sometimes. You feel like you've been graced by the Queen if she deigns to let you touch her! LOL! The other cat was bottle fed because the mother didn't have any milk, I've always wondered if she was more dog-like in her behavoir because her momma didn't raise her. Interesting thought anyway.
Thanks Zoo. We all keep trying with the commands. She doesn't lick herself much, but as soon as she gets close to us, the tongue starts going. I have actually gotten out the water bottle too, which she hates. That helps more for the jumping up thing though. We'll just keep trying ! Other than that, Cocoa is a great dog !
You can also try Bitter Apple (petsmart carries it) Safe for your skin, furniture, etc. Dogs hate the taste of it.
Enough said! NO ONE can figure them out. They are the dogs from H...E...double hockey sticks. Okay....stepping off my VENT box now:lol: It's just that I was talked into taking a beagle puppy and I had no idea how dang hard headed they are. I went through dealing with the Houdini Beagle from...well...you know, during TWO of my own pregnancies. Stupid dog actually chocked herself to death trying to get back in the fence she had torn up while escaping:-( . It was horrible. I had to go out and get her loose when I was about 8 months pregnant so the kids would not see her.:? She was pregnant too. Her second litter of pups. We did plan to spay her but she would dig out of a nice fence and run off and get pregnant before we could get her to the vet.:evil: The only good thing is that we did end up having one of the original pups brought back to us a year after we gave him away. We kept him and he is a great dog. He is half beagle and half lab. I had to prove to him that I was the pack leader (or as my sis says...the head Biotch in the house), but once he understood that, he became the perfect dog. Beagles are so cute and so sweet and I know there are many people who love them. But me - never again!!
For all that might be interested, a quick spray with the water bottle is solving both the jumping up and licking ! She barely did it all weekend! Although she did see me carry it around with me all weekend on my pants pocket. LOL Thanks Zoo and all.....
When Quincy was a puppy, he learned what to stay away from between me making the buzzer sound and the water bottle. . .when I got tired of being tethered to a water bottle, I got a GOOD quality water pistol (one that didn't leak) and slipped it in my pocket and 'shot' him when he messed up - he quickly learned to cease whatever he was doing when he saw me 'draw' - Funny thing was when my FIL came to visit, I went to take a shower and he was in the living room with Q - he was a bit leery of the dog, as he never had pets. . .so I gave him the gun and says, if he messes up, just shoot him! If you could have seen the look on his face! As it was, Q was a dry pup when I got out of the shower - he only liked to try his Mom's patience ;-)
