Episode #150 Understanding Why Dogs Lick

Ever wondered why your dog can't seem to stop licking? Whether it's your face, their paws, or your furniture, dogs have an undeniable affinity for this behavior. Join us today as we explore the world of dogs and their licking habits. We promise you'll come away with a deeper appreciation for our four-legged friends and their instinctual behaviors that date back to birth. You’ll learn about the biological, social, and emotional contexts that drive dogs to lick, for reasons ranging from affection and submission to stress relief and taste recognition.

Chapters

• 0:00 Understanding Why Dogs Lick
• 9:52 Training Techniques to Stop Excessive Licking
• 14:02 Dog Licking and Training Assistance Offered

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Puppy Training Podcast, episode 150, understanding why Dogs Lick. This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning, as you train your own dog from home, and I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the Puppy Training Podcast and I'm your host, amy Jensen. Hey everybody, how are you today? Thank you for tuning in to the Puppy Training Podcast. I'm super glad you're here. I hope you are having a good week.

Speaker 1: 0:33

It is definitely getting colder where I live and, speaking of colds, we all have colds. So I don't know if this is true at your house, but every time fall comes around, we pull out the cough drops and the tissue boxes and all sorts of fun things. So hopefully you're staying well at your house. Today I want to talk about licking. I get questions about licking quite often. I don't know. I get a lot of questions quite often because I'm a dog trainer, but licking is one of them. So today I want to talk about it. Why they do it, how we can change that behavior if we don't necessarily love that behavior. But I do want to point out a lot of that. Why today? Because if we understand why they do it. It's not always a problem behavior, right? It's okay that they lick. There's just certain times that we probably don't want them to lick. So dogs have just been super great companions for us for many, many years. They've been companion dogs for humans for a long time now and their behavior continues to intrigue us and charm us. And one of the most endearing and puzzling behaviors exhibited by dogs is their desire to lick. So, baxter, he's a liquor. He likes to go straight for the legs of anybody wearing shorts. So if somebody comes over to say hi to him and they have shorts on, I know he wants to lick them. Just anticipating that and knowing that is going to help me change that behavior. But I'm just saying that so you understand. I have a liquor at my house and we're working on this right along with you.

Speaker 1: 1:56

So today let's talk about again those various reasons behind this seemingly simple behavior, right, and shed some light on the biological, social and emotional aspects that encourage dogs to do this behavior of licking. So, at its core, licking is an instinctual behavior. Okay, it's ingrained in a dog's biology. It's part of who they are Now, from birth. The mother dogs lick their puppies to stimulate breathing to clean them and it encourages bonding. So this early exposure sets the stage for really a lifelong inclination towards licking. It's part of just a dog's programming, if you will. Now puppies in turn reciprocate by licking their mother's face, a behavior that really goes into adulthood. So this licking starts very young for puppies, right. Their exposure to licking starts very early in their life and they use it. The mothers use it again to clean, stimulate the breathing, encourage bonding. Puppies do it to reciprocate back that behavior to their mothers.

Speaker 1: 2:56

Now, as we've talked about before, dogs rely heavily on their senses to navigate the world around them. So licking provides that tactile experience which allows them to explore their environment and learn about different textures, sense and tastes. This behavior serves as a meaning of gathering information about the world around them, much like we humans use our hands to touch and feel things. Think of young kids. They learn by touching and doing. I remember as a young mom constantly wiping well, it seemed like constantly wiping up fingerprints from surfaces or cleaning tiny hands as they came back inside from playing in the yard. Kids want to touch everything, why? It's how they interact with the world around them, and dogs are similar with their licking behavior.

Speaker 1: 3:39

Dogs are also highly social animals with a complex system of communication. When a dog licks a human or another dog, it's often a sign of affection, submission, or it could just simply be a way to maintain social harmony, to let another dog know hey, I'm friendly. So this behavior is similar to a human hug or a handshake that we would do to signify someone to someone that I trust them or that I'm friendly. Again, we see this similarity between a human using their hands and a dog using their mouth or tongue. There are many stress signals in dogs and things they do to relieve stress. Licking is one of these, which is again similar to sniffing. We have talked about ghost sniff walks and how taking your dog on a ghost sniff walks helps them relax in their environment. In times of stress, anxiety or if your dog's uncomfortable dogs will often turn to licking as a coping mechanism. So licking is a very rhythmic motion and it releases endorphins in our dog's brains. So these endorphins induce feelings of comfort and relaxation. Additionally, the act of licking itself can be soothing or comforting and it provides a distraction from outside stressors. This is why dogs may often resort to licking when faced with something that they are unfamiliar with, or if they find themselves in a tense situation.

Speaker 1: 4:56

Another example of when we see dogs lick has to do with taste and flavor recognition. So this is where the taste buds come in. Dogs have a keen sense of taste and their affinity for certain flavors can drive them to want to lick objects or people that carry these enticing scents or residues. This behavior is similar to a human's inclination to lick their lips when we're presented with something that smells good, like a really tasty dish or a yummy dinner that's in the oven. I can smell that homemade bread baking and I start to salivate. I get excited that I want to lick my lips for that bread to come out and be able to eat it with some peanut butter on it. Can you guys tell that? I like homemade bread right out of the oven with peanut butter. It's delicious. So just like we do as humans, we get this inclination to want to lick our lips. The dogs are the same. They smell something that's super yummy or good to them, and they're showing interest in something that they find appealing.

Speaker 1: 5:46

So now that we've explored why a dog licks again, there's several reasons that we just went through. What can we do about it if we want to help change it. So recognize, all of these things that we just talked about are not bad, Like is it okay that a dog smells something yummy and wants to lick their lips Right, that's okay. Or if a dog's out on a go sniff walk and they smell something really great and they want to lick something, maybe okay, maybe not, depends on what it is. And if we want them to have that or not, a guest comes over and my dog wants to lick their legs, that might be behavior that I want to change, even though my dog might be saying, hey, I'm friendly, I like you, you know, I want to shake hands with you in terms of I want to lick your leg, which most people don't love. So that would be an instance where, okay, yeah, we might want to change that behavior. So let's say we do want to, in fact, change this licking behavior. It's not the desired outcome when my dog greets someone, right? What can we do?

Speaker 1: 6:41

So there's a few things as far as training goes. First, consistency is key. We want to ensure that all family members and friends really anyone interacting with my dog are on the same page regarding the no licking rule. So consistency is crucial for successful training. If somebody's allowing my dog to lick and lick and lick and lick, it'll be much easier for my dog if they just learn we don't lick people in general, okay. So second would be providing adequate exercise and mental stimulation. Just recognize, a well-exercised and mentally stimulated dog is less likely to engage in unwanted behaviors like excessive licking. Make sure your dog is getting enough physical activity and mental challenges throughout the day. So we want to make sure that we're training our dog, asking them to do simple behaviors, even like sit down and stay those three basics. Just doing those at random times throughout the day helps our dogs be mentally stimulated and they're able to focus and respond to us on cue, which is going to be helpful in a minute when we put no lick and lick on cue, right.

Speaker 1: 7:38

So third, let's identify some triggers, like I did with Baxter. I recognize that when Baxter greets a person and that person is wearing shorts, I know that Baxter is going to want to lick their legs. Just knowing that is going to help me set my dog up for success. So I'm going to understand that when Baxter sees a new person, I can now structure that greeting in a way that he can't lick that person and I can ask him for a better, more desirable behavior. Instead, we can create a new pattern of greeting people without the licking being part of it, simply because I recognize the trigger. The trigger for him is a person wearing shorts Right Now. Triggers are going to be different for every dog, so just start to take note of what are your dog's triggers when it comes to the behavior of licking, all right.

Speaker 1: 8:21

Next, we want to be able to redirect attention. So if I notice my dog is about to lick something or maybe they've started licking something I missed that precursor moment and now they're already doing the behavior I do want to redirect their attention to an alternative behavior as quickly as possible. So I might ask them for a sit or a lie down or go give them a toy or a chew to chew on. I'm going to remove them from the situation and then give them something better to do. So another training solution would be to teach a leave it cue and generalize it to, for example, in Baxter's case, a person. So if he goes up to this person to greet them, I can say leave it. That means, take your attention off of the person, give your attention back to me, and now I can ask him to do something different. So leave it is a fundamental cue that can be applied in many situations.

Speaker 1: 9:07

I highly recommend training your dog a leave it cue or teaching them those words and what to do about it. And we'll just start by using it to prevent our dog from licking. And when they listen, we get to reward them with praise and food rewards, which is great. That's what they like, okay. So let's get into the training with positive reinforcement Again. Whenever we want to change behavior, we want to teach our dog what we want them to do when a person is present before they do this behavior that we don't want, in this case licking. So reward your dog for not licking. When presented with this trigger that we've identified, we offer praise, food rewards or a favorite toy as their payment for that for not licking and for cooperating. And positive reinforcement will reinforce this desired behavior.

Speaker 1: 9:52

So, for example, baxter sees a person. I can ask him for a sit, stay right. That will not allow him to go lick. It will prevent that behavior from being practiced and he's doing a better behavior instead. I can even teach him what lick means. So I could put that on cue. I could present my hand with a little bit of peanut butter on it. He licks that. I can mark yes and pay him. He licks my hand. I mark yes and pay him. He licks my hand, I mark yes and pay him. And then I start to put it on cue. I'll say lick. I present my hand, he licks it. I mark yes, I pay him. So you can start to put that behavior on cue.

Speaker 1: 10:28

You can then also put the no-lick behavior on cue so you could present your hand. You could say no-lick, take your hand away, mark that and pay. So mark and reward right. So present the hand, say no-lick, take your hand away, mark yes and pay them. So they are understanding no-lick means I do not lick the hand. And now you have two very useful cues. So if Baxter starts to see a person, he starts to walk up to them. I can say no-lick and he knows what that means. Do not employ your tongue right Now. That takes some time and some practice, repetition. So again, we're setting our dogs up for success as we teach these different cues.

Speaker 1: 11:06

Whether you're using a lick, a no-lick or a leave it cue, recognize your dog needs time to practice those and to generalize those in different situations. So at your home, at the park, it's going to be very different, right? Make sure you train them in a very quiet, non-distracting area first, and then we might take them to a more distracting area like a park and practice the same behavior there so that we get the same results, no matter where we are or who our dog is interacting with. Another good training practice would be to implement boundaries. Now, as we're training and teaching our dog not to lick people when they are greeting them, it would be useful to use something like a baby gate or a pen or a leash on our dog so that they can't just go up and lick the person while we're in training mode, but we can prevent them access to the person and then also practice the new behavior of not licking, maybe doing that sit-stay that we talked about, an alternative behavior that is not compatible with the unwanted behavior.

Speaker 1: 12:03

So if my dog is, I cue them to go to their bed and they're on their bed. My dog can't be licking a person's leg, right? If my dog is in a sit-stay, they can't be licking a person's leg. You get the idea. So just creating boundaries with those baby gates, exercise pens or a leash is going to set my dog up for success so they can't just go practice the unwanted behavior. It provides that structure.

Speaker 1: 12:25

Also, offering alternative activities is a good idea. So Baxter might be really excited to greet this person. But if I can ask him to go to his bed and give him a puzzle feeder or a bone to chew or something that he likes, like his Kong or his Westpaw topple right, any kind of toy, puzzle toy that he enjoys that could be a good alternative activity versus going up to this person and licking their leg. And you're going to have to probably employ not only the training and the alternative activity but also that implementation of boundaries with a leash on him or he's in a pen so he can't break and just go up and practice that licking behavior. So you are combining all of these techniques together, but each one individually is important to understand.

Speaker 1: 13:07

And then finally, just remember medical considerations. If your dog suddenly starts licking excessively and it's not related to any of these known triggers that we've talked about or others, consult your veterinarian. Let him know hey, my dog's licking excessively. What could it be If they're licking their paws excessively or they have a spot on their body that they're constantly licking? That could be something that your vet needs to know about and that they could help you with on the medical side of things, remember patients and consistency are important when training a dog, and each dog is unique. That's what we love about them right, and what works for one may not work for another. Just always tailor your training approach to your dog's individual needs and personality and with time and effort, you can help your dog overcome the habit of excessive licking or even just licking when it's not appropriate, like we talked about today. All right, there you have it all about licking. You can hear Baxter, maybe in the background, licking up his water as he's coming over to get a drink.

Speaker 1: 14:02

I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your week. It was fun being with you today talking about licking. If you have a dog who's a licker, I hope you can make a little bit of change if needed, and if you need help, reach out to us. We're happy to meet with you one-on-one via video coaching or a phone call and we can explore your needs around this behavior of licking or any other dog behavior you're experiencing and create a training plan for you. All right, happy training. You guys. Have a good week. If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other puppy training question, visit my site BaxterAndBellacom to contact me.