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Location: Red Deer, AB, Canada
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,817
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Originally Posted by
Brierley
Rewinding a little, when you tried the ignoring, how long did you try it for?
Well, I've had Mouse for 2 years, I did the putting down thing every time she licked starting a couple of weeks after I got her... for approx. 6 months
Did everyone she lives with do the same?
She only lives with me, but visits others, no one else lets her lick anymore either... but that doesn't stop her from trying
I'd try first of all putting her down on the floor every time she licks. Not saying anything,
No point, she cant hear me anyway just putting her down and making a point of not looking at her. If she jumps back up, let her, but as soon as licks start, put her down on the floor again. Make sure everyone does it and does it for at least a week and see if she improves any.
She didn'timprove any for 6 months... that's when we went to plan B
One point here, if you let her do it even once, she will try harder so it's important to be consistent.
yup, hasn't stoped her any
Another way that can work if you don't want to put her down on the floor is to have a newspaper to hand (no not to punish her with). Every time she goes to lick, put the paper between your face and her. Again, every time and with no other interaction.
good idea... I'll give that one a shot. though I do that with a book when I'm reading, and she just jumps at the book, tries to push it away, and generally makes a nuisence of herself. I put her down, she jumps up, and bugs the book, I put her down, she jumps up and bugs the book... She's a but stubborn
Consistency really is the key so whatever you try, make sure every member of the household is involved and sticking to it
Originally Posted by
Fivedogpam
One of my collies is a licker but it's to lick off hand cream or body lotion which I assume contain some sort of fat that they like. He will stop if I tell him but darts back in for another go if he thinks I'm not looking so he obviously finds it irresistable! I don't let any of mine lick my face as I've seen where they put their noses!
Ha Ha Ha! I have 3 other hand creme lickers... that's not Mouse
Originally Posted by
Losos
Sara, you say her deafness and partial blindness doesn't make a difference, on the contrary I think it makes a
huge difference.
As I'm sure I don't need to tell you, dogs are incredibly gregarious creatures, they need and crave company, and
how can poor Mouse get that if she can't hear and sees very little.
Just try this little experiment, get yourself a pair of ear defenders and gogles, cover one lens of the gogles with masking tape and spray oil on the other then put both the ear defenders and gogles on and see if you feel 'detached' from reality,
I bet you do (I wear ear defenders and gogles in my workshop and after an hour or so I can't wait to get them off)
So Mouse licks a lot,
so what, so long as she doesn't lick around your mouth, eyes, or ears what harm is she doing
We have two dogs, one is always licking me, maybe not as much as Mouse but as I've tried to say above I think poor Mouse is
living with a terrible burden and needs to know you are
there for her when ever you are home. When she is licking you she knows you are there.
We sometimes have people visit our house, once or twice I've seen them look a bit shocked if one of our dogs licks them like they are immediately going to die from some horrible disease
I'm not in a very good mood this morning Sara so I will tell you that I am more afraid of catching something horrible from the humans I have to come into contact with than any dog. This winter my wife has 'picked up' some horrible flu type viruses
just from shopping in our local supermarket
I dont mind kisses from my mutts, not at all... Mouse is a determined little S***
Mouse was born the way she is, she has no idea she's any different from the other 4... and as I have one other deaf dog, and one other deaf and sight impaired dog... she really isn't different! LOL Mouse gets around just fine, plays and wrestles with the other dogs, and infact, unless we're outside, no one knows there's anything different about her. Her deafness and sight impairement haven't stopped her from learning a bunch of tricks, and haven't stopped her from being a typical little Dachshund. I dont treat her any different than the others, she is clicker trained (with a light instead of a click)
However, the OCD licking is really an issue... I dont mind kisses, but I dont want to be licked for hours on end (and she would, if she could
)
Originally Posted by
Laura-Anne
When we got Totts she was very nervous and responded by licking incessantly. I think also because she had pups she responded very motherly in that anything that touched her she would try to clean, thoroughly licking. (She was an outside dog with little human contact so this is the only way I figured her licking).
I taught Tott's "thats enough" in fun games. Then used the same command for her licking. She also knows a sharp "ah ah" is when she's doing something she shouldn't so if she doesn't respond to "thats enough" I say "ah ah" and she stops.
She still gives 1 or two licks but it is not nearly as rough so I accept this, if anything quite like getting kisses as long as it isn't too much. But i think with her licking it has slowed the more comfortable she has got around us and the less nervous she has become.
I hope that may help a little
Zoe, my first rescue is the same. She licked because she was nervous... She learned "no licks" as well, and doesn't even lick that much anymore, but she was a tad annoying. She's no longer nervous, most of the time (she is still a bit paranoid at times, but she'll never be a normal dog) But seeing as she was a puppy mill breeder dog for the first 1.5 years of her life, shut away from everything, she's entitled to be a bit... odd. I've had her 7 years now.
Mouse is in no way nervous. She has been licky like this since she was rescued at 4 months old. Mouse is probably the most confident dog I have, she will boss big dogs around, she runs up to strangers, she is a daredevil when it comes to getting on and (unfortunately) off furnature, though I've tried to curb that bad habit (I really dont want her to hurt her back, to I try to catch her as often as I can). Mouse is completely sure of herself, and her place in life.