# OCD Licking



## Gailforce (Sep 17, 2010)

Hi everyone, I have a seven year old mini poodle who I rescued at six months. She has always been an obsessive licker, she licks on everything! Me, blankets, clothes, the couch, and herself. And she doesnt stop. I had her for five years, and then had to give her away to my sister-in-law due to unfortunate circumstances. She was alot better when I gave her away. Well, two years later she is back with me (YAY!), and is ten times worse!! She had a terrible time readjusting when I gave her away, and actually vomited everytime she saw me as she got so worked up wanting to go home with me. She has settled right back in to her ruetine with me, but the licking is so bad. She will just sit and lick, and lick, and lick, on whatever is closest to her, including herself. What can I do to stop this behaviour?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Do you mean that she was better before you gave her away, or better while she was with your sister in law? If the latter, I would look hard at the differences between her life with you SiL and her life with you. Is she for some reason more anxious with you? Perhaps your SiL has a more structured, routine based life; perhaps she was firm about defining and enforcing rules; perhaps she was the only dog; perhaps she simply got more exercise. It does sound like stress behaviour - I would work on understanding why she is stressed, and removing the causes (and make sure she has lots of relaxed, low stress, off leash exercise). 

I had a cat that licked herself hairless through anxiety when there were too many changes for her to cope with, so I do sympathise. In her case, anti-anxiety medicines for a few weeks and carefully removing stress from her environment improved things, although looking back I have always felt rather guilty that I didn't find her the home with somebody around all day to cuddle her by the fire which was what she really wanted.


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## Gailforce (Sep 17, 2010)

She had improved drastically before I had to give her away. Now that I have her back, the habit is much worse than when I ever had her. My sil didnt provide the life this little dog needed, including vetting, and she is now very hand shy, and terrified of even moderatly loud noises. My husband and I have a very structured house, and we have three cats and three dogs. My other dogs are happy, and are very stable and exibit no kind of ocd problems. I spend the most time with my mini poo, as she is very attatched to me, and very needy. I have her back into a obedience routine, as my sil did not make her mind, and she even starting pottying in the house. I had her for five years, and even as a puppy, she never had an accident. Even last night, she squated on the floor, right in front of me! She has been with me for four months now, maybe I just need to be patient and let her readjust as she is ready.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

It does sound as if she is thoroughly upset, poor soul. If she improved with you before, then perhaps doing whatever you did then is the answer. Has she been checked by a vet, to be sure there is no underlying physical problem? And a DAP diffuser may help her to relax.


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## Poodles times 2 (Aug 14, 2010)

What about dietary changes, even treats or snacks?


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## Gailforce (Sep 17, 2010)

She has been to the vet, and other than a little arthritis, she is very healthy. I put her on royal canin and she loves it, and my sil fed her treats all the time and she was fat when I got her back. I dont feed treats, just very occasionaly. She also has allergies, food and grass. She is a poor soul. What I did before was just regular training sessions, walks, and constant emotional support for her. I know that sounds silly, but she has the most human like personality of any dog I have ever met/owned. My family had a kennel growing up, so we had alot of dogs, and never put human emotions on a dog. But this one is different. She is also the smartest dog I have ever met. I have another poo, a standard, and her intelligence far exceeds his, and he is extremely smart. She was also abused as a puppy. I myself am very emotionaly invested in this little dog. Also, four months ago my sil's husband shot himslef infront of my sil and the dog. She witnessed the whole thing, and I had to clean the blood off of her. That is one reason she is back with me. The poor little thing has been through so much.


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Good grief. But I would think that would affect the human more than the dog. 

Maybe she is just an anxious dog. My oldest Shih-tzu was always anxious but he restricted his licking to his front feet. They were always brown from licking and the vet said that this was because he was anxious - the licking was a comfort to him. Hopefully she will settle down and not be so anxious once she becomes used to your routine.


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## Poodles times 2 (Aug 14, 2010)

Her issues with loud noises makes perfect sense. Being that intelligent, she likely picked up on the human emotions and fear from the gunshot in that instant, and it stuck with her. My Nigel is very afraid of thunder and now also lightening. I have a CD of thunderstorms to desensitize him from the noise, but unfortunately I don't play it on a regular basis.


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