Once a licker...always a licker???

[Gail and Bailey]

I am not a fan of being licked repeatedly by a dog.  My doodle loves to lick us....all the time. Mostly when she is excited to see us but... whenever we hold her or sit with her too.  I stop her by saying "leave it" and she knows to stop but she just can't seem to help herself and starts again.  I can divert her attention by getting her interested in a toy or bone and putting it in her mouth, but I wish she could just enjoy having us love on her and be with us and not lick.  I continue to work on the "leave it" command and we are good at being consistant.  Of course when friends visit or we meet people while we are out and she does it to them, everyone is quick to say..."Oh, she is okay, I don't mind."  I tell them it is not okay and try to stop it. She is almost 10 months old (I have had her since she was 6 months old and she came to me with this behavior.)   My question is....."is it possible that she will grow out of this,  or do I have a licker for life???"

[Gail and Bailey]

Roberta...wow, that sounds worse than what we are dealing with.  I will make certain it does not get to that stage. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Luca often licks me in the morning when we wake up. He'll nudge my hand so I open it for him. Both dogs licked the vet the other day. People ask if my dogs mind going to the vet but they rather like it.

[Kimmy & Chewie]

Chewie is 14 months old. He's a licker too but ONLY if we're at the same level. (i.e. sitting on the floor with him or he's in the backseat of the car).

Then and only then he will persistently try to lick our faces and ears. (seldom licks our feet or hands) He usually does a "lick and run", where he gives a quick 2-3 licks and runs off before I can give command to stop. Few minutes later, he'll swoop in again to steal a few more licks. This is particularly distracting when I'm doing yoga on the floor.

 

 

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

Knox rarely kisses me but he will kiss my DH and my son on request. It makes me so jealous, lol!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Both of my boys lick when they're really excited about something.  They lick me when I first wake up in the morning...I guess they're happy because they know that means breakfast.   They also lick me when I'm at their level telling them they're good boys.  It does really seem to be tied into us sharing "the love"...so I also always think of these licks as kisses.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna really likes licking people, but she only licks people who want to be licked.

She knows that my mom doesn't like being licked (my mom never let Luna lick her when she was a puppy), so she doesn't even try.  However, she knows that me and my DF like "kisses" so she happily licks us (mostly on the ears/feet).

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Sorry, But Myla is a nonstop licker! I've read many articles-submissive, OCD, wanting to please us, etc.

My DH can take it more than me. She doesn't stop and if she does listen, goes right back to it like yours.

We have a sign in her room that says "Caution! Dog can't hold it's licker"

Good luck! Laurie made a good point about missing the licks.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I'm in the same boat with Ollie.  We say that he has OCLD (Obsessive compulsive licking disorder).  If he even gets near your face, his tongue just pops out like he is a snake.  It drives us crazy sometimes, but then I remind my DH that there was a time last summer (when we first adopted Ollie) that he was terrified of my DH so the fact that he licks him now is really an improvement!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

No advice here. I think once I saw a Dog Whisperer episode where constant licking was a behavioral issue. Don't remember how Cesar solved it. See if you can find any canine behavior specialists in your area. If not, you will just have to get this:

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I love this Jarka!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Oh Monty, your face says it all!

[Adina P]

Our late Thule couldn't hold her licker either.  It's like the mere presence of human skin was a tongue magnet.  The more scarce a piece of flesh was (midriff, bald head, exposed summer thigh) the MORE tempting she found it.  We tried to get her to stop and usually we were successful at ending a kissing session, but we were never successful at getting her to quit trying.  It's a tough one!