Ru likes to lick stuff. A lot. Like a baby with a pacifier, he likes to snuggle up in his blankie and then lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick as he falls asleep. He's not too particular , whatever he is laying on will do.
I don't like Ru licking stuff because he leaves wet spots that are larger than himself. Nothing like rolling over onto a soggy sheet in the middle of the night, or attempting to explain that the couch is merely damp with chihuahua spit to a visitor.
He has been doing this since he was a wee baby, and for a while we wrote it off as teething pain. We try to discourage him whenever we catch him doing it, though at night he can be pretty persistent about licking something while falling asleep under the covers. My husband occasionally sprinkles cayenne pepper on the couch as a deterrent, but I draw the line at putting capsaicin in our bed.
My last hope was that it was related to mouth pain, but he had a dental a few weeks ago and stopped licking stuff until a couple of days ago. Now that his mouth is all healed up, he's back to licking again.
Apparently he's not the only one:
So, my fellow dog nerds, why do chihuahuas lick the couch?
I don't like Ru licking stuff because he leaves wet spots that are larger than himself. Nothing like rolling over onto a soggy sheet in the middle of the night, or attempting to explain that the couch is merely damp with chihuahua spit to a visitor.
He has been doing this since he was a wee baby, and for a while we wrote it off as teething pain. We try to discourage him whenever we catch him doing it, though at night he can be pretty persistent about licking something while falling asleep under the covers. My husband occasionally sprinkles cayenne pepper on the couch as a deterrent, but I draw the line at putting capsaicin in our bed.
My last hope was that it was related to mouth pain, but he had a dental a few weeks ago and stopped licking stuff until a couple of days ago. Now that his mouth is all healed up, he's back to licking again.
Apparently he's not the only one:
So, my fellow dog nerds, why do chihuahuas lick the couch?