Stop Dog Licking
Is dog licking an acceptable behavior? Well, for some owners, they may think that dog licking is the way dogs express their love and attention. While it may be true, the problems come when other people are visiting your house.
Your dog may be too eager to greet the visitors that it starts licking them excessively. Even though licking is harmless, it can be quite annoying and may even be a bit embarrassing for you as the owner.
While dog licking is not dangerous and is unlikely going to cause any injuries, unlike biting or jumping on people, it is still a form of inappropriate behavior that should be addressed.
Too much dog licking can make your guests feel uncomfortable sitting in your home and as a good host, you will want to prevent that from happening. So, the best way to prevent that from happening is to have proper training for your dog.
Secrets To Dog Licking Training
Some Tips For Training Your Dog
This is probably one of the most important tips for you to follow as a dog owner trying to train your dog. And that is consistency. It is crucial that consistency starts in the very beginning, when your dog is still a young puppy.
You want to teach your dog to behave in the same way in front of you and also in front of others. For example, if you let your dog jumps on you, he will be confused about why it is not appropriate for him to jump on other people.
Similarly, when it comes to licking, if you allow your dog to lick your hands or face, your dog will be very confused why you are stopping him from licking another person’s hands or face.
Regardless of the kind of dog training problems you are trying to solve or the kinds of dog breeds you are handling, consistency is a key element. You need to show your dog what is the proper behavior and be sure to reinforce it from time to time, consistently.
Although you as the owner will feel wonderful when your dog shows its attention and excitement by licking you to welcome you home, there are many other ways to show excitement and attention, that are more appropriate than licking.
One way you can stop dog licking is to turn away from your dog every time he is trying to lick you. You should not have eye contact with your dog and be sure to turn away until your dog is not licking you anymore.
As soon as your dog stops licking you, you can start giving him attention and praise him for the proper behavior. If your dog happens to have this tendency to lick a person’s hand, you can stop dog licking by withdrawing your hand and turning away from your dog. Do not establish eye contact until the dog starts to calm down.
With proper reinforcement of the proper behavior, you are also teaching your dog to stop licking when there are guests in your house. Since your dog now knows that he is not going to get attention from you when he tries licking you, he is unlikely going to lick others that visit you.
To make the training even more effective, you can even tell your guests to ignore the dog if the dog starts to lick them. The will provide further reinforcement to the dog that licking is not an appropriate behavior and you will be able to stop dog licking more effectively.