He licks the carpet?

[duckhunt]

I know the title sounds funny but this is a problem. Drake is a pure bred papered yellow lab. He's 10 years old but has some issues. He's got arthritis in his back hips, a fatty tumor on his front right shoulder, and one back hip is slightly dislocated. He goes to the vet for an annual check up, shots, etc. The vet obviously knows about these issues. Now for some reason for the last 2 weeks He's been licking the carpet. It's to the point where there is a softball size wet spot in front of him. I ll give him food, fresh water, and maybe a treat, or even take him outside to run some energy off. As soon as we go back into the house he lays down and starts licking the carpet again. He doesn't need a vet check up until about April but I'm thinking about taking him in. Has anyone seen this before? Why would he do this?

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Dane spot on the carpet? If it is then he can smell or taste something in that spot.

 

[JEL]

Is it the same spot every time? My lab will lick the carpet on occasion but not incessantly. Always just assumed something got spilled or dropped there.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Our black lab has some licking tendencies. She does it on a spot on the couch, on her dog bed, etc.

I'm convinced labs are mentally challenged in a lot of areas.

 

[BirdManMike]

Maybe he has an itch on his tongue.

 

[KB_]

Not just Labs.

Our Weiner dog is constantly licking the sheets in my bed. But thats not all, oh no.... I've seen that dog licking the walls, the floor, the carpet, the little gap where his sack use to be. I simply just walk away and hope he chokes. Bad enough that he sneaks his way in the bed in the first place. 10 times worse when you jump in bed and land in a big wet spot.

My hound is a different kind of special. Has this one pillow that she will just sit on the chair with it top of her front paws, and if you let her, she might lick the pillow until she passes out from exhaustion.

Some dogs are just dumb lol

 

[MTLabrador]

Labs. Lick. Everything.

But usually not that bad.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Not just Labs.

Our Weiner dog is constantly licking the sheets in my bed. But thats not all, oh no.... I've seen that dog licking the walls, the floor, the carpet, the little gap where his sack use to be. I simply just walk away and hope he chokes. Bad enough that he sneaks his way in the bed in the first place. 10 times worse when you jump in bed and land in a big wet spot.

My hound is a different kind of special. Has this one pillow that she will just sit on the chair with it top of her front paws, and if you let her, she might lick the pillow until she passes out from exhaustion.

Some dogs are just dumb lol

+ 2...Corgis

 

[MThuntr]

That would drive me crazy! I would think it could be a boredom thing but also I've heard dogs do this as a self soothing thing to release endorphins (caused by anxiety, boredom, illness)

My buddy's dog sucks on dirty socks (the grosser the better for him). One time, he knocked over a laundry basket at my house and he hid in my spare bedroom and sucked on a sweaty boot sock for hours while I was at work. It was so gross to the point I threw the sock away.

 

[Ben Lamb]

@duckhunt is your pup on any kind of pain meds like carprovet, etc? If not, it could be a pain reaction from the arthritis & hip issue. Might be worth talking to your vet about it regardless of when the next check up is, but we're kinda helicopter dog owners in our house. Our last vet gave us the frequent flier discount after we gave them enough money to buy a lakehouse.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Have you tried it? Maybe it's delicious?

 

[KB_]

That would drive me crazy! I would think it could be a boredom thing but also I've heard dogs do this as a self soothing thing to release endorphins (caused by anxiety, boredom, illness)

My buddy's dog sucks on dirty socks (the grosser the better for him). One time, he knocked over a laundry basket at my house and he hid in my spare bedroom and sucked on a sweaty boot sock for hours while I was at work. It was so gross to the point I threw the sock away.

 

[Irrelevant]

Labs. Lick. Everything.

That's my biggest complaint against labs.

 

[Ben Lamb]

That's my biggest complaint against labs.

the licking is better than the farting.

 

[rwc101]

My parents' vizsla licks my pants leg, but he's a dipshit in every respect.

 

[Irrelevant]

My parents' vizsla licks my pants leg, but he's a dipshit in every respect.

Aren't they all?

 

[rwc101]

Aren't they all?

We had one growing up that was a fairly normal dog if a little lazy. This one is "special" even by bird dog standards.

 

[westbranch]

the licking is better than the farting.

My friends had an english bulldog. It would lay there licking the couch, carpet, or even just the air while audibly farting. I swear one time at their house that dog had a fart that lasted for 5 seconds.

 

[coleslaw]

Could be worse...

 

[Addicting]

@pointingdogsrule can you help on this?