Reason 4: You Rewarded This Behavior
Living with a dog is a wonderful experience, it teaches you to be carefree, but it also shows you the importance of proper communication. As new dog parents, it’s easy to make certain errors in judgment or reinforce “unwanted” behaviors by accident.
If your dog seems obsessed with licking your bed, then it’s possible that sometime in the past you unintentionally rewarded this behavior.
There are various ways we can end up rewarding a dog’s behavior. It could have been the friendly tone of your voice right after the incident or that you filled up their food bowl.
Once your pooch saw that you approved of their bed licking, they made it their life goal to keep repeating it for your sake, or for that badly timed treat.
Why Does My Dog Lick The Bed At Night?
Whether your dog likes to lick your bed or his own is already a strange enough behavior, but what if they also have a preferred time, like at night?
If this is the case for your canine companion, then it’s possible that they lick the bed before going to sleep to relax. Licking is something that most dogs find soothing, and just like you might be using sleep meditation music to help you sleep, your pooch has found their own methods.
A puppy might be more prone to licking, especially if they’re not as familiar with you and the house. But even an older dog can end up licking your bed if they’re sleeping with you, or their own dog bed.
Since sleeping in your dog’s saliva isn’t ideal, you could work on redirecting their licking from your bed to their own, or to a toy instead.
If on the other hand, this behavior isn’t simply a relaxation technique, but a coping mechanism for their stress or physical discomfort then make sure you get your doggy checked out.
Consider Changing Your Dog’s Diet
As we’ve already mentioned, one of the reasons your dog could be licking your bed is the taste. It could be the food particles, the saltiness of your sweat, or their need to consume inedible things like your bedding because of pica.
In other words, a dietary deficiency could explain why your dog is licking your bed.
While most dog foods contain enough salt to meet your dog’s daily requirements, it’s possible that perhaps the brand of food your dog enjoys doesn’t have enough essential minerals like sodium and chloride, that help prevent excessive loss or accumulation of fluid.
But perhaps it’s not just the nutritional value of your dog’s food that’s causing the licking, but the feeding instead.
Depending on your dog’s size, in some cases the breed, and their lifestyle, you’ll need to regulate how much they need to eat, how often, and their overall nutritional requirements.
According to Ryan Llera, DVM, “the standard formula used for calculating the energy requirements of the average adult dog that lives inside your home, receives light daily exercise, and is spayed or neutered is, 30 x weight in kg (or pounds divided by 2.2) + 70 = daily caloric needs” Of course, this is just a starting point she adds.
So, to make sure your dog is getting exactly what they need from their food, instead of your bed, you’ll have to talk to your veterinarian or a specialized pet nutritionist.
If your dog’s food is balanced and isn’t the cause of their excessive licking, then they might feel stressed.
For many dogs, the source of anxiety comes from boredom, and the best way to deal with boredom is to invest more time and effort in your dog-human relationship.
I know this is easier said than done, but I know we all want to be the perfect dog-parent, and there are plenty of ways we can motivate ourselves to stimulate our dogs mentally.
Instead of going for a walk around your neighborhood, take your dog to a park where they can run without a leash. Perhaps you could join a dog club, that will help you hone your training skills and give your dog enough socializing that they’ll be too tired to lick your bed.
If you have a yard, create a space for your dog where they can dig holes, or hide small treats so they can put their natural searching instincts to work. Some behaviorist advice dog parents to use feeding time as an opportunity to stimulate your dog’s instincts.
There are some fantastic toys available which you can use to hide food in, and trying to retrieve the food is a great way to use your dog’s brain. If you don’t have a yard this snuffle mat from AWOOF on Amazon is a great alternative for hiding large chunks of food!
As a new dog owner, you might find it difficult to see the signs of stress your dog is trying to show you. And simply teaching your dog not to lick your bed won’t help, instead, they’ll redirect their frustration and licking onto something else.
That’s why to take some time to learn more about dog body language.
If your dog is showing signs of stress, or separation anxiety, you will need to visit your veterinarian. Your vet will be able to rule out any underlying health conditions in your dog and may be able to recommend a suitable behaviorist as well. An animal behaviorist will help you work with your dog, both on the anxiety they feel when you are not there, and the series of events that happen as you prepare to leave.
There are many triggers that can make your dog anxious and reinforce their habit of licking your bed, and taking your doggy to a professional can stop this behavior from becoming a chronic issue.
Why does my dog lick everything so much?
Has your dog ever seemed to go into a trance while licking furniture, her bed, or your hand? A health problem might be behind this behavior. Here’s what a reader asked, and my answer:
Q: One of my dogs goes around licking the other dogs’ empty bowls for several minutes after eating. He also likes to lick one of our area rugs and sometimes the sofa upholstery. My other dog has a foot fetish: She loves to lick my feet. What’s going on with them?
A: Compulsive licking sounds like it should be an underlying behavioral problem, doesn’t it? That’s certainly a possibility, but it can also be a sign of a physical problem. My colleague Gary Landsberg, a veterinary behaviorist, says a large proportion of these environmental licking behaviors are due to underlying health issues that cause gastrointestinal upset.
Among the conditions that might be causing a dog to feel nauseated are adrenal disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal lymphosarcoma and liver disease. Some dogs lick because they have dental or other mouth pain. Excessive licking can also be a sign of hunger — it’s called an appetitive behavior. On the behavior side of things, excessive licking might signal anxiety or some type of conflict.
Obviously, a veterinary exam can be a good idea. Consider filming the behavior so your veterinarian can see what’s going on.
“A colleague did a study a couple of years ago and found that many dogs were improved when gastrointestinal signs were treated,” Dr. Landsberg says. “However, licking can arise in situations of anxiety and conflict, can be a reinforced behavior and can be a compulsive disorder. Therefore, look for behavioral, but rule out gastrointestinal or medical first.”
And if it turns out that there’s nothing physically or mentally wrong with your dogs, well, maybe one just likes to make sure he’s getting every last molecule of food from his dish and the other simply loves the taste of your feet.
Read more, including how experts can’t identify “pit bulls” from looks alone, in this week’s Pet Connection!