Why Is My Dog Cobbing Me?
A dog will usually cob you to show love and affection. It is essentially a soothing, gentle way of grooming you, not unlike licking. They may also be gathering information about you through the pheromones on your skin that the organ on the roof their mouth can detect.
Cobbing is also something a dog may do to get your attention, much like nudging your arm.
To Gather Extra Sensory Information
Dogs have an extra organ for detecting pheromones in the roof of their mouth called the Jacobson’s organ. As newborn puppies, this helps them identify and find their mother when they are still blind and deaf.
As adults, dogs still use this organ to gather extra information they can’t get from their powerful noses. In fact, it’s one reason the dogs may like socks so much. By lifting their front lips and gently nibbling on you, a dog can get an extra whiff of the chemicals and pheromones in your skin or from another dog and gather extra information.
The most common reason for corn cobbing in adult dogs is to show affection. Ultimately, nibbling behavior is a form of grooming or a dog’s way of giving a gentle scratch. When dogs show affection, they may start grooming by licking one another’s ears or nibbling on each other.
Mother dogs may even cob their puppies, so it is not uncommon to see a dog cobbing a baby. Of course, never leave your baby with a dog unsupervised, no matter how gentle and affectionate they are. Dogs may even cob cats if they have bonded sufficiently.
Dogs will often lick themselves to calm down, relax, and self-soothe. The action of licking releases feel-good chemicals in their brain that help them relieve stress. For anxious dogs or dogs in pain, licking can sometimes become excessive.
Since cobbing is a soothing activity associated with bonding, it also helps soothe a dog. So they may start to nibble on their blankets and toys when they want to relax or settle down to sleep. Like licking, they may start to do this excessively if they start relying on the action of cobbing to feel better when they are anxious.
If cobbing becomes chewing, and your dog doesn’t stick to their chew toys, you may need to invest in a spray to keep dogs from chewing to protect your furniture.
Another common reason that dogs nibble on you is to get your attention. If you are on the couch, scrolling on your phone, and you feel a gentle dog nibble on your arm, they may be politely asking for your attention.
This is the same as when a dog bites your hand when they are excited or playing.
A dog should never be allowed to nip or bite, even when playing. But soft cobbing or gentle nibbling for your attention is not a problem behavior, and you can return the favor with a good ear scratch.
The most common reason for cobbing is when your has a sudden itch that they need to scratch. In this case, the chomping motion with the front teeth will be a little stronger as they try to scratch themselves.
There are plenty of areas on a dog’s body they can’t reach with their back paws, so they use their chompers to scratch instead.
Your Dog is Stressed or Anxious
A dog that is stressed out or suffering from anxiety will nibble, including on you if you are around. A dog that has separation anxiety might decide to nibble on you when you get home as a way to show they are glad you’re home and that they missed you.
Stressful situations within your home also could cause your dog to begin nibbling on you, such as loud noises or weird people or animals being around. If that’s the case, it’s best to take your dog out of the stressful situation if possible and allow him to calm down.
Why Does My Dog Nibble on Me? 3 Main Reasons Why your Dog Nibble on You Explained.
My! What big, sharp teeth your dog has. All the better to … nibble you with?
If your dog treats your hand like a chew toy from time to time, you probably have several questions on your mind (as well as some slobber on your fingers). Behavior expert Sherrie Yuschak, RVT, VTS (Behavior), KPA-CTP, is here to help—with the questions, not the slobber. In addition to parsing out the difference between nibbling and biting, she explains the reasons why your dog might be nibbling and what you can do to discourage the behavior.