Medical Reasons:
As your dog naturally explores things using his sense of smell and taste, compulsive and obsessive licks for carpets, blankets, couches, and furniture may be an indication of a serious health condition.
The behavior of excessive licking, spots, skin irritation, or hair loss could be a sign of allergies that may have caused the skin or paws to itch.
Additionally, some bacterial and fungus infections may cause itchiness, which would lead to excessive licking. This is quite similar to a person who tends to rub a sore muscle or joint. The licking releases endorphins, which is the body’s natural pain- killer that helps to soothe the pain.
Another medical reason for your dog is licking strange surfaces (not himself) is from gastrointestinal problems. The dog may find relief to these problems through licking unusual surfaces. Accordingly, consulting your vet will be required to diagnose and get the suitable treatment for your dog’s condition.
Another reason is being uncomfortable. For example, my dog licks the bed before sleeping to make it a more comfortable place for her to sleep.
However, the most common problem that I usually face is a dog, which lacks essential minerals.
Walls, colors, wooden furniture, and even pillows might contain essential minerals that the dog is lacking. That’s why you might find that giving your dog some vitamins can terminate this strange licking behavior. Those are the anemic dogs or dogs with cancer.
The dog can start licking at household furnishings when he has vitamin or mineral deficiencies. By instinct, the dog will try to compensate his intake by any available means.
Alternatively, consuming weird and unusual things is a dog’s way of curing him of abdominal pain and feeling generally unwell. He may even chew on grass if he gets the chance.
What Tends to Cause Excessive Licking in Dogs?
Most of the time, you can correct this odd behavior just by figuring out what your dog is currently facing, and connect the dots accordingly.
We’ll go over the four main issues that you’re likely to run into, from most probable to rare in descending order.
Your dog is being feisty because they don’t want to adhere to the new leash you bought, or you just moved homes and they don’t like the backyard as much.
Yeah, dogs can get testy, they just don’t show it in obvious ways.
Environmental issues could be causing behavioral problems, so if you notice something around the house that really sets your dog off, consider removing it or transferring it to somewhere else in the home.
But sometimes it’s not that. Sometimes they just don’t listen when you tell them not to do something, and that usually comes down to having zero behavior training.
You may not come across as the alpha of the house, and a dog trainer’s assistance could be the cure that you need to get them to stop licking their blanket.
At the very least, explore this option. Bring them to a dog trainer and see what they have to say.
List your concerns, and talk about what you want to see change. They’ll be able to assess your dog after a brief afternoon with them, and with training, it may be enough to correct their behavior.
Another underlying issue could be medically-related complications. The problem is… blanket licking doesn’t give any indication of what the specific problem is whatsoever, but it does act like an alarm to let you know that something could be wrong.
Dogs release endorphins when they lick things, which is why when they get excited after seeing you come home from work, they tend to lick your face or excessively lick their nose. They’re excited and they want to release those feel-good endorphins along with that emotion.
You should take your dog to their veterinarians office when excessive blanket licking becomes an issue.
That way, you’ll be able to either have peace of mind knowing they’re healthy while you search for another cause of this newfound behavior, or you’ll know that you caught something early and your vet can prescribe a treatment. Either way, you’re advocating for your dog just as you should be.
If your dog is feeling nauseous, they could simply be licking their blanket, or the side of the couch, or whatever cloth is in front of them as a way to keep themselves busy.
If you think you hate throwing up, just watch how upset a dog gets after they upchuck; it makes them hang their heads down because they associate it with “going” in the house.
They may be licking to keep themselves busy and reduce excessive saliva. This is more instinctual than anything else, but if they’re experiencing frequent nausea, you might have to change their diet out a little bit to give them a helping hand here.
If your dog rolls around on their blanket, they might be trying to itch their back or other areas of their skin. If they lick their blanket and then do this, it could be to provide additional traction when they rub their skin against cloth surfaces.
They can lick their blankets and then roll around in them, but you might also notice wet spots on the sides of the couch (usually where wood is structuring a cloth-covered area).
They’ll lick this area then scratch up against it. Talk to your vet about potential skin allergies and get them tested as soon as possible.
#2: Dog licks blanket constantly
Your pooch wets your cover until it’s soaking wet.
They might be overstressed by loud noises or strangers in the house.
This could be out of fear as well. And maybe, they’re freaked out by a truck passing by or a phone ringing.
If they do this while you’re gone, they may also be bored or have separation anxiety.
However, if they won’t stop doing it, this can be a sign of: