Dog licking paint off doors

CFC1969

My friend has a Maltese terrier, it is 18 months old.

The dog licks paint / varnish off doors, and drools during the licking.

Has anyone seen this, any ideas what the problem is ....

DBB

Hi OP,
How long has this been going on?
And what's the dog's disposition when doing it? For instance, is he in a sort of trance, dreamy state, or is it a very determined, focussed sort of licking?
Does he do it a lot, for instance does he spend quite a bit of his day doing it? Is it in response to some other event that the dog does it? e.g. does he do it around mealtimes, or when he's overexcited, or when he's worried about something?
Can the owner stop him from doing it by distracting him?
And if he can be distracted, does he invariably try to return to the activity again shortly after?
I'm assuming the pain and varnish are dry, not freshly painted on?

CFC1969

DBB wrote: »

Hi OP,
How long has this been going on?
And what's the dog's disposition when doing it? For instance, is he in a sort of trance, dreamy state, or is it a very determined, focussed sort of licking?
Does he do it a lot, for instance does he spend quite a bit of his day doing it? Is it in response to some other event that the dog does it? e.g. does he do it around mealtimes, or when he's overexcited, or when he's worried about something?
Can the owner stop him from doing it by distracting him?
And if he can be distracted, does he invariably try to return to the activity again shortly after?
I'm assuming the pain and varnish are dry, not freshly painted on?

DBB,

The dog started about 6 months ago, is focused and generally does it when not in company, but company does not stop him either.

Difficult to distract, and will try again ... strips the paint / varnish off door !!

The doors are not freshly painted, and will do it in anyones house.

hi, i cant pretend to be any kind of authority on dogs, i rescued a dog nearly a year ago and he has done this since i got him.

thankfully he only does it on the outside walls!!

the behavouralist ( spelt wrong i know!!) told me that it is his way of dealing with stress. its like a stress-release. i started to pay more attention to when he did it and it happens when i come home after being away for a long time( hours and hours, not days!) he also does it when he gets super excited.

he definately does it less now than he used to, but still does it occassionally.

i guess its not really a problem for me because its outside but i do try to distract him as much as i can. maybe she could call him away, give him few rubs, play somehow? anything to distract him?

DBB

CFC1969 wrote: »

DBB,

The dog started about 6 months ago, is focused and generally does it when not in company, but company does not stop him either.

Difficult to distract, and will try again ... strips the paint / varnish off door !!

The doors are not freshly painted, and will do it in anyones house.

Has your friend owned him since he hwas a pup? aNd has this got worse, or does it occur in more contexts than it did when it first started?
I wonder is there something that happened a year or more ago to initiate this behaviour? As Bubblypop says, it can be a sign of anxiety (well, not just licking surfaces which is an abnormal behaviour, but any behaviour which happens to an abnormal extent, or is difficult to interrupt), but it can also be a sign of a previously impoverished or conflicted environment, it can be attention-seeking, and it can be a sign of neurological problems or certain physical conditions (e.g. epilepsy, pain, dementia-unlikely in a youngster), or dietary sensitivities. Or, it can be a good old-fashioned compulsive disorder.
I think your friend would be well advised to get a full veterinary examination done: not just a root at the dog, but one aimed at eliminating possible medical causes behind this behaviour.
Then, a good behaviourist is the next port of call: in these cases it is critical that you get a properly qualified behaviourist with formal qualifications, as they have the proper training in how to isolate other non-medical causes, and how to treat them.
If you need a behaviourist, let us know roughly what part of the country you/your friend is in as we can hopefully recommend the right person for ye!
Good luck with this!

mymo

Have had a similar problem when our dog was a pup due to separation anxiety, but he never did it when we were there, just when we were out.
Thankfully he stopped once we got another dog and hasn't done it in years.

Hope you can find the cause of this, he must be very stressed about something.

kylith

I'd be inclined to keep him on lead beside me and treat when calm to hopefully break the habit.

CFC1969

To everyone who posted on this thread, thanks for all the Help and advice.


I will try to keep you up to date with the outcome of this, at least we have somewhere to start from now.