Older dog obsessively licking younger dog

Jen Pigs Fly

So my 12 year old lab mix seems to have a bit of an obsession ... With licking my 2 year old labs face. The 12 year old is female (had her since 8weeks) and the 2 year old is male (got him jan 2013 from dogs trust)

She has always done it. And she's very aggressive and obsessive about it. He'll try move away and push her away but she'll insist on licking him especially on the muzzle area.

For example if ollie, the 2 year old comes up to me for pets, Scoobie, the 12 year old, will push herself in front of him to lick his face. It's not even vying for attention from us however if ollie is sleeping in his bed, she'll stand over him and start licking him.

It's not really submissive how she does it if you get me, if ollie growls to tell her enough she'll get even rougher with her licking. We often have to push her away from him because he visibly gets annoyed by her doing this. She goes with teeth bared sometimes such is how rough she can be.

I can get a video of this if it helps. She's always at him.

Now the two otherwise don't bother with each other, they do their own thing. Scoobie is allowed on the couches, while ollie is only allowed on one which Is where he sleeps, Scoobie sleeps on a bed upstairs in my mams room. They are fed in separate rooms, Scoobie gets barking heads and ollie gets Markus Mühle.

While walking she is always pushing him aside as she wants to walk with thr wall/hedge/barrier beside her

Can anyone shed any light in this behaviour? She licks him obsessively and it annoys everyone bar her!

Edit to mention ... She has always been a face licker with humans, never licked hands etc. only ever faces if this helps shed some light on why she does this.

Jen Pigs Fly

She pinned him down yesterday to lick him, it's so strange, if it was submissive behaviour surely she would back off when he growls and pushes her away instead of her being even more persistent ha
Is it because she likes being bossy? Or is it a mammy thing?
Can't anyone shed any light on this?

DBB

It sounds like she does it simply because she likes it! We don't know what she's getting out of it, but some dogs just love to lick, and love to groom. It's quite possible that she's one of them.
I'd be inclined to interrupt it, because it's annoying the "victim" which isn't fair on him. But if you're going to interrupt, you need to be very consistent, and prelude it with a verbal signal.... Perhaps "Stop licking!"?
I'd be inclined to leave a lead attached to her (only under supervision, never leave a lead on unless you're there to keep an eye on things), so that you can calmly and gently lead her away from him, and you need to invoke the verbal warning, followed by the interruption, the second you see the licking start.
I'd lead her to her bed, or to a crate if she's happy in one, and make sure she settles down, leading her back to the bed repeatedly if you have to.
I'd also give her an outlet for the licking... A large Kong toy with something very sticky inside it might do the trick, and peanut butter springs to mind, as long as it doesn't drive her tummy mad! I'd give her the Kong once she has settled in her bed.

Jen Pigs Fly

DBB wrote: »

It sounds like she does it simply because she likes it! We don't know what she's getting out of it, but some dogs just love to lick, and love to groom. It's quite possible that she's one of them.
I'd be inclined to interrupt it, because it's annoying the "victim" which isn't fair on him. But if you're going to interrupt, you need to be very consistent, and prelude it with a verbal signal.... Perhaps "Stop licking!"?
I'd be inclined to leave a lead attached to her (only under supervision, never leave a lead on unless you're there to keep an eye on things), so that you can calmly and gently lead her away from him, and you need to invoke the verbal warning, followed by the interruption, the second you see the licking start.
I'd lead her to her bed, or to a crate if she's happy in one, and make sure she settles down, leading her back to the bed repeatedly if you have to.
I'd also give her an outlet for the licking... A large Kong toy with something very sticky inside it might do the trick, and peanut butter springs to mind, as long as it doesn't drive her tummy mad! I'd give her the Kong once she has settled in her bed.

Thanks for that. She's always been very mouthy anyway,loves to lick human faces too.

We do stop her when she does lick the younger dog, she does it more often when there's commotion around,as in there's visitors over and I think she gets excited and then starts licking him excessively, we never gave any attention when she first started, she knows leave it, which does work for her with the licking but I usually just move her away from him saying nothing which stops her.

When there's people around and the atmosphere is exciting, she will do it so excessively that ollie will give out and snap, don't know if she's just getting excited and is doing it. So I generally plan and have her occupied while someone else pets the other dog.

It's just so strange, and can't get any concrete reasons for it, and I suppose we may never know unless Scoobie starts to talk!

DBB

I think there is a most likely reason for it... She enjoys it, or she enjoys the comfort it brings her, as licking and grooming are inherently self-rewarding for many dogs.
If she feels in anyway emotional about visitors or general excitement, she will tend to revert to behaviours that she has found make her feel more relaxed, behaviours that restore normality for her. For her, it's licking. The fact that she's licking another dog is probably a learned element, a habit, possibly because humans tend not to tolerate it for as long as the young dog does.
Another example of the same thing, exhibited via a different behaviour, is my own little dog who HAS to chew on something when visitors arrive. It took many a ripped bed or fleece blanket before I copped it, so now she gets a ball when visitors arrive. For her, chewing brings her emotions back down to earth at an exciting, even slightly anxiety-inducing time for her. For your dog, it's licking.

jimf

isn't it a pity dogs cant talk at a time like this

my old springer Jessie shes the mother of 3 three of my other springers will insist on licking all of them clean when we come back from our daily runs in a bog near where I live

1 other I have is not her pup but will get a cleaning as well but will always be last in line im just putting it down to her being a great and attentive mother in her younger days shes 12 now but still full of beans thank god