He licks instead of chews

[Bandit's mom]

I think I'm conviced that licking the carpet is not anything to worry about. At least he's not chewing it up. He licks his paws too. I know it's not allergies because he doesn't lick himself and get sores on his paws or anything. I just hope I can distract him from this.

[wolfsoul]

Have you talked to a vet about this? You have to be careful that this does not become obsessive. My GSD Leather has canine compulsive disorder and will chew herself raw.

This may not be the case since he chews carpet as well, but for some reason dogs might start to lick their legs or paws when they have anal problems. I'm not too sure why yet lol. I'll have to do some more research on that.

[lv4dogs]

You are probably right that it is not an alergy as he is licking other things besides himself. He is probably just bored. I would give him a little more excersize everyday and some stuffed kong toys, rawhides, buster cubes etc.. to keep him distacted. It can turn into a compulsive behavior & then the sores are known as lick granuolmas (spelling is bad lol).

One of my dogs is a licker too, he likes to lick the heat registers & he chews his feet (just like some chew their fingernails). Sometimes he is a carpet licker too. He is not obsessive though.