ear licking

[Jakesmom]

I have a 10 year old Golden Retriever, Jake, and a 2 year old English Cocker Spaniel, Sophie. Both I raised from puppies. Sophie licks Jake's ears "all the time". Sometimes she will just lay down next to him and lick them, and if I am petting him (when I get home from work, for example), she licks really inccessantly. It sometimes seems to annoy him but he won't do anything about it. I can yell, pull her off, tell her no, etc, and she pretty much stops for 2 seconds and then goes back to it. Rarely, he gives a small, low growl and she stops immediately, so I think if he made more of a fuss, she'd listen to him. He is a very gentle dog though.

I think this might be a dominance issue, but I'm not sure. Sophie adores Jake and loves to play with him, go everywhere he does, etc.

Any ideas? thanks

Jake's mom

[wolflady]

How funny! How are Jake's ears? Does he seem to be having any trouble with them at all - shaking his head, ear wax build-up, allergies? Dogs with floppy ears can tend to have really yeasty ears, so perhaps Sophie just likes the smell?

[sumbirdy]

It's probably just a show of affection. She may also be trying to be getting approval from Jake.

[lv4dogs]

You just posted this same thing just a few months ago:
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...light=ear+lick

[sammy101]

My Lucy licks Kodies ears all the time. She loves him and she's showing him affection. I dont think its anything to worry about.

[butrrfly23]

I think the ear licking is more of a show of affection and giving attention. My Ginger (Rhodesian/Lab mix with big floppy ears!) is most definitely the dominant one and Roscoe always licks her ears but she never licks his.

She also gets chronic ear infections from it...it can be really frustrating. I always stop him when I see him licking but I know he does it alot when we're away at work.

I do find that regular ear cleaning is a huge help and sometimes I flip her floppy ears back so her ears have a chance to get air in them 7 dry out. She looks so funny running around the house with those ears inside out!

[Jakesmom]

Thanks for the responses. Jake has had minimal problems with his ears (despite his allergies, I've been pretty lucky in regards to his ears). Its true, it probably bugs me more than it bugs him...