Inara can't hold her liquor

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Postby pitbullmamaliz » July 7th, 2009, 7:29 pm

I mean, her LICKER. She is getting worse as she gets older. Whenever she gets to meet a person other than me, she won't stop licking - she'll do drive by licks or settle in for whatever body part she can reach, just a steady lick lick lick. It drives me crazy, as well as most other people. People can't pet her w/o her licking them (and jumping, but that's a whole 'nother issue). I want to nip this in the bud but I don't want her to associate being around people as a bad thing. I know the licking is due to her anxiety so I want to stay away from negative things.

One of her favorite people came to my house today and every time Inara licked her more than once she got sent to her kennel. I didn't close her in, I just pointed at the kennel and said "kennel" in a completely neutral tone. I calmly told her good girl when she went in and waited until she relaxed before releasing her (again, calmly). When I released her, she'd come over to me, lick my hand once (almost seemed apologetic - head down, gently wagging tail, etc) and then she'd promptly go back to my friend and start licking again. Couldn't tell you how many times we repeated this. My friend actually couldn't pet her at all because Inara wouldn't stop licking long enough to stay out of her crate for more than a minute.

Is this effective or would this be considered using the crate as punishment (which I don't want)? Would it be better for me to put her in a down for a couple minutes instead of the crate? Or am I totally approaching this the wrong way?

And just for the sake of body language, when Inara greets people, even people who have been gone for literally 5 minutes, she launches at them, butt wagging wildly, just beside herself with excitement. Once the launching is over she settles into the frantic licking - still with the crazy wagging butt, tail neither up nor down, just neutral (but smacking her sides as she wags).

So yeah, ideas?
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

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Postby amazincc » July 7th, 2009, 7:52 pm

No ideas what-so-ever... other than that Inara and Sepp may be twins-separated-at-birth. :shock: :o

I didn't know that "obsessively licking" people can be caused by anxiety... I never took Sepp for an overly anxious dog. :?
All the rest... yup, sounds exactly like him.

Very interested in any responses/solutions as well.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » July 7th, 2009, 8:00 pm

I only know Inara's crazy behavior around people is due to anxiety because Brenda Aloff pointed it out to me. Only the 2nd trainer I've ever used who didn't say it was "dominance." :rolleyes2:
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

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Postby amazincc » July 7th, 2009, 8:10 pm

pitbullmamaliz wrote: Only the 2nd trainer I've ever used who didn't say it was "dominance." :rolleyes2:



lol
"Dominance" never even entered my mind. PITA-overly-friendly-exhuberant-big-goofball-of-a-dog-without-self-control... that's Sepp. Makes me VERY happy, but it's annoying when people come over. :D
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Postby TheRedQueen » July 7th, 2009, 8:16 pm

I'd agree with the anxiety...dog anxiety doesn't present itself like human anxiety all of the time...lol

My Inara is a licker, but not as often...she's not known for approaching strangers, much less licking them. She does apparently lick to calm herself...when she's worried, she will lick me (when she's worried about something HUMAN...like me being anxious or me being upset at her. She also licks when she's calming down and settling into a good spot...she licks pillows and comforters and her feet. Seems to be a self-calming sort of behavior, if that makes sense. :D

If it were me...and the dog were clicker savvy...I'd click for NOT licking. We've had great success with Jenn's dog, Murphy, clicking for an open mouth (to help him relax...since his mouth is usually very tense, tight and closed)...and I've had great success with Score with clicking for a closed mouth (to calm him down at the vet). Clicking for the mouth movements is great, because it helps them with their emotional state at the time too. I would have never believed it until I saw a good trainer in action doing it...and then started with Score. Amazing stuff. :D and fun too!
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"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
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Postby iluvk9 » July 7th, 2009, 9:00 pm

:giggle: This is a funny thread, Liz.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » July 7th, 2009, 9:03 pm

Glad I could amuse you. :wink:

Do you have any articles about clicking for mouth movements? Inara's mouth is only open when she's panting or stressed. Normally it's closed, but not tightly.

I have a clicker, I just never feel coordinated enough to use it. With a dog like Inara, if I click when she's meeting somebody w/o licking, how would she know it's for not licking as opposed to meeting somebody, or wagging her tail, or jumping, etc?

(yes, I'm intimidated by clickers)
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

http://www.pitbullzen.com
http://inaradog.wordpress.com
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Postby TheRedQueen » July 7th, 2009, 11:47 pm

pitbullmamaliz wrote:Glad I could amuse you. :wink:

Do you have any articles about clicking for mouth movements? Inara's mouth is only open when she's panting or stressed. Normally it's closed, but not tightly.

I have a clicker, I just never feel coordinated enough to use it. With a dog like Inara, if I click when she's meeting somebody w/o licking, how would she know it's for not licking as opposed to meeting somebody, or wagging her tail, or jumping, etc?

(yes, I'm intimidated by clickers)


I should be able to find some articles...let me go look. :)

We'll just have to get together and click! lol It's easy once you get the hang of it! Trust me, you're not the first person that I've heard "I feel uncoordinated" from...
"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
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Postby TheRedQueen » July 8th, 2009, 12:09 am

I can't find one on getting the dog to close its mouth for the reasons of calming...but here is one that might help...it goes through the process...
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/168

Putting the behavior on cue like this is another good way to get rid of behavior that you don't want...
Teaching a dog to lick:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2136

Here's one on teaching "off" (self control)
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1785

Training an alternative behavior:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/article ... ernate.htm

+R for calm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/article ... havior.htm
"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » July 8th, 2009, 7:06 am

Thank you!
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

http://www.pitbullzen.com
http://inaradog.wordpress.com
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