Any advice?? I have a lab that is a chronic licker. No, really obsessive, compulsive, non stop licker. After he eats his raw chicken or whatever he has had for dinner, he likes to come in and thank me. With a big wet sloppy lick! Is this dangerous? I don't want to get e-coli from a lick!

Also, my female likes to take her chicken out of the bowl and eat it on her doggy bed outside. This worries me for fear of the germ factor. I can't be expected to wash it every day. I just picked up the beds this morning and made her find another place to eat and she did what I hoped she would do and took it out in the yard like my other dog does. Any thoughts about this? I worry about the contamination factor, especially with little kids around all over.

 Quote: RobbinMann

Any advice?? I have a lab that is a chronic licker. No, really obsessive, compulsive, non stop licker. After he eats his raw chicken or whatever he has had for dinner, he likes to come in and thank me. With a big wet sloppy lick! Is this dangerous? I don't want to get e-coli from a lick!

Also, my female likes to take her chicken out of the bowl and eat it on her doggy bed outside. This worries me for fear of the germ factor. I can't be expected to wash it every day. I just picked up the beds this morning and made her find another place to eat and she did what I hoped she would do and took it out in the yard like my other dog does. Any thoughts about this? I worry about the contamination factor, especially with little kids around all over.

You'll find several thread here about face-licking. MHO is: No. Raw feeding is the least of it; dogs lick and mouth MANY interesting things, including butts and road kill and especially attractive poops they find. So I don't allow face-kissing.

Sounds like you did fine with the doggy bed.

Just MHO!

My parents had a friend that had a shitzu that when he would eat his food (raw) he would drag it all over the place so they would tie him in the kitchen (only to eat)for a while(don't know how long) until he got so used to eat it right there in his bowl or by it .They no longer had to tie him for feeding time,after a while , he eat by his bowl for the rest of his 12 year life he had.I remember thinking how silly that was of them to tie their dog at feeding time but for them it worked.They had a little baby at the time crawling and that is why they had decided to do that.I would have used a crate but this was many moons ago and crating was not a thing that everyone new about or heard about.

Hi Robbin. How about feeding your dog (soon to be dogs plural?) in their crates? This limits the area for them to drag their raw food around in. While you (I think) are prepping for dog #2, this also sets you up to avoid possible food fights. We regularly sanitize the crates - at least we know for sure what area needs to be sanitized.

As for licking - ITA with Connie. Our dogs lick and eat things that I consider far worse than raw chicken that I DON'T want in my face.

And a general advisory - I had a cut on my leg recently. Although I thought I was using enough bacteria killer on it, I ended up with Cellulitis. I strongly suspect that came from not being careful enough about dog licks. That is NOT a condition you want. It is dangerous medically, goes down hill quickly, and often required hospitalization with IV anti-biotics.

I do NOT think I got this due to raw feeding. My dogs lick their butts, occassionally eat poop, often eat squirrels/rabbits/prey that that catch - chicken is the least of my worries.

Just wanted to share that tip.

Beth

I don't allow them to lick my face but this dog will (literally) bathe my whole body if I let him. when I say a chronic licker, I'm not just whistling dixie. We've tried bitter apple...loves it! Any time I have lotion on, loves it! Soap..loves it! So maybe I need advice on curbing the lick habit. Hubby hates it so much he literally won't have hardly anything to do with the dog. Poor thing, he is just such a lover. Follows me from room to room all day, all night. I'm wondering how that is going to go over with new puppy being leashed to me all day long....??? My female could care less. I don't think she bonded to people when she was young. She only seems to care for the company of my other dog...Btw, why do they eat poop? My licker eats it all the time, any chance he can get. We can't get the poop picked up fast enough without him snagging a poop rocca and chowing on it. It's disgusting, especially with a licker dog!! Heaven help me if they teach this to the new pup!!GRRR!!!

What about tabasco sauce? Is that on the list of things to not give dogs? I don't think there are any ingredients in it that would be harmful per se, but don't know that your lickin' pooch would like it too much.

Hot sauce shouldn't be dangerous. It's also in compounds to help prevent crib-biting in horses.

P.S. I couldn't resist: your lab finds you Robbin LIckin' Good!

Tobasco, never thought of that one. Still, I'm confused...do I put it on the poop or on me?

It depends if he likes it. I have heard of people putting Tabasco on poop and the dog thinking it was dressing.

If he hates it, I'd put it on you, too.

I have had 3 dogs. The 2 that ate poop both had Lab in them. The 3rd is a purebred Catahoula and he doesn't eat poop. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

 Quote: angela burrell

I have had 3 dogs. The 2 that ate poop both had Lab in them. The 3rd is a purebred Catahoula and he doesn't eat poop. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

I got my first GSD when she was 6 months, by which time she'd learned to eat poop with her sister. When she was a year old, I added a second female GSD, also a year old. Dog # 2 had never eaten # 2 before, but quickly picked up the habit from Dog #1. After Dog #1 had to be put down, Dog #2 never ate poop again. I've always wondered if it was a food jealousy thing. With Dog #1 gone, Dog #2 had no reason to grab the goodies.

In "The Last Place on Earth", a book about the Scott-Amundsen race to the south pole, the author asserts that dogs can extract nutrition from poop. Amundsen actually had the latrines at the base camp built so dogs could come in underneath through a tunnel and eat the human waste. This served two purposes - it fed the dogs and kept the smell down. Scott, on the other hand, was reported to have had a dog shot because he saw her eating poop.

I can also tell you from first-hand experience that dogs often think kitty shitty is, well, the cat's meow. Maybe because cats eat higher protein food? So, they apparently eat poop because (a) it tastes good and (b) they derive some nutrition from it.

Sorry to go into so much detail at dinner time, but you did ask!