From: tittle@ics.uci.edu (Cindy Tittle Moore)
Subject: Re: Help! Boredom sores caused by licking
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Reply-To: tittle@ics.uci.edu (Cindy Tittle Moore)
Organization: ICS Dept., UC Irvine
Keywords: licking, boredom sores
Date: 17 Dec 92 23:00:30 GMT

In <1992Dec17.210829.11563@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> myerse@spot.Colorado.EDU (MYERS ETHELLA ANN) writes:

> Is there anything else that might be causing this behavior besides
>boredom? Stress maybe?  Shiloh gets [plenty of exercise]

Yes, stress, etc., can be a cause.  Forgive me, my usual assumption is
that a given dog is not exercised enough and I made the wrong
assumption in your case.

> We just moved in June from Virginia to Boulder, CO.  One of the main
>reasons we moved was to get away from the ticks, fleas, and heat for
>the dogs. Shiloh seems to have adjusted to the move and really loves all
>the new great places to walk.

Hm, how different is the weather now in CO from VA?  Different weather
could play a part, also allergies are a possibility.  It could be that
moving has caused some stress -- you did say that it started at the
end of summer and you moved in the beginning of the summer...

> We've wondered if it could be stress or jealousy. He didn't used
>to care about any attention I paid to our other dog, but lately he's
>been nosying in whenever I try to pet Pref. Pref is the dominate one,
>but he's almost 9 and Shiloh is starting to not give in to Pref
>so easily.  We had a couple of spats between them about the time
>the licking started, but Pref seems to have reestablished his
>dominant position - albeit with different rules from before.

This could also be a source of stress.  I wonder, if they are not
separated while you are gone if it would help to separate them...
[how old did you say he was?]

>It's almost as if the more I get upset about this, the more he does
>it. He will lick all around the spot until he thinks I'm not looking
>and then go for it.

This part sounds like attention-getting.

> Should I start walking him alone occasionally?

This might help, especially in light of the pack order struggles with
Pref.

>We practice general obedience almost every walk - should I start
>getting more intense and do more than basic commands?

Not necessarily more intense -- but how about different ones?  New
things?  The 1000th sit one has done isn't quite as exiting as
figuring it out the first dozen times ;-).  Other things to try
besides sits and downs: shake hands, "hup" (onto benches or other
raised surfaces"), wait (don't jump off just yet), and "off", roll
over, "stand" (stand up on all four legs, can be surprisingly
difficult -- try sequences of sit, down, stand, etc), "crawl" etc etc.
Use your imagination, it doesn't have to be useful per se.  Work on
two or three new ones at a time till he has them down, then move onto
two or three more new ones, review at least once a week.  This part is
more mental exercising, and certainly can't hurt.  It's not "more"
commands in the sense that you only work on two or three per walk, but
it;s more commands in terms of the total number of commands he'll
learn.

Good luck.  Let us know what happens!

--Cindy
--
Cindy Tittle Moore

Terrell's Chocolate Deduction--Hershe (Labrador Retriever)

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