If your dog has been licking your arm a lot, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you a number of possible causes and what you can do about them.
So, why does my dog lick my arm? Possible reasons why your dog licks your arm are that it has learned that the behavior is rewarded, it wants extra attention, boredom, it is being affectionate or that it is excited.
Since there are a number of possible causes, it would help to consider what would make each of them more likely. Once you have a good idea of the main cause, it should become easier to get it to stop.
Why your dog licks your arm
Below are a number of common causes and what would make them more likely to be the main reason why your dog has been doing it.
Encouraging the behavior
It could be the case that your dog has learned that it gets rewarded when it licks your arms. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats or extra attention, when it licks your arms, it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards.
Instead, it would help to reward it while it is not licking your arms and to stop giving it rewards as soon as it starts trying to lick you.
Attention
The cause might be that it is looking for attention. This would be more likely if it does it more when you have not been giving it much attention and if you tend to give it more attention when it does it.
Instead, it would help to give it attention throughout the day by playing with it, training it and exercising it but to avoid rewarding it with attention when it licks your arms by redirecting its behavior when it starts.
Boredom
It could be the case that it is bored and looking for ways to stimulate itself. This would be more likely if it tends to do it more before getting exercise. It would help to ensure that it is able to get the daily amount of recommended exercise for its age and breed. If it is already getting a lot of exercise, another way to stimulate it would be to give it training.
It likes the taste
It is likely that your arms have a strong taste on them. It could be the case that your dog has been doing it because it likes the way that your arms taste. This would be more likely if it only tries to lick your arms and not other parts of your body as well.
Affection
It might also be the case that it does it because it is being affectionate. When it’s licking you it’s letting you know that it trusts you and that you are a part of its tribe. This type of licking is normal and will often happen when you try to pet it.
Grooming
Dogs will often groom themselves by licking. They will also groom others such as when a mother dog licks her puppies. This is could be why your dog has been licking your arms. This would be more likely if it tries to lick you when you are not petting it.
Nature
When dogs are young, one of the first ways that they will explore the world is by licking and sniffing things. If your dog is a puppy then it is likely to be the case that it is exploring when it is licking your arms. The habit of licking things will stay with it as it gets older which is why they will naturally lick quite often.
Excitement
The reason why it licks your arms could be that it is excited. This would be more likely if it tends to do it in situations where it gets very excited such as when you come home or when it is going out for a walk.
In this case, it would help to avoid doing the thing that it gets excited about and to wait for it to stop licking your arms before continuing.
Things to consider
Below are some things to consider when figuring out the most likely reason why your dog has been doing it.
What else occurred when your dog first started licking your arm
If your dog did not always lick your arms, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started doing it since it might be the case that there was an event that caused it to start.
If it started doing it suddenly, it could be due to things such as learning that it gets rewards for doing it or if you stopped giving it as much attention causing it to do things to get you to give it more attention.
What is different when it does it
It would also help to consider if there is a certain time that your dog tends to lick your arms. If it tends to do it more when you arrive home, it would be more likely to be due to things such as excitement and it would help to ignore it until it stops licking and then to reward it for not licking.
What to do about your dog licking your arm
Below are some things you can do in order to get your dog to stop licking your arms and elbows so much.
Avoid rewarding the behavior
As mentioned above, it could be the case that your dog has learned that it gets rewards for licking your arms. It would help to stop giving it rewards or attention, when it starts licking your arms, then to give it attention again once it has stopped.
Train it to stop
Positive reinforcement training is where you get your dog to do things that you want by rewarding it for doing them or showing signs of doing them.
To use positive reinforcement training to get it to stop licking your arms you would:
- Stand up turn away and hide your arms when it starts licking your arms leaving the room if necessary.
- Wait a few moments and then go back to giving it attention and then turning away again if it starts licking your arm
- Repeat the above until it learns that licking your arm causes it to lose your attention
- Reward it with a treat when it does particularly well
Give it exercise
It would also help to ensure that it is able to get the daily amount of recommended exercise for its age and breed. If it is already getting daily exercise, another way to stimulate it would be to give it more training.
Give it distractions
In addition to the above, you could also try giving it things to be distracted by such as bones or toys so that it is less likely to start licking your arms.
Give it attention
It would also help to give it attention throughout the day so that it is less likely to try to get attention from you. Ways to give it attention would be to train it, exercise it and to play with it.