Doberman pup Licking himself

mshipway

Notable member
Hello all,
Recently my doberman pup Argo, about 20 weeks old has been seemingly going bonkers licking hiself/ nibbling.

He flops around and spins like a bull at the rodeo. He nibbles and bites at his rear legs / knees, and bum area, then he gets the red rocket out( if you know what I mean) and then proceeds to lick that. Usually this happens in about 10 minute sessions and then he just moves on to being normal again ( 2 -3 of these sessions a day)

Does anyone know the reasoning behind this.
 
I've heard it said that licking is a boredom activity and Dobermans can also be OCD about licking, so I would want to curb this behavior ASAP. Does he have a blanket to suckle instead? Try redirecting to that.

Biting at limbs usually happens if something is hurting, like during a growth spurt which is entirely likely at this age and especially if he is targeting the entire back end. Wait to hear what the others think regarding this.

Biting at their rocket, bored, why not give it some attention lol...are you sure it's not grooming? As long as the licking isn't obsessive.
 
It definitly isn't obsessive. I hesitate to think boredom as we are very active with him training and other things.
But you could be right. Thanks for the tips
 
Interesting to read this as our boy Preacher does a lot of the
Hello all,
Recently my doberman pup Argo, about 20 weeks old has been seemingly going bonkers licking hiself/ nibbling.

He flops around and spins like a bull at the rodeo. He nibbles and bites at his rear legs / knees, and bum area, then he gets the red rocket out( if you know what I mean) and then proceeds to lick that. Usually this happens in about 10 minute sessions and then he just moves on to being normal again ( 2 -3 of these sessions a day)

Does anyone know the reasoning behind this.

same things you mentioned. He has been seen by a dermatologist but we still have no answers. Just this morning he spun around biting at his leg along with a scoot. We usually see this first thing in the morning and then he is good throughout the day. Sometimes we may see it again in the evening but it definitely is not an all day everyday thing.
 
Hello all,
Recently my doberman pup Argo, about 20 weeks old has been seemingly going bonkers licking hiself/ nibbling.

He flops around and spins like a bull at the rodeo. He nibbles and bites at his rear legs / knees, and bum area, then he gets the red rocket out( if you know what I mean) and then proceeds to lick that. Usually this happens in about 10 minute sessions and then he just moves on to being normal again ( 2 -3 of these sessions a day)

Does anyone know the reasoning behind this.
If you get anything figured out I would sure like to hear, thanks !
 
Blaze spins around continuously and bangs around in his kennel biting at the bars. This is most of the time and he is 2 years old.
 
Check for a scrape or something. My dude does that, however there’s usually a boo boo in the spot he’s licking.

He’s been going thru a phase of hurting and scraping himself. He took a tumble last night and scraped his leg. I have to yell at him to stop or he just licks and licks.
 
If it's not a matter of lack of exercise and stimulation (sounds like it's not – good on you!) and he doesn't have any sort of sore/soreness/malady, I would start to take control of this behavior. Give him your command that means quit doing something, then perhaps redirect to something else like hitting a nice sit or down real quick for some praise.

My current boy, Oji, will show he has excess energy and/or stress sometimes by biting at and chasing his underdealy :spit:, or getting his rear hock in his mouth and hopping around in slow circles gnawing at it. Noble breed this is.

Oji often does this when my wife comes home and he is of course excited but has been trained to not jump up on her; and she is not lavishing physical attention on him like he thinks he deserves. We have to tell him to give her space to get in the house and put her stuff down and such. He then may engage in his bitey/spinny crap and it's actually somewhat dangerous because I could picture him taking someone out at the knee doing this.

One of the most merciful things about this breed, it seems to me, is that they actually accept your telling them to knock off silly excessive behaviors such as this – including licking! It's almost like you startle them out of their zoning out state and they snap out of it, almost embarrassed.
 
If it's not a matter of lack of exercise and stimulation (sounds like it's not – good on you!) and he doesn't have any sort of sore/soreness/malady, I would start to take control of this behavior. Give him your command that means quit doing something, then perhaps redirect to something else like hitting a nice sit or down real quick for some praise.

My current boy, Oji, will show he has excess energy and/or stress sometimes by biting at and chasing his underdealy :spit:, or getting his rear hock in his mouth and hopping around in slow circles gnawing at it. Noble breed this is.

Oji often does this when my wife comes home and he is of course excited but has been trained to not jump up on her; and she is not lavishing physical attention on him like he thinks he deserves. We have to tell him to give her space to get in the house and put her stuff down and such. He then may engage in his bitey/spinny crap and it's actually somewhat dangerous because I could picture him taking someone out at the knee doing this.

One of the most merciful things about this breed, it seems to me, is that they actually accept your telling them to knock off silly excessive behaviors such as this – including licking! It's almost like you startle them out of their zoning out state and they snap out of it, almost embarrassed.
Funny your description of what Oji is doing is exactly what Preacher does. Only thing different is an occasional scoot along with what you mentioned. At first we thought it was anal glands but they have been cleaned and checked.
 
Possibly has a flea or flea bite ? Possible allergies to something?
He has been checked for fleas and just came off Nex gard. I now have him wearing a soresto flea collar. Allergies was a consideration however he didn't respond to allergy medications. On Jan 1st we switched him from Fromm to Earthborn Holistic limited ingredient Ocean Fusion. We will give this food some time and see how he does.
 
He has been checked for fleas and just came off Nex gard. I now have him wearing a soresto flea collar. Allergies was a consideration however he didn't respond to allergy medications. On Jan 1st we switched him from Fromm to Earthborn Holistic limited ingredient Ocean Fusion. We will give this food some time and see how he does.
Might not be a food allergy but and environmental one. Did this start after the collar ? Or before ?
 

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