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Today I was scissoring Molly's tail - and she turned really fast and licked the scissors - blood all over - scared me half to death. I couldn't see where the cut was, just blood. We were halfway to the vet when all of a sudden it stopped.
From the day we brought Molly home as a 9 week old puppy she licks - excessively. She licks us and she licks her front legs and feet - a lot. Occasionally she even licks the air, but that is intermittent. The vet and I have tried everything to figure out why, except that its just her. She isn't a nervous dog, and even after receiving an allergy shot (to see if that is the cause) she still is a licker. They ruled out seizure so it is habit and OCD. I can tell her to stop, which she will, she tries, but can't for very long. The vet even tried OCD medication. Of course she doesn't lick when she is busy, or walking or playing or distracted with other things.
My biggest problem is grooming her. She is wonderful about it, loves it, gets excited when she sees the clippers, jumps right on the table, loves the attention and is very cooperative - but she licks the whole time. When I am clipping her feet, she is licking my hands, arms and tries to lick the clipper (Bitter Apple doesn't work) (Thank goodness for the grooming arm on the table which helps a lot. Doing her face is a challenge because her tongue is going the whole time. I'm so very very careful but its a nightmare to shave her face (and I don't dare chance sending her to a groomer - she is fast! The one groomer I could trust retired)
I'm wondering if it might condition her to stop the licking while being groomed or at least protect her tongue if I used a mesh muzzle, which at least would protect her from the unexpected lightening fast lick at scissors or clipper. (of course it won't work for face, but I've developed a pretty good method for a fast face shave)
Any recommendations? There are so many products on Amazon and the mesh muzzles all look the same.
From the day we brought Molly home as a 9 week old puppy she licks - excessively. She licks us and she licks her front legs and feet - a lot. Occasionally she even licks the air, but that is intermittent. The vet and I have tried everything to figure out why, except that its just her. She isn't a nervous dog, and even after receiving an allergy shot (to see if that is the cause) she still is a licker. They ruled out seizure so it is habit and OCD. I can tell her to stop, which she will, she tries, but can't for very long. The vet even tried OCD medication. Of course she doesn't lick when she is busy, or walking or playing or distracted with other things.
My biggest problem is grooming her. She is wonderful about it, loves it, gets excited when she sees the clippers, jumps right on the table, loves the attention and is very cooperative - but she licks the whole time. When I am clipping her feet, she is licking my hands, arms and tries to lick the clipper (Bitter Apple doesn't work) (Thank goodness for the grooming arm on the table which helps a lot. Doing her face is a challenge because her tongue is going the whole time. I'm so very very careful but its a nightmare to shave her face (and I don't dare chance sending her to a groomer - she is fast! The one groomer I could trust retired)
I'm wondering if it might condition her to stop the licking while being groomed or at least protect her tongue if I used a mesh muzzle, which at least would protect her from the unexpected lightening fast lick at scissors or clipper. (of course it won't work for face, but I've developed a pretty good method for a fast face shave)
Any recommendations? There are so many products on Amazon and the mesh muzzles all look the same.