Right so Teller has an established nightly routine: we'll go out to potty and head up to bed; he curls up on his side of the bed and that's that. Sometimes I leave him to go brush my teeth or do whatever so I'm not always there from the moment he gets in bed but when I am I notice that he gives himself a fairly thorough lick down. There's nothing on his fur and he doesn't have fleas, dry skin, wounds or allergies. He doesn't concentrate on a specific area (paws, bum, tail, etc.) nor does he lick himself raw or even red. It's almost like he's a cat? I don't know how else to describe the behavior because I haven't seen it in a dog before. He starts with his front paws, cleaning his 'wrists' and then between his toes then moves on to his torso and finally his 'undercarriage', back paws, and tail. After he concludes this behavior he settles down for bed. It's not a new thing. Sometimes he does it in the living room; sometimes he does it after swimming or having a bath; sometimes when I go to pet him before bed and haven't been in the room he's wet. He hasn't had any recent dietary or lifestyle changes. He doesn't have a history of anxiety and is probably one of the most confident, go-with-the-flow dogs I've ever encountered. Vacuums? Loves them. Fireworks? Watches and runs towards them in hopes of finding the fallen bird. Thunderstorms? Unfazed. Strange people and animals? New friends. New places? New things to steal and/or sniff. Babies? Dirty, little hands/faces to clean. One time a strange toddler jammed her hand in his mouth and he spit it out. Few (if any) stressors bother this dog. There haven't been any symptoms indicative of illness, he's the same big, friendly fool as always. I've just never seen a dog groom himself like a cat or if I've heard of a similar thing it's usually by the more cat-like Spitz breeds not the mud-loving, dirt-rolling, wear-and-tear retrievers lol. Has anybody else seen their labs do this? Is my boy just a freak of nature? Do I just have a cleanly dog (I dare to ask after watching him roll in goose poo/dead things and eat mud)? Is it a comfort thing?
Not a Lab, but Belle used to groom herself like this. She was a fluffy-haired mongrel. Some sort of collie cross.
I hand a collie cross and she kept herself clean, rarely bathed/showered the dog unless it got exceptionally muddy. The dog had an evening routine and in the morning always looked fresh and clean managing to lick all around her body and used her pass when settled with her tongue to clean her own ears. I am hoping Bailey can do the same.
Hahaha, yeah there's no Collie in this idiot lol. Herding dogs may be the one thing he doesn't like. Only time he ever hid behind me was when a Border Collie started giving him eye and trying to herd him. I fulminated him today and he tried to eat the comb/hair like, 'Nooooo, not my glorious undercoat! There's 6 more weeks of winter and I need that!'
I think it’s normal! The Pig does it too, every night without fail. She likes to climb on OH for cuddles and then proceedes to lick her bottom and puppy-boobies for 10 mins on top of him, much to his disgruntlement. I read somewhere (probably on here from someone wiser than I) that naturally in a group of dogs, they all curl up in their den when they are ready for sleep and have a big communal licking session. I think that is why some dogs also try to give their owner a wash in the evenings when snuggled in for the night. I think it’s a ‘I’m in my den, little wash, ready for sleeps’ kind of thing
Homer licks himself clean like a cat. He's always done it. Usually after a swim but at any time, often during the night.
Snowie licks his forearms clean if he’s been drooling on them or eaten something liquidy that has fallen on his front legs. And of course his penis, keeps that clean - and if he has a yellow bit of ooze, I tell him to lick it off (I’m not in polite company here, am I?!). He does lick otherwise, but I think that’s due to itchiness, sometimes excessively if he’s really itchy.
My Malamute used to do it. He only had one bath in his life, and only swam twice, but he was normally very clean. He would come in with burrs and take them all out. Ginger, Tilly and Cooper don't make a show of it, but they seem to be pretty clean most of the time, and get very few baths. I see them licking their legs and paws quite often. I think Lab coats are pretty self cleaning.
Ella does her daily clean at 5.30am. Every single morning. She stands up, has a stretch, has a shake and commences licking. The grand finale is always a long, loud, slurpy lick of her ladybits. The OH finds the noise soooooo frustrating!
Omg please PLEASE video this! Or snap a couple of photos and edit OH's face out if he's concerned. The image of this big pointy pants lab sitting ON somebody whilst having a vigorous groom is giving me so much joy
Hahah I will try! Although my photos so far of OH-Pig cuddles are just a dark blurry mess, black Pigs are hard to photo mid-wash!
We go in the front room at 9pm each evening and Tatze shares my couch. This is when she has a good wash, it’s the only time she does it. But the sound of Tatze’s enthusiastic bottom washing is not conducive to relaxed TV watching .
We have the same here, only difference is it is OH hates it and Vanilla will once she is finished start to lick my face/head and neck to wake me up at about 130-2am and then again at 5am. OH half has a right paddy because of the slurpy noise...
