My 4 month old male tongues my niece!

[Sonny]

What do we do? We bought Buddy specifically for my 14 year old disabled niece. She does not walk, she crawls, so she is always on the floor with Buddy. Also, she almost always has her mouth open. We still have him on a leash around her because he lunges at her and sticks his tongue in her mouth! Yuck! He will continue until we pull him away. Is it possible that he will stop doing this when he gets older?

[Krikkit]

How old is Buddy? Please let us know so we can help with an appropriate response taking his age and level of training into consideration

Licking mouths is a perfectly natural behavior for dogs (greeting, submission, 'I want food', 'I like you', 'lets play', 'I'm a pup' amongst other things), but in the situation with your niece I can understand your concerns. A replacement behaviour could certainly be taught. Is Buddy undergoing service / therapy training?

Sharon

[Krikkit]

I should learn to read, just noticed that he is four months of age Puppy school would help a great deal I think, but four month old puppies have a very short attention span. It would be best to start teaching him a replacement behavior (that is something to do other than lick), if you can find a trainer experience with service dogs it would be wonderful, but most decent trainers will be able to assist with this or refer you to someone who can help.

Sharon

[AmyRyan]

Our boxer Cody...well let me just say he's got the fastest tongue in the Midwest!!! He's 6 years old and when you're not careful, especially if he's really happy to see you, then he could clean your teeth for you. We just tell him "No" very firmly.

It really doesn't happen all the time. I have noticed that as Cody has gotten older, he doesn't do it NEARLY as much as he did when he was a puppy. My folks have a 6 month old Boxer puppy and she is like that, licking the air and anything else she can find.

Sometimes, they just need to be reminded. I always heard that a dog's mouth is the cleanest of any animal but it gives us the shivers thinking & knowing where it was licking before it hit our mouths. I don't like it when he does it but that is really just a Boxer trait, in my opinion. I think that Cody has responded very well to just being told sternly "No" each time it looks like he is getting geared up for a slobbery kiss and maybe a smart tap on the rump as well if he doesn't stop. And I have to admit, nine times out of ten, he obeys. He just winds up licking your leg or your arm. Just a little kiss, . It's like a Boxer's Hallmark Card, I suppose, .

If you start out early, the easier it will be to train your puppy not to do that. Boxers are stubborn little things at times so it may take a little bit. But I'm sure it'll be okay. I'll have to take my own advice here in about 7 more months. I'm pregnant! So we will do the same thing when the time arrives.

Hope that helps you out a bit. Good Luck!!! (Just keep a towlette handy if all else fails, )

[AmyRyan]

Our boxer Cody...well let me just say he's got the fastest tongue in the Midwest!!! He's 6 years old and when you're not careful, especially if he's really happy to see you, then he could clean your teeth for you. We just tell him "No" very firmly.

It really doesn't happen all the time. I have noticed that as Cody has gotten older, he doesn't do it NEARLY as much as he did when he was a puppy. My folks have a 6 month old Boxer puppy and she is like that, licking the air and anything else she can find.

Sometimes, they just need to be reminded. I always heard that a dog's mouth is the cleanest of any animal but it gives us the shivers thinking & knowing where it was licking before it hit our mouths. I don't like it when he does it but that is really just a Boxer trait, in my opinion. I think that Cody has responded very well to just being told sternly "No" each time it looks like he is getting geared up for a slobbery kiss and maybe a smart tap on the rump as well if he doesn't stop. And I have to admit, nine times out of ten, he obeys. He just winds up licking your leg or your arm. Just a little kiss, . It's like a Boxer's Hallmark Card, I suppose, .

If you start out early, the easier it will be to train your puppy not to do that. Boxers are stubborn little things at times so it may take a little bit. But I'm sure it'll be okay. I'll have to take my own advice here in about 7 more months. I'm pregnant! So we will do the same thing when the time arrives.

Hope that helps you out a bit. Good Luck!!! (Just keep a towlette handy if all else fails, )

[AmyRyan]

I don't know why that repeated itself twice. Pretty annoying, huh? Sorry all...