Dog started to lick the carpet?

[ronianna]

My parents have an ageing Yorkshire Terrier who's started licking the carpet - why? My parents have had the same carpet for a number of years and we thought that maybe the previous owners of the house had a dog or something which our dog could smell etc so put it down to that. But a couple of months back my parents replaced the carpet with a brand new one and our dog continues to do it. She doesn't bite or nibble the carpet, simply lick it. Any ideas why? or more importantly, how to stop her. she's old so not much room to teach her any new tricks. HELP?

[drgnrdr]

Does she go to the same spot to lick? put a tatse deterent on it. How much attention or exercise did she get before and maybe it's been less if there has been some changes in your parents routine? She may be trying to get extra attention or she is needing some daily walks to get rid of excess energy, some do this to GET attention, ( negative type attention is still attention), because they do it we get after them, sometimes ignoring it works better, (unless she is getting fiber off carpet don't want it ingested), have they had her checked by a vet, since this started, to rule out any medical problem? Sometimes cleaners and things attract a dog to it, every dog is different, so you'll have to do some detective work. You may want to teach her "leave it" when she heads to the spot. No dog is too old to learn, dogs can learn at any age, it just depends how much you want to change the behavior.

[wendilla]

I have an 8 year old labrador and he has done this since he was a pup.Some mornings when I look at cushion there is a small wet patch where he has licked and the odd time he has licked carpet.He gets plenty of attention so it is not boredom.A few years ago I mentioned this to vet and he said some dogs will still suck on there blanket or cushion as if still with the mother.At times I have seen him do this. and he also said it could be lack of some vitamin in his diet but I couldnt put it down to that as I did a check on that. As you can tell he sleeps on settee so he has his own cushion .

[rosyrussell]

Our old boxer dog used to lick the dishwasher and a glass window frantically for no reason. I think she just liked the feel of it on her tongue, and it didn't do her any harm.

[gessoo]

Is she OK in other ways. Has she been poorly lately or been sick. If so, I would have her checked over. My dog (also a Yorkie) started doing this and did nothing but lick the carpet for the weekend. He was a bit off colour. I spoke to our Vets Practice, who have a nurse who specialises in behaviour who said this was common practice when a dog feels sick. She did explain why but I can't remember exactly what she said. It is similar to dogs eating grass or grazing when they feel sick.