Why Do Dogs Love To Lick Their Butts
Licking is one of inherent behaviors of dogs. Dogs cannot verbalize what they feel and one of the ways by which they can show their affection to humans is by licking. Dogs will lick humans and dogs as a sign of friendliness or submission. The tongue is used by the mother dog to groom the puppies. Apart from being a show of affection, the mother dog will lick the pups to motivate defecation and urination.
Dogs are often seen licking their butts. Dogs that lick their butts have other reasons as certainly this habit is not done to show affection. Dog owners will be amused to see the efforts of a dog that is trying to lick the rear end. A dog owner though would not be amused if the dog that has been licking its butt would jump with alacrity to meet its master with sloppy kisses.
A mother dog will lick the puppy after it has urinated or defecated. Butt licking can be an ingrained habit that was learned by the dog from its mother. The long raspy tongue can be the dog’s very own wash cloth. Dog’s version of human’s hand shaking is butt sniffing. Humans wash their hands and dogs lick to make sure that the smell and traces of feces will be removed from their rear end. Dog owners are aware that dogs love anything that people find repulsive. Dog owners would always complain about the dogs habit of eating feces and rolling in smelly objects. A dog that licks the butt is simply giving in to the desire to indulge in something smelly
A dog will lick the butt to remove a foreign object from the anal area. Due to the tendency to eat anything, inedible things like plastic and cloth will be ingested. Because these objects cannot be digested, the dog will excrete these things in their original form. One end of the plastic or the cloth can get stuck inside so that the dog will continuously lick to get the thing out.
The pain and uncomfortable feeling associated with an impacted anal gland will make a dog lick its butt. Inexpensive and low quality dog food will result to soft stools so that the anal gland is not emptied normally. Anal glands that are not expressed will result to the buildup of bacteria. The dog will suffer pain and discomfort if the anal glands are impacted. A dog with an impacted anal gland will scoot and lick the anal area in an effort to ease the pain and discomfort.
Learn more about why dogs lick their butts and dog first aid at Sarah’s Dogs.
