Dog suckling and pacifying on objects?
Has anyone of you witnessed his dog suckling on things?
Djamila does that rarely, but every now and then. Preferably with objects we own (pillows) or with her soft toys. It looks utterly cute, like cats massaging the object (pillow or soft toy) with their paws and suckling. Also reminds me of toddlers with their favorite blankets.
It seems to calm her and make her sleepy. Sometimes she actually falls asleep over it. I’ve never watched her doing it another time than in the evening.
Never seen that in a dog before.
As I know with many behaviors that look funny or cute there can be more “under the hood”, I was curios to find out more on the internet.
I was not able to find any conclusive answer why dogs are doing it. Obviously many do it.
Some people say that it indicates the dogs have been separated too early from their mom or had other bad experiences that triggered this post traumatic behavior. Also allegedly especially shy and reserved dogs do it.
Djamila is happy and healthy since always, neither shy nor did she experience any kind of trauma like neglect or so. I honestly also have a hard time to believe that I am looking at mother separation issues here, although I can't tell for sure. Only that we did not get her before she was nine weeks old.
Any experience with this? Any other explanations for this behavior?
mila_suckling.jpg
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"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
And Djamila is beautiful, no matter what she is doing).
Yeah! I finally did it! Djamila is constantly carrying the remote control around, bringing it when she seeks attention. She's making a low humming sound with that - no growling. I've been swearing at my camera for messing up my efforts to snapshot it every time. Too slow, too dark, too blurry.
Still not the best shot, but ok
She is so cute when she does it. And even after many times of carrying it, it's still working and only has a few marks. They sure CAN be gentle, if they want.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
We were told by her former owners (she was a rescue) that her father also suckled. Perhaps it's just hereditary?
Djamila looks so cool!
(It's just not fair when you guys Photoshop your dog photos so their coats look so white and good!)... shame on you.
I can understand the concerns regarding the blanket. But I think you are really fit already with ideas on how to distract the little blanket chewer. Hopefully it's just a phase and will pass.
I am actually teaching Djamila, HOW to play with her toys. Meaning, I don't just take a toy away when she gets rough, but first only interrupt her (tell her "no" or "no so hard" in a stern voice), when she starts ripping or chewing too hard etc. and (important!!!) praise her subsequently, once she gets back to appropriate actions with her toys.
Over time this seems to have built some sense of knowing, which "ways of playing" are unwanted, in her. I'd still not trust her to not rip or chew something to pieces ever again, especially when she gets bored, and always have my "mommy ear" around the corner when she is playing.
Yet I could not help but notice that over time, she has actually become a little more gentle with her stuff. But it takes time, you need to be consistent and if possible interfere and praise for good manners every time.
Also it's probably no guarantee that this works with every dog.
But it may be worth a try, if you have not already.
The terrier type always goes nuts over balls and other toys, is way more restless and agile, usually smaller and a tad more airy.
We don't have any scientific evidence. It's just a conclusive assumption resulting from all of the stories of Bull Terrier owners, we've met and talked to or read so far.
@Marx
Holy cow! 95lb!!!!
You know, it's so funny: Djamila was a bit of a chewer when younger and as described I tried to control her destructive aspirations - quite successful, she has never so far really destroyed anything or severely damaged our belongings. But then again, we work in a home office and have cameras in the house, which both makes it a lot easier to interrupt destructive behavior once it occurs.
Until recently I gave a rawhide retriever roll to Djamila to satisfy her chewing urges every other day. And when younger she went through them at WARP speed. Then she became slower with them and even reserved a piece for later now and then - unheard of before!
Just now one or two weeks ago, she has completely stopped taking the rawhides - and I still have an entire bulk here.
I first got a little nervous, if that could be a sign of something being wrong with her teeth and she is having pain. Examined her teeth thoroughly and watched, if she is chewing other things - which she does.
She just seems to have grown out of the excessive chewing. She is the first Bull Terrier I got the chance to watch growing and developing from puppy to adult. It's really interesting to see how they develop.
I do think that Frankie might grow out of the chewing to a certain degree as she ages. Quinn would pull threads out of her bed when she was younger, but doesn't chew it anymore. She has had this bed for two years now, almost three. Also I had to stop giving her rope toys because those were actually the only toys she did like to ingest. Never ate stuffing or any other things, but did swallow rope. They are great for teething though!!
But I think the likelihood is almost the same with chewing bones/ antlers or other hard things, tugging toys really hard between two dogs and other activities like that.
My husband owned an AmStaff a long time ago. And this dog loved to hang snapped into tree branches with its teeth forever. I frequently see pictures of different breeds (Am Bulldogs, EBT's, Staffies ...) on the internet hanging on ropes tied to trees as well.
Our former EBT Fancy loved the "carousel": She would cling to her ring shaped rope, while hubby would tug and turn a little until her feet took off from the ground.
Yet we did not do this very often. Not because we worried about her teeth, but we were afraid that she could hurt her neck in an uncontrolled movement.
If the dog is hanging from a tree or rope, this probably also put some stress on the neck, because in both cases the entire body weight drags on the neck. That's probably especially true with very muscular breeds, because they also come with some weight. But I still think it's a little different, because there's not as much movement involved as with rotating the dog.