Canine flank sucking

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

My mom's West Siberian Laika flank sucks herself daily, multiple times a day. The dog is not mine, so I am limited in terms of what I can do, but thought to ask you guys.

The dog came to her as a sort of rescue, when the dog was already an adult (I don't remember how old). We don't know much about her past, except that she was returned to her breeder a couple of times and the guy my mom got her from couldn't return her to the breeder any more. She has reactivity and other behavioral issues that she is working through, but the flank sucking hasn't gotten any better. The dog has a open bite, which indicates that this is something that has been going on for years.

Any tips or advice?

 

[TammyJ]

@Tom

 

[EppsDynasty]

@Tom

Second this......wondering what the resident dog expert has to say.

 

[Tom]

My mom's West Siberian Laika flank sucks herself daily, multiple times a day. The dog is not mine, so I am limited in terms of what I can do, but thought to ask you guys.

The dog came to her as a sort of rescue, when the dog was already an adult (I don't remember how old). We don't know much about her past, except that she was returned to her breeder a couple of times and the guy my mom got her from couldn't return her to the breeder any more. She has reactivity and other behavioral issues that she is working through, but the flank sucking hasn't gotten any better. The dog has a open bite, which indicates that this is something that has been going on for years.

Any tips or advice?

I don't know this breed. I have no experience with it at all, so all I can do is speak in generalities about dog behavior. I did look it up and it appears to be a spitz type hunting dog.

All dogs were bred for a reason. All breeds were meant to do a job or fill a role. None of them were bred to sit in a house or a yard and do nothing. Even the toy breeds had a purpose. This being the case, when we make a dog into a "pet" and don't give it a job to perform, all sorts of neurosis and problems tend to pop up. The happiest dogs you will ever see are dogs that have a job. Police and military dogs, farm dogs that actually herd or work in some way, flock protectors, hunting dogs out hunting, and movie dogs. Does your mom take the dog hunting regularly? If not, why did she get a hunting dog that needs to be hunted? I ask this of almost everyone that comes to me for help. Why did you get a herding breed if you have nothing to herd and no intention of herding? Why did you get a protection breed if you don't want it to bite people? Why did you get a retriever if you aren't going to shoot birds out of the sky for it to retrieve? Etc... In practice, the dog doesn't even have to do what it was bred for centuries to do, but it needs to do something. Working toward obedience competition, or agility, or nose work, or search and rescue, any sort of dog sport completion, or any number of other jobs will suffice. Dock diving, fly-ball, frisbee catching, protection work, tracking... The list of stuff a person can do with their dog is endless. Your mom needs to figure out something she'd enjoy doing with the dog and go do it. Lots of it.

I've never seen or dealt with the flank sucking thing. It's not common. At least not over here. In general, the best way to deal with neurotic behavior is to give the dog mental stimulation. Training, attention, and exercise. Hire a trainer to show your mom how to properly obedience train the dog, and then your mom should make that her new hobby. Get the sit/stay going, and then get it going for longer from farther away. Keep building. 10 seconds from 10 feet away is a good start to a sit/stay. Keep working on it until you have 60 seconds fro 60 feet away, then keep going. The interaction, the mental stimulation, and the sense of "responsibility" the dog will feel, will help to reduce unwanted neurotic behavior. More exercise in the form of long walks or hunting will also help. What does not help is keeping the dog at home all day stewing in its boredom and lack of purpose in life. Dogs need a purpose. They need goals to strive for with the help of their people. Dogs need jobs.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

I have an old blind dog that did similar. Come to find out it was from a food allergy (according to his vet). We changed to grain free food and he's clearing up nicely. No more gnawing, chewing, licking or scratching.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I don't know this breed. I have no experience with it at all, so all I can do is speak in generalities about dog behavior. I did look it up and it appears to be a spitz type hunting dog.

All dogs were bred for a reason. All breeds were meant to do a job or fill a role. None of them were bred to sit in a house or a yard and do nothing. Even the toy breeds had a purpose. This being the case, when we make a dog into a "pet" and don't give it a job to perform, all sorts of neurosis and problems tend to pop up. The happiest dogs you will ever see are dogs that have a job. Police and military dogs, farm dogs that actually herd or work in some way, flock protectors, hunting dogs out hunting, and movie dogs. Does your mom take the dog hunting regularly? If not, why did she get a hunting dog that needs to be hunted? I ask this of almost everyone that comes to me for help. Why did you get a herding breed if you have nothing to herd and no intention of herding? Why did you get a protection breed if you don't want it to bite people? Why did you get a retriever if you aren't going to shoot birds out of the sky for it to retrieve? Etc... In practice, the dog doesn't even have to do what it was bred for centuries to do, but it needs to do something. Working toward obedience competition, or agility, or nose work, or search and rescue, any sort of dog sport completion, or any number of other jobs will suffice. Dock diving, fly-ball, frisbee catching, protection work, tracking... The list of stuff a person can do with their dog is endless. Your mom needs to figure out something she'd enjoy doing with the dog and go do it. Lots of it.

I've never seen or dealt with the flank sucking thing. It's not common. At least not over here. In general, the best way to deal with neurotic behavior is to give the dog mental stimulation. Training, attention, and exercise. Hire a trainer to show your mom how to properly obedience train the dog, and then your mom should make that her new hobby. Get the sit/stay going, and then get it going for longer from farther away. Keep building. 10 seconds from 10 feet away is a good start to a sit/stay. Keep working on it until you have 60 seconds fro 60 feet away, then keep going. The interaction, the mental stimulation, and the sense of "responsibility" the dog will feel, will help to reduce unwanted neurotic behavior. More exercise in the form of long walks or hunting will also help. What does not help is keeping the dog at home all day stewing in its boredom and lack of purpose in life. Dogs need a purpose. They need goals to strive for with the help of their people. Dogs need jobs.

This is her third "retired" hunting dog that was deemed unsuitable for hunting. The first one was an East Siberian Laika (a very similar breed) and the second one a Jämthund (this dog is still alive, but getting old and less active). Before these three she had a dog she did a lot of obedience work with.

I don't know if there has been a difference in the summer vs winter as in the summer the dog gets more different kinds of activities.

In the summer my mum takes her swimming and the dog fetches a toy floating in the water (she isn't allowed to chase it in the air, she is only released from a stay when the toy lands), my sister takes the dog sup boarding, and my mum goes running with the dog (this has included commands like left and right etc.).

In the winter it is mostly just walks, obedience training and indoor toys like a Kong. I will talk to my mum about a trainer but she might not be willing.

 

[mark1]

more working dog breeds are kept as pets vs working dogs, by far...... properly raised properly bred "pet" "working" dogs do not suffer from aberrant behavior..... many "working" dogs i've personally known have had, imo, horrible lives, and a large portion of them could not possibly be kept in your house......

obviously a poorly raised dog, possibly poorly bred...... mental illness is a real thing in dogs.....the behavior is something the dog feels it needs....you need to try and replace it with a different behavior, if possible..... it's not a life threatening behavior, the "reactivity" has a possibility of being a life threatening behavior...... you need to keep the teaching of a defensive dog positive, and as gentle as possible ...stop/interrupt the dog whenever you see the behavior and give them something else to do, interact with you, even if it's just sitting with you and getting petted, chew a bone, (imo, a real bone, with some meat on it), a food puzzle, anything positive....might take a long time, but absolutely doable.....

commendable of your mom to rescue a dog....... most "working" dogs usually end up needing rescued......

 

[EppsDynasty]

I have an old blind dog that did similar. Come to find out it was from a food allergy (according to his vet). We changed to grain free food and he's clearing up nicely. No more gnawing, chewing, licking or scratching.

Grain Free Food is the deadliest thing to pet dogs on the planet period. I fell into the trap of grain free and it almost cost our dogs life. Your 'Grain Free' means tons of legumes especially the usual
'Pea Starch' which is deadly to a dogs heart. Tim do what you can now to save this dogs life and get it some real dog food instead of heart attack labeled as a healthy option.

A side note ...... We had serious concerns for our dog pepper, she was coughing like a heart problem was going on. We took her into the vet (Tom's Vet) and had an hour long visit with $1,000 of testing to get a clear picture of what was going on. Fortunately she is ok, but that is only due to us feeding the grain free to her as an adult and NOT a puppy. The vet explained that puppies just can't handle all that legume/pea starch and it destroys their hearts. So this is where this info comes from.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Grain Free Food is the deadliest thing to pet dogs on the planet period. I fell into the trap of grain free and it almost cost our dogs life. Your 'Grain Free' means tons of legumes especially the usual
'Pea Starch' which is deadly to a dogs heart. Tim do what you can now to save this dogs life and get it some real dog food instead of heart attack labeled as a healthy option.

A side note ...... We had serious concerns for our dog pepper, she was coughing like a heart problem was going on. We took her into the vet (Tom's Vet) and had an hour long visit with $1,000 of testing to get a clear picture of what was going on. Fortunately she is ok, but that is only due to us feeding the grain free to her as an adult and NOT a puppy. The vet explained that puppies just can't handle all that legume/pea starch and it destroys their hearts. So this is where this info comes from.

I've never heard that before. I can only vouch that his hair has grown back and no more digging/licking. Poor thing was raw before!

 

[EppsDynasty]

It very well could be an allergy BUT there has to be a healthy option to deal with that. Instead of Grain Free dogs need Legume Free.

 

[Tom]

This is her third "retired" hunting dog that was deemed unsuitable for hunting. The first one was an East Siberian Laika (a very similar breed) and the second one a Jämthund (this dog is still alive, but getting old and less active). Before these three she had a dog she did a lot of obedience work with.

I don't know if there has been a difference in the summer vs winter as in the summer the dog gets more different kinds of activities.

In the summer my mum takes her swimming and the dog fetches a toy floating in the water (she isn't allowed to chase it in the air, she is only released from a stay when the toy lands), my sister takes the dog sup boarding, and my mum goes running with the dog (this has included commands like left and right etc.).

In the winter it is mostly just walks, obedience training and indoor toys like a Kong. I will talk to my mum about a trainer but she might not be willing.

Sounds like she's doing a great job with all those activities.

This might be allergy related. Many dogs lick their feet excessively when they are exposed to or fed whatever they have an allergic reaction to. Perhaps your mom's dog dog the flank sucking instead? Just throwing out possibilities to consider. Wish I had a better answer for you.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Sounds like she's doing a great job with all those activities.

This might be allergy related. Many dogs lick their feet excessively when they are exposed to or fed whatever they have an allergic reaction to. Perhaps your mom's dog dog the flank sucking instead? Just throwing out possibilities to consider. Wish I had a better answer for you.

Yeah, her other dog has allergies and digestive issues so maybe she would notice that more easily? I don't know, hard to say.

 

[RandyTortoise]

When in doubt, take it to a vet. Behavioral issues, stress, poor diet, a general infection or simply boredom or itching can usually all be diagnosed with a few trips to a vet to discover the problem. We have a frenchie that has constant skin allergy issues and food and diet changes have spent h trick but yours sounds a bit more elaborate.