My dog is licking another dog's hair off. What causes it & how to stop?

The dog who is licking that spot is probably doing so because the skin there had a very small lump that smelled different or the skin itself had an infection. Take the dog with the affected spot to your vet to have this area examined. You can also put an E-collar (cone) on the dog who is licking it, to prevent him from being able to do so. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I would approach this two ways. One, get the dog who is getting licked checked by your vet, to see if there is something going on in that area that needs medical attention. Dogs are very sensitive to changes in scent and have been known to detect signs of illness in other animals and people long before any other symptoms emerge. Secondly, to keep the dog from licking to other, you can apply a product called Bitter Apple to the dog getting licked. This product is extremely bitter (wash your hands well after application or you may inadvertently touch them to your face or mouth and find out exactly why it works well in deterring licking, yuck!) and is meant to help protect bandages and furniture from chewing, but I have used it for a similar purpose as yours.

Pets can lick a specific area due to a few reasons. Sometimes an area on a lower leg can be related to anxiety, skin mites, pain in the leg, nerve tingling, or a an abrasion which she is now licking. For cases like this, I recommend to have Diamond visit her veterinarian to looks for any evidence of pain or mites. If the doctor is more suspicious of an anxiety or nerve tingling, there are medications that may help. You do need to try to stop her from licking the leg. An Elizabethan collar worn any time she is not being directly supervised can help. It may not change the situation but an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs can decrease inflammation and improve skin health. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi there. This can be tricky - especially if Blaze now wants to lick her out of habit. You can try discouraging him each time he does it but spaying him with some water from a water bottle, or you can put a cone on your cat for a short period of time so he is unable to access the area. If he's just causing some mild hair loss but no skin infection, it may just be something you can leave alone as well. I hope that helps and thanks for using Pet Coach!

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. From the picture you provided and history I would suspect that the cause of what you are seeing is from the mom over cleaning by excessively licking. It is possible that there may have been a small cut on the top of the head that your mom was trying to clean and it has turned into a large amount of hair loss. I would suggest trying to deter the mom from cleaning this area as she will only make things worse by the excessive licking. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns you may have. I am also available by phone or text based consultation if needed

It would be hard to say. It is a good idea to bring the affected pup into your vet to rule out any health issues or irritation that could be causing the excessive licking by your other dog, such as urinary infections, inflammation, etc. If your pup checks out healthy, distraction with other toys and treats, placing an Elizabethan (cone) collar on the licker so they can't lick things, and separating if it does happen may help break the habit.

It looks like a lick granuloma which can be secondary to itching, pain, boredom, stress, OCD. They are commonly treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medications, and bandages or E-collar to prevent licking. If that doesn't work then anti-anxiety medications, like Prozac, can be prescribed to see if that helps. Below is a link with a website with additional information. http://www.skinvetclinic.com/acrallickdermatitis.html