When you take your new puppy home for the first time, you might be surprised by just how much your dog is licking everything. It’s a behavior that some puppies are known to do, and this is why they are doing it.
Why does my puppy lick everything? Puppies will lick things to scratch itches, show their hunger, show their affection, to explore, and sometimes they will lick out of boredom.
Puppies get home and lick everything in the home; they are going to lick their owners, every person that comes into the house, the wall, the kennel, the food bowls (whether or not they have food), and every piece of furniture in the house.
While there are many different reasons why puppies lick everything, they are perfectly normal and generally nothing to worry about.
Table of Contents
Why Does My Puppy Lick Everything?
Scratching an Itch
One of the most common reasons a puppy will be licking all over his own body is to scratch an itch.
Just like humans, dogs have random itches that need to be appeased and they often can reach them best with their tongue.
They don’t have the benefit we do of just being able to bend and use our arms for everything; they can sometimes scratch with their paws, but if they can’t, they will use their tongues.
They also will lick all over their bodies if they need to groom themselves; this is normal. Just like cats, dogs lick themselves to give themselves baths.
Don’t worry if your dog licks himself; unless you see irritation or dry spots, you have nothing to worry about.
Hunger
Your dog will be licking everything in the house if he’s hungry.
While many puppies go around the house licking everything simply because of curiosity, they will often be licking everything because they need food.
If you leave your dog’s food bowl out when he doesn’t have any food left, the dog will go to the food bowl and try to lick at it even when there’s no food because he’s hungry.
He will often be searching for ways to find food all over the house; he is tasting everything in the house to see if he can find anything edible.
Other Reasons
There are tons of other reasons your dog will be licking everything. Dogs lick to show affection, just like a human’s kiss. That’s why people call a dog licking a dog kiss.
They also might just be playing around and will lick toys.
Dogs also need to explore when they get to a new place, so they will lick around the house to get to know the house and get to know the people in the home.
Finally, some dogs are simply bored and will walk around the home and lick things.
Final Thoughts
You will see your dog like everything any time you bring him to a new place. This is normal and will be a way for your dog to get to know his new environment.
He will also lick people to show love and affection.
Finally, he will lick himself if he has an itch or if he needs to groom himself. Licking is a cute, fun aspect of your new puppy!