Dog constantly licking

[InMemoryOfSleep]

We have an older dog (we think around 12) who sleeps in our room, and she is CONSTANTLY licking her legs/feet/tummy/anything in range of her tongue. She’s not so bad in the day, but it drives me mad at night, to the point it wakes me up. We’ve de-flead her and tried piriton to no avail - might I be missing something?

It can be a sign of pain. Has she been checked by a vet?

Yep this is what I was worried about, but she had a heslthcheck with the vet a few months ago and all was fine. She also doesn’t seem in pain, she’s fine walking and her movement in general isn’t limited. 🤔

Possibly allergies. Can be developed in later life. Could be a contact allergy to grass/chemicals/washing powder etc or food allergy. Grain allergy is quite common. Try grain free food and get some Hibiscrub from Amazon to wash feet after a wash 1:10- hibiscrub to warm water- leave feet to soak for 5 mins then rinse off.

**after a walk

IF this is new behaviour then it is most likely to be pain or illness. GO back to your vet and ask for more help. It could be stress but to start in a 12 year old dog I would have to be very strongly convinced it was not pain

Dogs hide pain very well so it is impossible to "see" pain eg she doesn't seem in pain - she is licking that is a major sign of pain

It could be allergies, they can develop as they get older. Have you changed anything like washing powder, air freshener, new candles, something like that?

@Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten not really a new behaviour but it’s definitely gotten worse. Will consider taking her back to the vets, but I’m really reluctant for any invasive testing as it makes her so miserable. She is fine in the day, and also she is not a brave dog so generally if the slightest thing happens (like catching a hair when brushing her for example) we know about it! Which is what makes me doubt this is pain related.

Toothache? Ddogs lick to try and transfer the pain.

Ours did this back in the summer. It turned out he had a nasty infection between his toes and ear infections (although his ears looked fine and weren't bothering him).

He was fine after a few weeks of antibiotics.

Could be a fungal infection. You can get anti-fungal washes for their paws. My spaniel has this once took a few weeks to resolve.

I would make sure your flea treatment is also up to date.

No need for invasive tests - giving a general pain killer for a few days and see if your dog is more settled may be all that is required.

Dogs react very differently to chronic and acute pain.

If it was my dog I would absolutely go back to the vet