How to Stop a Dog From Licking Too Much: The Short Answer

How do you stop a dog from licking too much? You don’t stop licking by punishing it — you stop it by figuring out what’s rewarding it and changing that, while giving your dog something else to do instead. Most licking habits can be visibly reduced within two to three weeks of consistent, reward-based redirection. First, rule out a medical cause: if the licking is excessive, focal, or paired with skin changes, see a vet before you start training.

Step 1: Figure Out What’s Reinforcing It

Licking persists because it’s being rewarded — even unintentionally. The three most common rewards are attention (you talking, laughing, or pushing your dog away, all of which register as engagement), taste (salt, lotion, food residue), and self-soothing (endorphin release during anxious or overstimulated moments). Watch when the licking happens for a few days before changing anything. The pattern usually points straight at the cause.

Step 2: Remove the Reward

If attention is the reward, stop supplying it the moment licking starts. Stand up, turn away, or leave the room briefly, without speaking or making eye contact. No scolding — a verbal correction is still attention, and attention is what’s keeping the behavior going. This step alone resolves attention-seeking licking in a large share of dogs within a couple of weeks.

Step 3: Give the Behavior a Job Instead

Removing a reward works faster when you simultaneously reinforce something else. Trainers call this differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior: instead of only punishing what you don’t want, you actively reward a specific replacement behavior. A simple version — cue your dog to sit, lie down, or hold a toy the moment it approaches you, and reward that immediately. Over time, the alternative behavior becomes the new default greeting.

Step 4: Reward Calm Contact Without Licking

Make a genuine, enthusiastic deal out of moments when your dog is close to you and not licking. This is the part owners skip — it’s easy to only intervene when licking happens and forget to reinforce the behavior you actually want during the other 95% of the day.

What Not to Do

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior’s 2021 position statement on humane dog training recommends reward-based methods for all training and explicitly advises against aversive techniques — physical corrections, spray bottles, yelling, or scruffing — for modifying unwanted behavior. Beyond the ethical case, there’s a practical one: licking is very often anxiety- or arousal-driven, and punishing an anxious behavior tends to increase the underlying anxiety, which can make licking worse rather than better.

When Training Isn’t Enough

If licking doesn’t improve with a few weeks of consistent redirection, or if it’s intense enough that your dog can’t be interrupted at all, treat that as a signal rather than a training failure. Persistent, hard-to-interrupt licking is frequently medical — allergies, gastrointestinal disease, and pain are all common culprits that no amount of redirection will fix on its own.

Quick Answers to Related Questions

Should I use a bitter spray on my hands to stop face-licking?
It can work for taste-driven licking, but it does nothing for attention-seeking or anxiety-driven licking, and won’t address an underlying medical cause. Treat it as one small tool, not a full solution.

How long before I see results?
Most owners notice a meaningful drop within two to three weeks of consistent redirection, assuming the reward (usually attention) is being reliably withheld every single time.

My dog licks more when I try to stop it — why?
This is usually an extinction burst: a temporary increase in the behavior right after you stop rewarding it, before it declines. Stay consistent through it rather than giving in.

The Bottom Line

So, how do you stop a dog from licking too much? Licking stops being a habit once it stops being rewarded — and it changes fastest when you give your dog a specific, reinforced alternative rather than just withdrawing attention and hoping. If it doesn’t respond to a few consistent weeks of that approach, it’s a sign to check for a medical cause rather than to escalate the training.

Related Posts

Why Does My Dog Lick Me?
Why Is My Dog Licking Excessively? 12 Medical & Behavioral Causes
Why Does My Dog Lick Me Before Bed or in the Morning?
Dog Body Language Guide

Sources

American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (2021). AVSAB Position Statement on Humane Dog Training.
American Veterinary Medical Association — Veterinary behaviorists: No role for aversive dog training practices (2021).

All factual claims on Pawsidor trace to peer-reviewed research, university studies, or books by credentialed animal scientists.

Sources & References

  1. Horowitz, A. (2009). Inside of a Dog. Scribner.
  2. Bradshaw, J. (2013). Cat Sense. Basic Books.
  3. McConnell, P. (2002). The Other End of the Leash. Ballantine Books.

All factual claims on Pawsidor trace to peer-reviewed research, university studies, or books by credentialed animal scientists. Learn about our editorial standard →