Why would a dog start to lick all of a sudden?

[Eliz222]

My 2 year old female Cairn, Scout, has started a weird behavior. When she is getting ready to go to sleep, she starts licking the area around her. She is usually laying down when she licks. She will not lick herself, just the bed or chair she is on. Does anyone know why she would start doing this all of a sudden? She seems to feel fine. She is eating well, playing as usual, and seems to be the same as she was before she started this. Any ideas?

[wags]

Well, maybe it's related to the "collective unconscious." My dog has just started licking too.

In an experiment with monkeys, people taught island monkeys to wash their food, suddenly monkeys all over the world began washing their food too.

???

[Guest girliejr]

Jack will sometimes lick the couch while he is laying on it. I always thought he just liked the texture of it. He never licked his beg, or in his kennel. He only did it to the couch and not all of the time. I always make him stop, but I don't know why he does that. I hope someone knows, I am curious to find out.

[Eliz222]

I took Scout to the vet and everything checked out ok. She is still licking the bed/couch/floor. I think it is comforting to her, but it's weird that she just started doing this.

[texasx96]

Jake does that a lot too. I think he is just trying to tell the couch that he likes it and considers it a valued friend.