You’ve probably seen your dog licking his paws, wounds, or other areas of his body. It’s an instinctual behavior that can actually help heal the wound. But when it comes to deep wounds or stitches, the licking can do more harm than good. Dogs will lick their wounds for a variety of reasons:
- They are bored and need mental stimulation
- They are anxious and need to calm down
- The wound is irritated or inflamed
- The wound smells strongly of blood or healing medications A dog’s tongue is dirty and contains bacteria. When a dog licks his wound, he runs the risk of introducing new bacteria into it from the saliva on his tongue. In addition, if the wound has begun to scab over, he may open up the scab by continuing to lick at it. This will further increase the risk of infection.
Use a Mix of Bitter Apple and Petroleum Jelly
A good solution to keeping your pup from licking the wound is to apply a mixture of bitter apple and petroleum jelly. Bitter apple, which is made from the bitter apple plant (also known as gourds), will be unappetizing for your dog, discouraging them from licking their wound. Petroleum jelly is safe for your dog and will keep their wound moist so that it can heal quicker.
Dab the Mixture on Your Dog’s Wound
- Dab the Mixture on Your Dog’s Wound
- Get a cotton ball and soak it in the mixture. Use the cotton ball to apply the mixture to the wound. Apply a thin layer of the mixture to your dog’s wound by dabbing it on gently with your cotton ball. This will effectively stop your dog from licking their wound without having to put them in a cone.
Apply Neosporin on Your dog’s Wound
Apply Neosporin to the wound. This can be an effective method of preventing your dog from licking its wound, as it will make the area taste bad. However, while this is harmless and painless for your dog, try not to use this method if the wound is open or bleeding because you may irritate the area further.
It may also be beneficial to talk with your vet about a safe alternative that can be used on wounds and will deter your dog from licking it.
Other Methods to Stop Dog from Licking Wound Without Collar
You can try a few different things to stop your dog from licking his wound without using a collar. Before you attempt any of these methods, though, it’s important to know that they don’t work for every dog and some dogs will lick through them all. If you’re applying something that could potentially be ingested by your pet, proceed with caution and make sure your vet approves.
- Don’t use a cone collar. A standard Elizabethan collar won’t be effective in keeping the wound out of reach of the dog’s tongue if the injury is on an area like the back or head, where he can still get a good lick in from above.
- Don’t use bandages. Depending on the size and location of your dog’s wound, you may be able to cover it with gauze wrapped tightly around his body for added protection against licking. However, this approach should only be used as a last resort—dogs will often tear at bandages if left unattended too long and can harm themselves further in the process.
- Don’t use muzzles. Although some people will put their pet in a muzzle when they need to leave him alone for an extended period of time, this approach is not recommended due to both comfort and safety concerns. Muzzling is painful and uncomfortable for most dogs, so placing one on your pet when he’s already injured could cause him undue trauma. Additionally, muzzles can restrict breathing and make it difficult for dogs to drink water or eat (depending on design).
There are many ways to stop your dog from licking their wounds.
There are several ways to stop a dog from licking wounds. Most of them involve creating some sort of barrier between your dog’s muzzle and their wound so they can’t lick it. You can use any combination of the following options:
- Bathing
To remove any blood or other debris before treating the wound, you should give your dog a bath with warm water. If you have time and it’s not too serious, you could allow their fur to air dry after washing them. Otherwise, patting them dry with a clean towel is fine.
- Hydrogen peroxide
Your vet may prescribe or recommend using hydrogen peroxide to rinse or cleanse the wound because it helps keep bacteria at bay while simultaneously cleaning up any dirt or debris in the area. If you’re unable to go to a vet immediately and need some way for keeping your dog from licking their wound in the meantime, this is an effective option that’s easy to administer as well as inexpensive and accessible. However, if possible, we would recommend waiting until you can visit a veterinarian instead of relying on this method alone; if left untreated, wounds may heal incorrectly and lead to further complications down the line (e.g., scar tissue).
- Spray bottle
If you’ve applied antibiotic ointment to your dog’s wound but still need more time for it to settle in before putting on bandages or another type of dressing (e.g., gauze), using an empty spray bottle filled with water will work well enough until then since there won’t be anything directly touching their skin that they can chew off later on while waiting around impatiently during this step-by-step process. Just mist overtop lightly so no liquid actually gets into contact with whatever substance was just applied earlier—don’t worry about hurting yourself by getting wet either because most sprays come equipped with special filters.