I got my yorkie to stop her stress and habit licking by just putting her blanket or towel or my blanket or something over her paws/legs. She would try licking again after and then I'd do the same. Then she'd just stop like she understood what Mommy wants. Eventually, she lost that habit. But I could just be one of the lucky ones. I've seen someone else mention doing the same, but that her dog would just wait until the mommy's asleep then resume. I had also tried figuring out if it was food related, of course, but my little girl used to be a super stress licker.
I'm thinking how harmless is bitter apple spray? If it won't agitate the skin and your dog doesn't show a liking for it, maybe spraying his leg with it on occassion would help? But check with the experts (and ingredients) first as I'm not one and to be honest, I've never had to use that product before.
