new to site with random question...

[kdhawks]

Originally Posted by xmasbaby75

You got it. My Phantom does this - and has since he was 2 weeks old. His mother (Gellica) had complications 2 weeks after whelping (eclampsia). We almost lost her, but got to the ER just in time. She could no longer feed the babies, so we had to bottle feed them.

It is the puppies instinct to do those "nibbles" and they also try "massaging" with their paws to get the milk when they are nursing - So, when we took over feeding, we had to give them something to feel like their momma (in this case I used a bathrobe, and then moved onto fleece blankets draped over me). Well, Phantom never lost that suckling instinct because he had to stop nursing so soon. I've known of other yorkies that did the same thing (including licking clothes and blankets) and all of them were taken from their mother too soon. Just wondering if any of your pups came home early too?

I have no idea if Levi came home too early, but now I am curious. I didn't get him until he was almost 2.

He is a crazy compulsive licker. I can't imagine that it is his diet. He eats Orijen now, and ate Blue Buffalo for about a year before the switch. No difference. He licks my sheets, my feet, the couch...and he has been a licker as long as I've known him. I've just accepted it as one of his little quirks.

[xmasbaby75]

Yeah, it's just my guess - but I bet he left his mother a bit too soon - it makes sense, and it's been true on a lot of dogs I know. It's an interesting theory anyway.

[YorkieZoo]

Originally Posted by kdhawks

I have no idea if Levi came home too early, but now I am curious. I didn't get him until he was almost 2.

He is a crazy compulsive licker. I can't imagine that it is his diet. He eats Orijen now, and ate Blue Buffalo for about a year before the switch. No difference. He licks my sheets, my feet, the couch...and he has been a licker as long as I've known him. I've just accepted it as one of his little quirks.

You know, that is a very interesting theory. When I was talking to my wife last night and commenting on this thread, we were talking about our oldest (Houston)...I didn't realize it, but at the time (10 years ago) we got him from what we would now know to be a BYB and got him at 5 weeks!!!!
The other two that do the licking both came from puppy mills (via a rescue group) and I wonder if that is the same case.

I'll ask some other people in the rescue as well, maybe they will know a little more history on some other Yorkies that do the same and see if there is a pattern.