I have a long-haired chihuaha(not spelled right I am sure), that I rescued from a shelter. She is 6-7 yrs old and perfect, except she licks my arms and legs constantly, if I am holding her. I realize it might be showing acceptance and love but help--how do I either stop it or tone it down?
One of our rescued dogs used to lick our arms, hands, faces, legs everywhere just like your Chihuahua (not sure if I spelled it correct either).
We didn't like it so we removed our arm, etc. from her face when she starts licking. If we let her lick we thought she would just keep licking it until it melts away.
That habit went away without any correction though. We thought she just grew out of the habit. I don't know how long you have had the dog but if it has been going on for a long time, you might want to put some citrus flavor (lemon juice or something) on your arm before she licks and let her realize it tastes bad. Also, you can give her something that she can lick instead of you when she starts licking. Something quite big and hard but tastes good, such as big bones for large dogs.
As said above, this is a common issue in dogs. My flatmates dog, when excited, licks any part of us he can get, usually our legs and hands. Its a simple enough job of deterrence.
You can try the citrus juice idea, its a good one. Dogs dont like citrus, so it'd be a good repellant that should only take a couple licks for your dog to decide against repeating the behavior
You can also start giving "no" or "enough" as a command when the little licker starts, and if that doesn't work, try holding the mouth shut and saying "no". Do it quickly every time your dog starts the licking.
Or, simply put her down when she starts. Once she's calmed down and is ok again, pick her back up, but put her down and walk away or ignore her if the licking starts again. She should get the idea pretty quickly, when she licks, she doesnt get held; if she doesnt lick, she gets held longer
