Why Does My Dog Keep Licking His Nose? (Possible Explanation)

Why does my dog keep licking his nose? Ask your vet about it if it's excessive.

Why does my dog keep licking his nose? What does this habit imply? Is it good, or is it something serious? Generally speaking, the role of the nose for dogs is vital. A dog’s nose is a lot sensitive compared to a human nose. This sensitivity explains how they can detect odor no matter how small it is at air concentrations. You don’t know what a dog’s nose is capable of detecting. Some dogs can even detect cancer. What a fantastic characteristic of a dog’s nose, right?

 

Dog’s nose

A lovely dog with a close up picture of its nose.Why does my dog keep licking his nose? We will discuss the answers to this question later in this article. For now, let us first know a little information about a dog’s nose. According to studies, dogs have around 300 million olfactory receptors, far more significant than a human nose.

A dog’s nasal cavity includes a division of two separate chambers and opens into two nostrils. For this reason, they can detect and understand what they smell. The best ability a dog’s nose can share with us is sniffing out disease.

Given that dogs are highly trainable, dogs can rely on their acute sense of smell to determine diseases. They can sense whether an individual has health issues. Furthermore, they can even detect it right before an incident happens. For example, they can smell an epileptic seizure 45 minutes before the episode occurs.

In actuality, various government bodies train dogs to detect explosives and narcotics. They can even protect their human during an encounter in a search and rescue operation. Dogs are unique and intelligent enough to blend well with humans.

Additionally, we always notice that dogs have wet noses. Wet noses have an advantage because it helps the dog’s work better.

 

Why does my dog keep licking his nose?

I bet the information above is already enough to know something about a dog’s nose. Now, we will proceed with a dog’s constant nose licking. Let us discover the reasons behind this dog’s behavior.

Below are a few of the reasons why a dog keeps licking its nose. In actuality, it may involve severe health conditions. In this case, we will discuss three parts of why a dog licks its nose.

Normal behavior

  • Dogs lick their nose to maintain the sharpness of their senses. Regular nose licking signifies that a dog is in a healthy state.
  • Additionally, dogs lick their nose if there is something in there. A foreign object will cause them discomfort, making them frequently lick their nose.

Behavioral reasons

Medical causes

  • Trauma: A cut, puncture, abrasion, or injury in the nose area can be a reason why a dog will rub or lick its nose. Cuts and punctures can lead to an infection. You can even notice nasal discharge or foul odor in the wound from their nose.
  • Bites or stings: If a dog experiences any bite or sting in its nose, it will cause them to lick it. It can even cause pain and swelling.
  • Nasal infections: Dogs are also prone to bacterial and fungal infections. In effect, it can lead to nasal discharge. The dog will tend to lick their nose to deal with it.
  • Foreign body: The presence of a foreign object will not lead to nose licking only but also frequent sneezing. Aside from that, it may even include bleeding.
  • Dental disease: In actuality, most veterinarians notice dental illness as a common issue with dogs’ health. A few symptoms that a dog has dental disease are loss of appetite, foul odor, gum redness, tartar, drooling, nose, or lip licking.
  • Nausea: If you notice that your dog is lip licking, they may be experiencing nausea. Dogs can even lick their nose because of this condition.
  • Seizures: Several unusual movements can signify that a dog has an episode, such as paddling its legs while lying on its side. As for partial seizures, it involves nose or lip licking.

Overall, a dog that licks its nose signifies a healthy and natural activity. However, it is essential to find out the exact reason why the dog keeps licking its nose. In this case, it would be best to seek your veterinarian’s help.

 

Treatment option

The veterinarian’s treatment recommendation will vary according to your dog’s condition. For mild licking, they may only recommend something that you can do at home. As for dog allergies or colds, they are most likely to prescribe anti-allergy medications. Dry noses are also treatable. You can treat it using balms.

Moreover, you have to understand your dog’s body language. Dogs are prone to stress and anxiety if they encounter a stranger dog. Another cause for this is loud noises. A dog’s ears are also sensitive to excessive noises.

For severe cases, your vet will have to carry out tests on your dog. It may include blood tests to identify the exact cause of your dog’s excessive licking behavior. An underlying health issue might be causing your dog’s excessive licking.

Your dog’s dehydration will require fluids. Meanwhile, rinsing out your dog’s system is necessary in the case of toxicity. Your veterinarian is the best person to know which treatment option is essential to treat your dog.

 

Seek the vet’s help

Generally speaking, you have to bring your dog to a veterinarian if they do more than licking its nose. Here are the other factors that tell you it’s time for a vet visit.

  • A dog's lack of energy and unresponsiveness may need a vet's attention.The dog does excessive violent sneezing.
  • Your dog possesses pale gums.
  • Additionally, your dog’s nose is bleeding.
  • Besides that, your dog is vomiting.
  • Aside from that, you’ll need a vet’s assistance if your dog is having breathing difficulties.
  • It also requires a vet visit if the dog shows a lack of energy and unresponsiveness.
  • Your dog also needs a veterinary checkup if its body temperature exceeds 103°F.
  • Moreover, proceed to a vet clinic if your dog shows foaming at the mouth.

These conditions are only a few of the things we have to pay attention to. In general, the best thing we could do is ask the veterinarian if there is something unusual with the dog’s health condition.

 

Final thoughts

As pet owners, we have to take charge of our pet’s health conditions. It would be best to know which is normal and which is not from the behavior they show. This way, we will know when is the time that we have to seek a veterinarian’s help.

Written by 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *