Suckling on blanket

PERGUNTA:

My pup (6 1/2 mo. old) has this fleece blanket I made for him. He's always played with it in many ways, including chewing on it and mounting it (which is fine by me, keeps him from human legs).

Last evening it was different though: he took the blanket, jumped into my lap and he started chewing on it, taking enormous bites, I mean like filling his mouth with it and chewing. All the while his eyes were half closed, dreamy, as if he were in a trance or something. He was ok, I mean, if I talked to him he'd stop and look at me, or he turned his ears around if he heard a sound... He had already eaten, he'd been walked, he'd spent over an hour playing in the park with other dogs, we had played fetch and done a little bit of training.

So this is out of curiosity really, this is a very independent pup, he does never cuddle, he won't get on your lap or anything, and the eyes... Is this just a weird thing he does, or do you think it means something, or ... what?

[Escrito por Andrea em 11 de janeiro de 2006 para a lista Petdogs-L do Yahoo Groups]

RESPOSTA:

Not strange at all, all three of my Weimaraners do it. He's not chewing on it, he's suckling on it. They suck and knead just like they were nursing. Your dog may grow out of this behavior, but my dogs have done it their entire lives. My first Weim would suck on her teddy bear - fall sound asleep with it in her mouth. My current two both suck on fleece blankets. Consider it a blessing - what this will give you is an outlet for your dog when he's stressed. When we go to strange places and the dogs get over stimulated or stressed, they go and suck their blankets. It releases soothing endorphins that relax them. I can travel with them anywhere and put them in any situation and as long as they have their blankets with them, they can relax and unwind and fall sound asleep in the most stressful situations.

[Escrito por Denise Parsons em 13 de janeiro de 2006 para a lista Petdogs-L do Yahoo Groups]