The American Beagler Forum

Hi. My Beagle (may be mixed, we got him from a shelter) has a habit of constantly licking himself (legs, back, behind, etc.) and the various objects near him: couch, blankets, bedspread, myself, etc. Occasionally he makes sounds like he is burping up and licks even faster then.

Is this a normal behavior or does he perhaps, have an allergy to something? It drives my wife nuts and I am worried something could be wrong. He is currently diagnosed with epilepsy and is on Phenobarbitol to help which it appears to do.

thanks for any help.

-Mark

I have the female version of your dog - beagle/rat terrier, epilepsy, was on phenobarb, and when Sydney gets on a licking binge it's like she goes into a trance with it. If it gets on my nerves enough I just tell her to "knock if off" and it keeps her in check for the time being. I'd say your dog will always do that to some extent and may take some constant reminding from you. He's probably belching the air he takes in with all that licking. The terrier in Sydney gives her itchy skin at certain times of the year and that's when she does most of the licking.

As a side note - the phenobarb didn't help her seizures that much so I took her off all medication. She doesn't have them as often, but she still has them. I wouldn't do that without a vet's ok, but with her, there wasn't much to lose - she was having seizures at least every other day anyway.

Does your dog look anything like this, LOL?
http://www.americanbeagler.net/sydney.html
We may have gotten them from the same shelter.