There is never a wrong time to adopt a dog if you are willing to love and support it unconditionally! A perfect dog breed doesn’t exist, but if you are new to dogs, let me suggest you buy or adopt a corgi. A great starter dog for all people that won’t hesitate to lick you all the time!
Many people don’t find it particularly appealing when their dog is licking them or their stuff. Because of this, they ask me all the time: “Why does my corgi lick everything?”. Is something wrong with them when they do so?
In most cases, corgis will lick you or themselves, as they love to keep everyone clean! Unfortunately, there are some cases where corgis aren’t licking something to clean it up.
What are those cases? Should you worry if your corgi is licking its favorite toy and, simultaneously, growls whenever someone comes too close to the toy? Continue reading this article to find out everything there is regarding corgis and why they are licking everything!
The Behavior Of Corgis
Summer is right around the corner, and you all know what that means – grab your favorite leash and start taking your corgi out multiple times in a day! Whenever the sun starts to shine brightly, corgis enjoy going on walks, as they fully utilize the opportunity to exercise on hot days.
Going on a summer vacation with your corgi would be a fantastic idea, especially if you take it to the beach. Although not all corgis enjoy swimming, most of them will still gladly cool themselves by soaking in cold water whenever they overheat in the sun.
Some people don’t know this, but dogs can’t cool themself the same way as humans can. If you want to draw a parallel between them and us, dogs are only capable of sweating from the glands in their paw pads.
So, what happens when your corgi finds itself in a sun-exposed area and isn’t quite close to a beach to soak properly? What are the alternatives for this situation, as we all know that all corgis have thick fur that isn’t particularly handy on those hot, summer days?
Why Does My Corgi Lick His Paws?
Asking yourself why does my corgi lick his paws so much might put you in a difficult position, but the answer is pretty simple. Most of you are probably aware that corgis usually like to lick themselves whenever they are hot, especially their paws.
As you continue to read this article, the mystery will reveal itself – as corgis sweat from their paws, they need to make sure that they stay clean all the time. But, oddly enough, even though corgis have thick fur, that doesn’t stop them from constantly striving to stay fresh.
All corgis are obsessed with themselves – constantly begging for food, walking to the park, and staying as clean as possible are just some of those things they always want. In the winter, corgis don’t particularly sweat too much – hence no need to clean themselves all the time.
Corgis cannot use the shower, soap, and towel to clean themselves but can tell us to do that for them. There are numerous ways a corgi will try to communicate with us – the most common ways being by barking, howling, or jumping on us.
Interestingly, corgis will sometimes even try to lick us and, by doing so, will try to inform us that they need something. Most of the time, corgis will lick you to distract you from something that you are currently doing, having high hopes that they will get your attention instead!
For you to be able to understand why do corgis lick so much, I’ll try my best to provide you with pieces of information regarding when and what do corgis usually lick, starting from:
Corgis And Their Toys
Having a couple of toys in your household for your corgi is essential, as all corgis will want to stay active all day long. In addition, if they have some toys close to them, they will be able to interact with them and have fun, regardless of you being close by or not.
Before you buy them some toys, make sure that the toys aren’t too small for corgis, as any small toys are a potential choking hazard. Even though corgis are a small-sized dog breed, they can still open their mouth, extending far above the 7-inch mark. So swallowing toys is always a big no-no!
Bypassing that is relatively easy, as you can just buy larger toys for corgis to play with. Even though buying bigger toys will stop them from trying to eat them, corgis will still occasionally chew and lick their toys.
After noticing this with one of my corgis, I was pretty shocked as, at first, nothing logical didn’t cross my mind regarding why it would do that. Every day, I observed why it licked a specific teddy bear so much until I saw something that genuinely surprised me.
As it turns out, some corgis will be possessive towards some toys, especially if you have more than one dog in your house. Whenever some of my other dogs pass by that corgi, it would start to lick the teddy bear aggressively and even growl if they come too close to it.
You’ll need to educate your corgi if it starts to do something like this, as it can potentially attack, out of the blue, your other dogs or even family members. Corgis lick their toys, and by doing so, they are marking it as something that is exclusively theirs to play with.
Your Corgi Will Even Lick You!
I’ve only briefly touched upon this topic, but there are several other reasons why your corgi might lick you. Besides trying to distract you from something, corgis will lick you whenever you are sweating somewhere.
The question: why does my corgi lick me so much? is without a doubt, one of the most commonly asked questions, alongside why does my corgi lick my feet. Of course, every corgi has its specific reasons why it does that, but some noticeable patterns overlap.
Those being:
- Most of the time, corgis will lick you as a means to show affection. All dogs, and especially corgis, will form a strong bond between you and them. Offer them lots of love (and food, of course!), and corgis will protect you until their last breath!
- I believe that most people tend to walk in their house without socks, primarily in the summer. Whenever it gets too hot, we will start to sweat from various parts of our bodies, especially from the feet. Oddly enough, corgis love to lick our feet when they are sweaty!
- Human sweat contains some traces of salt. So if your corgi has a tough time dealing with the summer heat, it will forcibly try to lick the sweat off your feet, as there will be the most amount of salt.
- Corgis aren’t able to kiss. There is some misinformation circulating among dog enthusiasts that corgis lick us, and by doing so, they are trying to kiss us. Don’t be fooled – dogs don’t know what kissing is and will only lick people if they like them.
- You need to assert dominance over your corgi. If you fail to do that, your corgi will show you its bossy side and won’t look at you as the pack leader. A clear indication of your dominance over your corgi will be evident if it licks you regularly.
Why Does My Corgi Lick Its Babies So Much?
If you ever find yourself in a position to pair your female corgi with a male that has a phenomenal character and physic, don’t hesitate! Having small corgi babies all around the house is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Corgi puppies are relatively easy to handle, as their mother will do most of the work by herself. However, as soon as the dam starts to experience contractions, you will need to call your local veterinarian and tell him to head straight towards your home.
Most of the time, corgis can safely give birth to puppies without any help, but having a veterinarian nearby will boost your confidence significantly. Whenever a puppy leaves the mother’s womb, the corgi will immediately start to lick it.
As long as the babies require the milk, their mother won’t ever leave them. Going too far from the dam isn’t an option for the puppies, as the mother will immediately retrieve them all and start to lick them.
Even after giving birth to her puppies, the dam will continue to lick the puppies until they come of age. It will do so, as the babies aren’t capable of cleaning themselves properly without her help!
To Sum Up
Exposing yourself directly to the sun will cause you to sweat. If you own a corgi, it won’t come to you as a surprise that all corgis enjoy licking that same sweat off of you. Asking yourself why does my corgi lick everything from sweat to toys is worth it if you want to understand corgis better.
As it turns out, corgis will only lick you if it’s attracted to you. The sweat is appealing to them, as it contains a tiny amount of salt. Not only that, corgis will lick you if they consider you to be a figure that needs to be respected as a pack leader.
Corgis licking toys might be tricky to understand, as every corgi has its reason why it’s doing that. Concretely, my corgi had a bad habit of licking one teddy bear, and in doing so, it tried to mark it permanently, warning other dogs never to touch that toy.
Educate your corgis properly, as licking isn’t only a sign of respect but can also be a potential threat sign to others!
