Beagle licking air

Question
She is 14 & had developed a very sensitive stomach the last couple years - throw ups bile & get VERY sick....
we now only feed her all natural IAMS food.  Much better for a couple months
NOW she licks everything - carpet, dog pillow, the air - smacking constantly.  Just had her teeth cleaned - did not help at all. I read it could be acid reflux, what medication & how much do I give a 30 pound beagle?

Answer
My first question would be if you have asked the vet what this about..... Her constantly licking at the air introduces a lot of air into her stomach and could be the cause of some of the stomach issues. There are a few medications out there that might help like activated charcoal, petovismol or pepcid but none of these shoulde be attempted until you clear it with her vet. Has he checked her for allergies? I would also recommend changing her food to one that is completely free of all normal proteins and ALL grains etc. Iams has a lot of grain products. She might do better on a novel prtein diet with no grains. I recommend Dick Van Patten's foods, he has a couple allergy formula's one is venison and the other is salmon. If you change her though it needs to be done very slowly and you graudally add small amounts of the new in as you decrease the old until over a week at least she is on onloy the new one, any sudden changes will also cause GI disturbances. Some of her licking may be do to allergies and the other part is just compensatory behavior which is not unusual in an older dog. It can be for a multitude of reasons such ass self stimulation, habitual because she is allergic etc.

I hope this gives ou some insight and direction.