QuestionI have two ten month old dachshunds as well as their mother. The puppies have been extremely easily trained. My question is why Savannah (the runt of the litter if that has any bearing) continually wants to suck and chew on her mothers' ears. This began when she was about four months old and has now progressed to her trying to suck and chew on her sister Maggie's ears also. It's a very gentle behaviour and Lily (Mom) and Maggie don't seem to mind her doing this but I've been unable to find anything on the net about this issue. The only thing that seemed to coincide with this starting was when the two remaining male puppies were adopted. But the ear thing didn't start immediately, just around the same time. All the girls get sufficient exercise and have chew toys which they play with. They are all on Praire brand grain free dry food from the vet, so i'm assuming it's not any kind of defiency of any kind. Sincerely, "dachsdad"-Jimmy
AnswerThis is a hard question. It is something you definitely want to stop. Does she suck on her toys? I know baby horses will chew on mom's tail and it is suggested to put something nasty tasting on the tail so they stop - we tried that - hot sauce and other stuff and it did not stop the foal but he quit it when he got separated from her for awhile. Perhaps if she starts, you can pick her up and separate her from the others for a few minutes so that she can associate isolation with the ear thing. It is a tough call. You might want to consider getting a dog behaviorist/trainer too. But let her know in a gentle way that it is not okay to suck on ears. Do not put her in your lap because she might associate it with getting picked up and held, but maybe try putting her in the bathroom and closing the door for a small amount of time. It is all I can think of - putting something on the mom's ears will not help. At 10 months, you will have an issue if the pup does not become independent soon. She needs to be away from mom and gain confidence so that she will be a healthy and happy dog.
