14 months old, neutered, Akbash... suckling?
14 months old, neutered, Akbash... suckling? Dog Breed Discussions
Okay, so as some people might remember, about a year ago we got a male dog from a business associate of my mother. We were told he was a Husky, they couldn't keep him anymore, we had room either way, and we'd been looking at shelter dogs at the time as well.We knew he wasn't a Husky considering he was two months old and well over 40lbs, and looked nothing like a Husky. We looked around on the internet, and low and behold - he was most similar to an Akbash, so we stuck with it.About three months into having him, we noticed what we thought was him chewing on pillows, blankets, clothes, etc.It wasn't chewing - it was suckling-like behavior.Now, we had already found out he was taken away from his mother too early. They'd had him for two weeks before we got him, meaning he was 6 weeks old when they received him - and we don't know before that point.Any educated dog person knows there can be reciprocations of such a thing.But is suckling such a reciprocation, or is there something else we should be looking into?It's not his diet, I know as much. They had him on Purina, we put him onto our regular food [Dad's], and I had saved up a few of my paychecks to buy a decent supply of Innova EVO. I switched him and my Siberian Husky to that, and they were both fed it for 6 or so months, but his suckling persisted during that period so there is no chance it's anything similar to pica [plus, he's not *eating* it].So, *is* this suckling something that's a side-effect of his early release from his mother?We're not too bothered [obviously, it's been going on for a year] since the only side-effect is a nice amount of dog saliva on the corner of our couch pillow, and washing them much more frequently -- but should we be more worried about it?Thanks to all whom answer.