14 months old, neutered, Akbash... suckling?

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.

Sorry I Cant answer but I am also curious to why a dog would be constantly suckling a pillow

My 14 month old, beagle/coonhound mix does the same thing! And he was taken from his mama @ almost 9 weeks, which by most standards is fine for a dog of that size. I have heard, though, that this can happen if a pup is weaned too early. I'm almost certain (as is my vet), that this is a behavioral problem, and not due to any underlying physical condition. It seems to be a coping mechanism for stress; basically, the dog is trying to comfort himself... My suggestion? I gave Balki his very own "nursing blankie" (it's actually a Snuggie!), he stuffs as much of it as he can into his mouth, and suckles away! For the most part, he sticks to it- if I catch him "nursing" on something else, I just tell him, "NO" and bring him his blankie. That way you only have one slimey, disgusting blanket to contend with, instead of wet spots all over everything you own. As long as there is no medical reason for this habit, I say let him do it! It's kinda cute, and if it soothes him, why not?

I have heard of cats taken too early suckling on things but never a dog, but I assume if one can do it, the other can too. As long as it is no big deal to you I don't see a problem with it.

Um, no not really. Some dogs just like to suckle. This is actually a very common behavior in weimaraners. All my weims do it, and none of them were taken away from their mothers early. One of my weims is almost 12 and he still suckles. I don't think the weim people have exactly figured out why they do it other than it is a comfort thing.