Licking obsession - how do we stop it?

I'm hoping someone with more experience and a better memory chimes in here........... but I do know that allergies can cause this.  Have you changed her food within a few months of this starting??  sometimes a dog has food allergies and they show it by biting around the tail, etc and by excessive licking. 
 
I'm sure there might be other explanations, but as it sounds like you've been the vet it should rule out any physical thing causing it.......
 
so let us know if there were any changes in the past 6 months or so to help rule out other things!
 
And - welcome to the forum!!  Do you have pictures of both your dogs? eople here are definitely addicted to pictures of doggies!

Thanks for the quick reply.
No, we haven't had any food changes, and we always use a nice oatmeal shampoo conditioner for her since she's so shaggy. We always stick with a mix of Nutro dental and senior kibble, and they seem to like that fairly well.
 
She's also got plenty of squeeky toys, rope toys, and they get dental chews/rawhides several times a week. We even put treats into those red Kong toys, so they're pretty active.
 
She definitely likes licking. She'll get on the bed in the morning and lick your hand as long as you let her. i've been told that this is more common with lab breeds. I'd hate to punics her when I catch her doing it, but there has to be a way to get her to stop. Those sores no sooner start to heal and she starts right back up again.
 
I'll have to find some small pics of th epups to upload

Hmmm.... my first thought was to turn to Bitter Apple spray on her paws, but NOT with open sores!!  don't know what that would do.  Maybe someone on here can say if they've used vaseline on open sores before - it might deter her, but again, you have to be careful of what you use so it doesn't get in her too much, either thru sores or from eating it.
 
Does she know a "leave it" command?  can you get her to leave her paws alone if you use that command?
 
I'm thinking it's going to be something other than boredom, since it is ultimitely causing her pain (sores).....  and I dont care how bored an animal gets, it can not be bored enough to hurt itself!  I would hesitate as well on the medication - all it might do is make her lick more slowly since she's doped up!
 
I know I mentioned the change in food and I hate to keep going back to it, but since you give lots of treats/bones - there hasn't been a change in something like that as well? 
 
Sorry...... I'm out of ideas.  Hopefully someone here will have ideas and put in their [sm=2cents.gif]  so your pup doesn't have to suffer any more!!
 
Good luck!

She's very good at the "leave it" command, and we can generally get her to stop when we catch her doing it. It's when we go out to a movie, or are gone for a while that she can really go to town.
 
We have tried the gauze wrapping with some tobasco drops on the outside of the bandages, but as soon as the pepper smell drops a little, she just pulls them right off.
 
Well, hopefully somebody has been able to find a solution to this... thanks for the help

A few thots --
 
1.  You might want to try something like just plain Benedryl -- it can help relieve the itchies if any sort of histamine is causing the problem -- it can help calm the skin enough as well as chilling the dog out particularly if chewing while you are gone is a problem.
 
2.  Try a bit of St. John's Wort Oil (not the pill -- the oil -- several places online carry it -- email me if you want a url) mixed with olive oil -- it's not at all toxic and it can calm the skin down. 
 
3.  NOT WITH #2 -- try giving some valerian root orally -- it's not habit forming and it is a relaxant.  Licking quickly becomes 'habit' that can be nervousness based.  But DON'T use St. Johns with Valerian -- they are both relaxant herbs and don't work well together.  But St. Johns is often used topically and is for a different sort of thing orally.  But valerian is very well tolerated by dogs orally and can generally relax them.