“Why is my dog licking my belly button?” This unique and rather unsettling problem came to us through one of our readers, and we decided to investigate. The results were quite interesting, have a look!
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All of us are aware that dogs have an excellent sense of smell. They can quickly notice the changes in the environment through smell. Sometimes dogs try to lick the belly button and navel region of their pet parents. This sudden behavior forces us to wonder why is it happening?
Boredom is a primary reason why dogs sniff and lick your belly button. Dogs often lick people to show affection, as a greeting, or simply for attention. However, there are multiple other reasons why the dog licks your belly button. Poor hygiene or certain medical conditions can also result in this behavior.
We have mentioned below how you can keep your pet dog engaged and avoid this behavior. Stay tuned to explore more about it.
Why Does My Dog Keep Smelling My Belly Button?
Dogs love sniffing, and your belly button may be host to a variety of smells.
Dogs love to sniff and smell tantalizing smells and taste the buildup of sweat and dirt that results in such a smell. Multiple times people also suffer from fungal and bacterial infections, which is the primary reason for the scent from the navel. The dirt gets accumulated in the belly button if you don’t clean it on time.
There is also the presence of more salt and oils due to physical and heat exertions. If you don’t clean it often, then it starts smelling, which is why dogs are attracted to the navel of human beings.
Yeast infection grows in a dark, damp, and cozy environment perfect for candidiasis. It is also home to 70 different types of bacteria and yeast infections. Thus, your dog keeps smelling your belly button more often.
What Can You Do If Your Dog Is Smelling Your Belly Button?
If you notice that your dog is constantly smiling and then button, you can follow the following tips.
Check out if you have candidiasis
The yeast infection can result in itchy red rashes across the belly button area. If you suffer from severe infection, it may produce a thick white discharge. People with diabetes are likely to develop candidiasis in their navel area.
Make sure you don’t have any infection symptoms
The symptoms of the infection can be pain, redness, swelling, or yellow discharge coming out of your belly button. These are the symptoms of bacterial infection in your navel.
Clean it adequately
Cleaning the belly button is essential. You need to follow adequate hygienic practices like scrubbing it properly with warm and soap water. This will help you remove the smells and any kind of dirt.
Check out if you bump
Due to oil-releasing glands in the belly button area, the sebaceous cyst can form. If it gets infected, it will be painful, and the area will become red. Many times a bad-smelling discharge can come out of the cyst.
Monitor Yourself After A Surgery
If you need to keep an eye on the changes occurring in your belly button area post-surgery. There can be a chance that pus oozes out of it. In this case, you need to visit the doctor shortly.
How Can I Stop My Dog From Licking My Belly Button?
Try to be more hygienic in the naval region.
When your dog comes across a tantalizing smell, it feels nice. Thus after smelling your navel, the dog may not be able to resist having a good lick around your navel. It can be fine occasionally; however, it can be annoying if he tries to lick it more frequently. Many dog owners always wonder how they can stop this annoying behavior.
You can make certain changes and enhance your hygiene practices. Try to ensure that your navel is clean. Secondly, try to get rid of any kind of medical condition. Once you get rid of the medical conditions and the smell is gone after practicing good hygiene, you can assume that the dog is showing his affection towards you.
Tips To Stop Your Dog From Licking The Navel Region
Try to give more attention
Many dogs want attention, and thus they sniff your belly button as they want you to notice them. Try to ensure that your dog is getting enough attention, cuddles, and regular hugs from you. You can spend some time with him by playing games and going for a long walk.
Positive reinforcement
If your dog is constantly looking for a belly button, you can try positive reinforcement with his favorite rewards. A gentle no can also work if it takes it seriously and takes it as a form of discipline.
Ignore him
You can try to ignore him whenever he puts his nose anywhere near your belly button. If you do this frequently, your dog will understand and learn that this behavior is not good, and he’ll stop doing it.
These tips will help you get rid of your dog’s bad habits, but if you are pregnant, then you need to accept that your dog cannot resist staying around your tummy. Maybe this can be the last time you can let him hang around your navel.
Offer a distraction
Make sure that you have a favorite food and toys in your hand so that you can distract him when he starts sniffing or licking your belly button. You can also play a game with him to take him for a walk.
Can A Dog Notice Anything Else From Sniffing My Belly Button?
Dogs can detect pregnancy sometimes.
Dogs have an excellent sense of smell. A common fact that everybody is aware of is that dogs notice the changes in a person’s body. You shouldn’t be surprised if your dog continuously sniffs around your belly frequently.
If your dog is trying to sniff around your stomach, you might need to do a pregnancy test. You could be pregnant! The dog detects that if your hormones change when you are a woman, undoubtedly one cause of changes in the hormones in pregnancy.
Dogs can also notice the compounds inside your body. The best example of this is VOCs, a gaseous molecule developed in the body when a person is ill or due to changes in diet and pills that don’t suit your body.
It can also develop due to the presence of toxins in your body. If the dog is sniffing your navel area more often, it can be due to the smell of VOCs in the body. It can be a telltale sign that you need to visit the healthcare provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Does My Dog Lick My Belly Button?
You need to keep your belly button cleaner!
The navel of human beings is either innie or outie. The belly buttons of humans are bigger and have a different shape than the dogs. The innie has a small pocket where dirt, oil, and sweat can gather.
If you notice that your dog suddenly wants to lick your belly button and is giving it a good scrub, the answer to it is you are not cleaning adequately. The dirt and oil may attract it towards your belly button.
Why Is My Dog Licking My Belly Button?
You might be pregnant, or going through hormonal changes.
Dogs can easily detect hormonal changes in pregnant ladies. Dogs love licking their belly button due to dry skin, boredom, parasites, and allergies. This could be the prominent reason why they are licking your belly button.
Your dog can lick your belly button post-surgery if the stitches have become septic and the pus oozes out. The red discharge due to the cost formed in the belly button can also be the prominent reason your dog is licking your belly button.
Why Is Your Dog Excessively Licking Its Belly Button?
It could be allergies, infections, or plain boredom.
You need to pay attention and determine the prominent reason why your dog is excessively licking their belly button. Allergies can be a prominent reason for excessive licking, which can consist of food allergies. So, it is essential to pay attention to any changes you may have made with food or bedding. You can consider the following scenarios.
See if they have any kind of redness or rashes. It can be due to dry and itchy skin. Dry skin can also occur due to environmental factors and poor diet. Regular checkups with your veterinarian, proper worming treatment, and overcoming anxiety issues can help make sure that your dog is exercising properly as per the age and stamina.
A bored dog will always be sad and develop multiple obsessive behaviors. It is essential to examine if they may suffer from umbilical hernia across their belly button area. In this case, they may develop a bulge visible in the belly button area, especially when the dog strains or barks. This occurs when the umbilical ring is not closed correctly, and thus it results in swelling.
Final Words
We always want our dogs to remain healthy. We need to pay attention to their hygiene. Many times dogs sniff and lick our belly button. Some of them may show their affection towards you; however, many times, the tantalizing smell of the belly button attracts them. There are multiple reasons why.
The dirt and oil that collects there is the primary reason for the smell. They also detect the hormonal changes in a woman. If your dog is doing this quite often, we have mentioned how you can overcome this problem. Make sure that you go through this article.
Thank you for reading we hope we answered most of your queries! If not, just drop us a comment and we will revert. You may also like to read about: Why Does My Dog Lick The Couch After Drinking Water and Why Does My Male Dog Lick Other Male Dogs Weiner?