Apollo and Deb with Jeremy

Cat Wrote this question to us!

When you have a free moment, I was wondering if you might be able to shed some light on a small behavioral quirk exhibited by our oldest Weim, Deb.  For lack of better explanation, she has a ‘suckling’ obsession.  Almost like a child who sucks her thumb, except Deb focuses on plush items (blankets, pillows, bathrobes, etc).  It’s the strangest thing!  It’s not bothersome in the least..actually, it’s kind of adorable 🙂  And she’s not chewing, so it isn’t harmful to her.  But it is strange, so I was wondering if you’ve ever seen this before?  Any thoughts as to why she might do this?  Jeremy and I suspect that maybe she was weened a bit too early, but I also wonder if it isn’t some sort of self-soothing mechanism.  In which case, are there additional steps (aside from the customary snuggles) that we should be taking to comfort her?

Breeder’s Reply: If you follow the blog closely you will have noticed that some OwyheeStar Weims also suck their blankets, etc. A recent blog post featured Winchester (click here), and he loves to suck his blanket. If we didn’t know the length we go to with each OwyheeStar Weimaraner puppy, we might wonder if this behavior is always a result of not enough mommy-time or the litter socialization process was cut short. Deb (not an OwyheeStar) is obsessed with her sucking on things.

Winchester Sucking on a blanket

All we can say is that Weims are like children; they find comfort where it is afforded. We place value on these behaviors that may not have anything to do how the child (or pup) was raised. Often, we go to a great deal of trouble to try to curb these behaviors. We do this because our perception is that they reflect back on us–a weakness or a shortcoming is exposed. Some living creatures are pre-disposed to certain little quirks. As long as these quirks are within acceptable bounds, we should accept these as what they are–and innocuous behavior. Sometimes we do not like them, but if they are not harmful, then it is best we give them little attention. Our attention should be focused on the positive side of things.