Sucking his blanket...

[Rolo12]

Our Rolo is 2 and a half now and is the best dog we could ask for 

I wanted to ask about a habit of his. Most evenings he will get into his bed, wrap his paws around his blanket and he will suck on it and knead it wth his paws for hours!

This isnt really a problem at all, i am just worried that maybe he does it because he isnt happy..?
We didnt bring him home until he was nearly 10 weeks so he wasnt taken away from his mum too early.

Just wondering if anyone else's cocker does the same and interested to hear your opinions on why he might do this?

Thanks

[elaine.e]

I've had cats that have done it but never a dog. I wouldn't worry though, I expect he started it when he was weaned and that it's just a habit now and nothing to do with needing reassurance or feeling worried. He just likes doing it

[ejp]

Max did that for the 11 and a half years that we had him.  No idea why, that was just my boy  happy and slightly bonkers 

[Archie bean]

My last cocker, Dickon, used to do it. Not every day but on a fairly regular basis!

[Rolo12]

Thats good to know. I actually think its really sweet but i decided to google it and some people were saying it is because the dog is bored or anxious and that made me worry!

Heres a pic of him doing it 

[Mandy and Teddy]

Sounds adorable, teddy suckles in his sleep but not his blanket.

[ejp]

This was Max's evening routine, when it was the time of evening where I would make a cuppa and sit to watch a bit of telly, he would go and get his blanket.  Mayhem ensued when his brother would spot this, and steal if before hand  When we went away in the caravan, I packed two 'sooky' blankets, just in case one was lost  I really don't think my boy was stressed or bored, it was just something he liked to do, and I didn't stop him.  Gave him some sort of comfort I assume, so why not.  Bit like a child who sucks their thumb, plus i thought it was really cute!  I kept his blankets on the bottom shelf of the airing cupboard, and when the door was open, I could feel him squeeze past my legs and get himself a clean one.  Miss my boy. 

[JennyBee]

One of my neighbours has a Westie who does the same thing, except he suckles a teddy he's had since a puppy . I think it's more a comfort thing than a sign of stress/boredom. He's twelve now, I've got to say the teddy isn't in the best condition

[Rolo12]

Ah I like hearing these stories. Especially ejp - that made me smile! They are all so different yet the same with their weird eccentric ways. Thats why we love them i guess!

[kate2]

aww he looks so cute in that pic! 

[BobnDot]

From a very early age Chaz would move his blankets from his crate in the kitchen to the living room of an evening......The video's here....

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=105019.msg1541648#msg1541648

He still prefers to sleep in his, now slightly larger, crate in the kitchen and continues to bring his blanket into the living room a few evenings a week where he settles down, with blanket, behind the settee 

Come bedtime he drags his blanket back into the kitchen, parks it in front of his crate while he goes out for his last run about the garden, then pulls it into his crate before settling down for the night 

One evening recently Milly decided to kidnap his blanket while he was out in the garden and headed upstairs to her bed with it. Dot and I spent the next ten minutes in stitches watching this blanket moving up and down the stairs with a cocker attached to each end of it 

Bob.

[Patp]

Jinley used to suck ribbon labels from whatever toy was favourite at that time.  She also has a blanket which we take to the pub when we go for her to sit on.  She drags it all the way home too!

[ebberz]

Honey does this a lot especially when she realises she's not going to get any attention on a nightime.
Out comes the blanket and she drags it across the room so she's in front of the TV.

She is 5 years old.

Blanket is soaking wet and her two bottom canines are probably half the height they should be due to her wearing them down with sucking.

[siam]

Our last cocker Jake did this with his covers, flexing his paws as he did it exactly like a cat. He did it several times a day when he went to sleep in his bed. It seemed likea comforter to him and his actions were similar to pups as they feed from their Mums. It was really sweet to watch.