Dog licking paws

[Joflump]

Our 2 and a half year old wheaten terrier has started licking his back paws to the point where his pads are red raw. He has seen the vet twice and there is no underlying problem, ie; anything stuck in his pads. We can stop him doing it when we are home but at night or if we go out he's up to his old tricks again. It is so upsetting because his pads had almost completely healed up over the last few days cos we have been at home yelling at him everytime he starts to lick but we went out for a couple of hours last night and he has made them all sore again. He is otherwise a happy and healthy boy. We will talk to the vet again but anyone out there experienced similar?

[Pea Pod]

Our spends his waking life doing it. I have given up shouting at him now. He does it till he makes himself sick with hair balls. He is 11 now so I dont think he will stop.While I was typing this my husbands doing his nut at the dog.(I said maybe its because he can`t pick his nose) lol

[Wagon_Wheel]

Some dogs lick their paws due to boredom or as an attention seeking device. If this is the case with your terrier shouting at the dog only reinforces the behaviour because you are giving him the attention he wants/needs. It would be interesting to know how much exercise your dog gets a day and what he has to stimulate him when you are not there.

In terms of the behaviour itself you need to modify the way YOU are dealing with the situation by rewarding your dog with attention, cuddles, treats and games when he is NOT chewing his feet. He then learns the association between not doing it and getting rewarded. Dogs are pretty simple psychologically, actually, and have very basic impulses.

When you go out you need to give your dog something to occupy himself. A Buster cube filled with little treats or liver is great for dogs as they have to use their brain to work out how to get the treats out and that keeps them occupied for ages.

It's not great for any animal to lick to excess as they can eventually develop a wound called a lick granola which takes ages to heal and is very susceptible to infection.

I hope this helps you somewhat. PLease let us know how you get on!

[hammerman]

Our 3 year old springer does the same....but has only started recently.
I took him out for a long 2 hour walk yesterday which involved swimming in the streams and rivers as well as running through heavy scrub.

Got back and he was going mad with his feet. He does dig a lot when he's out....he loves digging up grass, so i wondered if he'd got any mud stuck somewhere.

Could dipping his feet in saltwater help with any infections ?

[ProperBoPeep]

Lots of terriers are prone to allergies - and licking paws is a classic sign! You may also see red skin in the groin, armpits and also you may find that your dog is more prone to ear infections too. Does your dog have a smelly coat or yeasty smell about him?

You can only diagnose "habitual" foot licking after having ruled out all other pathological causes.

Types of allergy can be

1) Atopy (name given to a generalised skin allergy - very common and difficult to cure. Can control if lucky)
2)Food allergy
3)Contact allergy (eg to carpets, washing powder etc)

Go back and have a chat with your vet. He/she may want to do skin scrapes to test for mites, yeast and may talk to you about doing some allergy testing or trial therapy.

Unfortunately skin problems are rarely solved instantly! It often requires a lot of time and patience and more often than not trial and error!

[Joflump]

Many thanks for all your advice. Have gone out today and bought a load of Kong toys to fill with treats to keep him occupied. We have been down the allergy road although not to a great extent,as he was chewing at his paws a lot when we first got him 18 months ago. He stopped doing it when we took him off beef and pork products and seemed generally less itchy. It is so distressing for us to see the damage he is doing and you feel guilty even leaving him for 20 minutes! I wondered about separation anxiety but he does it even when we are around if he thinks we aren't watching! Is there anything we could put on his paws to put him off? Someone told me Vicks vapour rub?

[amonty1144]

Try tea tree oil shampoo, it helps with irritation and most dogs don't like the taste. It can also be used to treat allergies.
I don't know about vicks vapour rub as the dog will ingest it when it licks.

[Noweia]

Trying to keep the feet dry may also help - moist skin is more itchy and more easily irritated.

[ProperBoPeep]

Pork and especially beef are common food triggers - and most allergies often show up between 2+4 years old.

Def stay of the Pork and Beef, and if you noticed an improvement after this, it may be worth while cutting out wheat and gluten too.

There is a brand of food called James Wellbeloved (UK) and this is ideal as it contains none of the above. You have to feed it for about 8w before you decided if it is working or not and NOTHING ELSE MUST PASS HIS LIPS!!

Good luck.

[benjiesmum]

I had a similar problem with my Golden Retriever. I took him to the vets because he was licking his paws so much that I became quite worried - wouldn't leave them alone. The solution was simple - I had been using Flash liquid on the floor of the kitchen rather more than usual because it was winter and he was bringing in lots of mud in. I was told to rinse the floor thoroughly and it worked no more paw licking!! The other thing it could be is grass seeds which have worked their way into the pads. They are so small they can be difficult to see without a magnifying glass.

[kaylamay]

Even though he does this in times other than winter if you get snow, make sure you wash his paws after walks as some people put salt down to melt snow and this can be very irritating to dogs feet.
Dont laugh or think me silly, but you can buy dog booties/shoes that you may have to use in conjunction with a neck cone(to stop him from chewing or pulling off the booties) to prevent licking so paws may heal and you may have to use this in times when you go out and leave him so he does not start in on the licking again. when feet are healed and you are with him you will just have to redirect him away from this behavior, but when alone you will need to take the bootie and cone approach to prevent further injuries. Sounds like he has an OCD(obsessive compulsive disorder) maybe? Why not, this i quite common in humans. I know this may also seem a little drastic, but vets in America will sometimes prescribe Anti-anxiety medication for animals, especially cats. I have never tried this for any of my cats who have anxiety problems, but i have read articles where cat parents swear by this treatment. Just a little of the medication helps to calm the animal so it does not have these destructive behaviors.
I have one feral female cat i rescued who is very nervous and started to pull her fur out along her behind and nothing could stop her. She finally got used to her new home and the fur is coming back in nicely. We have a little purebred dog who constantly nibbles his back and the vet said to take him off any food containing corn. We have him on dry containing lamb and rice and he has canned wet food and the itching and nibbling have lessened greatly.
Dont use any human over the counter medications on his feet as a treatment or deterrent unless okay'd by your vet
as many human meds can injure and can often kill animals even the most benign ones.
Good Luck.
Mikala(aka, Cat Woman)

[Joflump]

Thankyou guys. I am taking the little fella to the vets again tomorrow to look further into allergy testing etc cos it's breaking my heart to see him hobbling around on his sore feet. I'm pretty sure that it isn't due to boredom but I definately think that he has got into the habit of licking now and so the problem perpetuates. In the meantime I will be trying out a good many of your helpful suggestions. Thanks again.

[poopy]

Hi there, my sisters dog does exactly the same to the point where he is almost crippled with pain and screams out. She has had him to the vets loads of times and test shown nothing wrong with him. The vet said it was most likely a sycological problem, a habbit. She has now found he only does it when he's bored. If he's been for a walk that day he doesnt do it. But if for some reason she can not get him out he will do it. Hope this helps.

[lilacben]

I have two rough collies one of 6 and the other 8. The 8 year old has been doing it since about a year old. Had all the blood tests but nothing came back. Vet said they had tested for food ect. It has been put down to an allergy but which one we have never found out. As the vet said we could go on for ages with different tests and it could come back it is the tar on the roads,grass or evan dust mites.Not a lot can be done about this things in life.! So has been on steroid tablets and they are like magic.!

[hockeynut]

I have a wheaton too. He goes at his paws too. He gets to the point that he limps. At that point I put neosporan heavily between his toes before bedtime and put a sock over it with tape around it(not real tight) and after the second night he is totally healed. Good luck, Bob ([email protected])

[hockeynut]

I have a wheaton too. When he chews his paws raw,I put a heavy amount of neosporan in between his toes and put a sock on the foot to keep him from chewing with tape around it to keep it on. Within a day or two he is fine. I do this right before his bedtime. It works wonders. If you want you can use the neoporan with pain relief too. It really does a great job quick. Good luck, Bob