How to stop dog chewing her paws.

Francophile

I've a 2 year old mongrel (King Charles, Chawowow, jack russell mix) so quite small. She insists on chewing her paws to the point where they are very red and sore looking:eek: . Is there any way to stop her or does she need to go to the vet? I'm afraid this is the first dog I've had since I was a child so I'm not too au fait with the sort of problems they can get and how to deal with them. Thanks in advance for any advice.

anyonefortea

My Bernese Mountain Dog used to do this all the time and it was because they were so itchy. It turned out she had an allergy to certain grass seeds, rice, chicken and soy.

So she was on anti-histamines and would have cortizone injections every few months.

So it would be worth getting your dog checked out. It could be a simple allergy, or maybe a fungal infection (like when we get athletes foot).
We had to bathe her feet regularly too, which was loads of fun.

It does sound like she has itchy feet tho'.

JennyW_2

Francophile wrote: »

I've a 2 year old mongrel (King Charles, Chawowow, jack russell mix) so quite small. She insists on chewing her paws to the point where they are very red and sore looking:eek: . Is there any way to stop her or does she need to go to the vet? I'm afraid this is the first dog I've had since I was a child so I'm not too au fait with the sort of problems they can get and how to deal with them. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Please don't leave this any longer, the poor door must be in agony. Please take her to the vet. As helpful as we all can be on this forum, we cant treat the dog for you and this wont go away.

Francophile

Thanks I'll take her to the vets.

snowman2_2

Sounds like an allergy to me. Your vet should be able to help

sammy_kaye18

My Jack Russell chews his paws to the point they are red and are sore looking. It is a nervous habit he picked up in kennels and it can be easily triggered by him becoming bored.

Are the dogs given lots of exercise and enough toys to keep them happy/unbored? Thsi cured our jack - we got him a kong toy adn hes much happier trying to destroy his kong than chewing himself to bits!

Francophile

I think she's getting enough exercise, I walk her about 3 miles a day and she's only a little dog. I'm taking her to the vets tonight and we'll take it from there. Thanks for all you advice.

pboae

Let us know how she gets on :-)

minimoneysaver

My westie had this. His feet were very red and sore looking. Took him to the vets. Vets did a scrape and showed us the results under the microscope. There were lots of microscopic bugs all over his paw pads. Invisible to the human eye, but must have caused him so much irritation. Maybe it is this? Can't remember the name given to it, but according to vet, quite popular.

LittleTinker

Small dogs do this a lot. You might find that a lot of his 'preening' he is keeping his claws down......dogs bite their nails......but do a lot of licking first to make them softer.

Francophile

LittleTinker wrote: »

Small dogs do this a lot. You might find that a lot of his 'preening' he is keeping his claws down......dogs bite their nails......but do a lot of licking first to make them softer.

Yes Little Tinker, everyone I know with a small dog says the same but they all seem to have different ideas as to why they are doing it. I'll take her to the vet tonight and see what he says. Will let you know how I get on.