Why does my dog chew her feet all the time?

Question

Why does my chihuahua chew at her feet? She will chew for hours if I don't stop her. She also rubs her back raw under the furniture, she doesn't have fleas so that is not the problem..what else could it be?

Answer 1

You've received some good answers, especially from Puupylovetwo. This is a common behavior with allergies. Could be a food allergy or it could be a contact or inhalent allergy. You need to see a vet and let then look at her and determine which they think it is. They initially may prescribe an anti-inflammatory medication to aleviate severe scratching and then sometimes they can be maintained on Benedryl as symptoms flare up. If it's a food allergy, they will guide you through an "elimination diet" to determine which food source is causing it. Many dogs are allergic to corn and other grains, so you may want to start there AFTER seeing a qualified vet.

Answer 2

It could be an allergy- food or contact allergy it is very common in dogs-best to have your dog seen by the vet so that no secondary bacterial infection starts plus this is really uncomfortable.Very low on the list of problems would be behavioral from boredom.I would have her seen and checked out by the vet.They may want to put her on a prescription diet for food allergies and do a six week trial of that food and nothing else and see if it clears up the problem.The over the counter hypoallergenic diets are really no good as most dogs have been exposed to the ingredients in those diets like-chicken,lamb etc.The prescription diets cut out corn and soy etc and use alternative meats like duck etc -things that your pet will have never come into contact with so that the immune system will not have an allergic response to the diet.Also the vet will probably give some anti-inflammatory pills to ease her discomfort.Good Luck!

Answer 3

The dog always needs to be supervised when indoors. Every time the dog goes to the toilet in the house, and he is not caught and corrected, the behaviour is reinforced and he will think it is acceptable behaviour.
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• Take your dog on lead to the area where you would like him to relieve himself
• Use the word “toilet” when the dog is going to the toilet so he learns to associate the word with the action
• Reward with high praise and a treat reward so this behaviour is keenly repeated by the dog
• If the dog tries to jump and play with you ignore this behaviour until the dog focuses on sniffing the ground and starting to cue for the signs of relieving himself
• Remember to be patient – as this may take time
• If consistent, in weeks to a couple of months you should be able to do without the lead and your dog should be able to relieve himself on cue when hearing the command “toilet”


As prevention is better than cure; get in the habit of closing doors and not allowing your dog free access to areas that are unsupervised. NB: Baby dividers between rooms and hallways can be very effective to keep dog out. It is interesting to note that carpeted rooms are attractive to puppies as they hold the scent particularly well.

Make sure your cleaning the urine up completely! There are a number of excellent cleaning products that you can now purchase from pet stores that eliminate the smell of urine or feces. If the pup can smell any urine or feces, remembering it has a much stronger sense of smell than us; it will encourage him to go again on the same spot.

If you are to catch your dog in the act simply give the “a-ah” command. Pick the dog up and place outdoors or on paper so that he can finish his deed there. Remember that if you do not catch the dog within 3 seconds of an undesirable act he will have no comprehension of what you are correcting him for. This may worsen his toileting habits as the dog will learn to be deceptive as he will now want to hide away.

Answer 4

My mom had a chihuahua who did the same thing...The dog had allergies. She would chew her feet and rub her belly and back and legs raw. Mom took her to the vet and they gave her cortizone cream and a shot every 6 weeks. This is actually pretty common in smaller breeds.

Answer 5

Change to an organic dog food such as Canidae.Many Dogs are allergic to wheat and/or fillers in cheap dog foods. To ease the misery right now, I would get the dog a cortisone shot.

Answer 6

some times dogs do that you might want to take her to the vet get her some chew toys and she should be fine but if she starts to hurt her self go to a vet

Answer 7

Oh my god! My chihuahua does that too! I find that with small highly strung dogs like a chihuahua they get like a dermatitis or anothe skin condition and its very itchy, so they scratch their back with whatever they can. Your chihuahua could be chewing its feet because its itchy or there could be something stuck in their paws.

Answer 8

it sounds as though she might have allergies. some dogs suffer from food allergies. corn is the most common, but other things could do it to. take her to the vet and he can test her or you could try eliminating certain things from her diet one at a time until you figure out which one makes her itch. but i would consult my vet first and see what he says

Answer 9

could be a nervous thing. I've seen alot of dogs with nervous behavior like that. Talk to your vet.

Answer 10

Ehm..
I recommend this dog training course: http://www.goobypls.com/r/rd.asp?gid=572
. It has fantastic videos on dog training. It explains good, gentle, simple and effective techniques to stop stop unwanted behaviours of your dog. I recommend it.