Why does my puppy keep chewing and licking the fur on his front paws?

Question

He seems obsessed with licking and chewing his front paws. Has not gnawed any fur off but worried that he will. Do I use bitter apple as a deterrent or is there an underlying medical condition. He is 9 months old. He has been groomed by professionals with careful attention to his paws. Been going on for about a week.

He gets a lot of attention, has more toys than my 3 kids had growing up. Loves to play. He is not left alone for very long at all. Except for a couple of weeks ago my wife went out of town and he missed her so much he had a bout of stress induced colitis which the vet treated with antibiotics in case it was an infection. It is a totally stress free environment here with lots of love and plenty of stuff to do. Perhaps it is related to the stress he suffered two weeks ago.

Answer 1

Ask the vet, could be a number of reasons, some..you will laugh at..but all true..ants or insect bites, OCD, skin disease or rash due to allergy and also could be just a habit he is forming......All of which, only the vet can tell you which it is..Consider, he is only a puppy so if it is an ailment or habit it will be worth sorting out now before it is life forming and he loses his fur permanently.......good luck...

Answer 2

My first thought is perhaps he was sensitive to the shampoo or to the grooming of his paws. Sometimes the groomer will clip the paws to closely and cause irritation to the skin on the paws. If they were clipped then this is probably what is going on. If not then I would look to the shampoo or conditioner they used to clean your dog with, also they may not have rinced your dog enough and their may be some soap still remaing on his skin, this is very irritating to dogs. Did they used some dog perfume on him??? That can be another cause of the irritation. Paws are very sensitive areas for your dog or any dog. If it contimues then a trip to the vets is in order to get some ointment to easy the irritation and give your dogs paws some releif.

Answer 3

My Lab (2.5yrs old) licks his lower legs so much it drives me crazy.He sleeps at the foot of my bed and the sound of him constantly licking makes me get after him. I just say PEPPER! STOP!!,and he will.It's very annoying!
I took him to the Vet about a year ago,and she just said "Some dogs just love to lick.It also becomes a habit more,or less."She told me that as long as he is not CHEWING at himself,I needn't worry.
Also,if we are sitting on the couch watching TV,or something,he will lick my hand,and arm just as long as I'll let him.
You,and I both have obsessive lickers on our hands.
But,as my Vet said there is no cause for concern.
Try some rawhide strips like Chew-Eaze. Most dogs love tham!
Hope I Helped,
GreggNC

Answer 4

There could be three possible causes. Boredom, Food allergy, Skin infection.

I would first check with your vet to make sure there isn't any sort of skin infection going. When caught quickly they are easier to treat.

Boredom: I've had a couple of labs that would do this to the point of having open sores on their front legs. This is called Lick Granuloma, its fairly common among most breeds. If they didn't get enough exercise, or there training session got skipped for a few days, they would start licking their legs. More exercise, and mind stimulating activities is the answer in this case. Try playing fetch, add an extra walk and some more training time, and get your dog some interactive toys such as a Buster Cube or a Kong.

I wouldn't use any sort of deterrant, if their is a skin infection going on that will only serve to irritate it more. Also some dogs love the taste of chew deterrants and you could actually make the problem worse.

Also make sure your dog is on a high quality food. Low quality foods can make dogs itchy, as the ingredients aren't the greatest and dogs often have allergies to them. I've seen this as well in a lot of puppies. They get really itchy, once switched to a high quality food that stops after a couple of weeks being on the new food.

Puppy food actually isn't very good for puppies.

Explanation as to why puppy food is BAD for puppies, especially large breed pups: It contains WAY MORE protein than needed. It causes rapid growth, rapid growth then leads to future bone and joint problems. Feeding a high quality all stages food will promote a more desired slow growth, and thus lessen the chances of bone and joint problems later. Puppies should grow up slowly, not spring up like weeds.

In my opinion "puppy" foods should only be fed to pregnant and lactating dogs who actually can use all that extra protein and calcium.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 5

Obviouly he is a loved and cared for dog, but here goes my suggestions.
First thing I can think of is, he is bored, dogs usually do that when they're frustrated. Probably he is a very smart dog and needs something to keep him busy most of the time!
Is he left alone for long periods?try taking him for long walks, always at the same time if possible, they're real smart and he'll get something to look forward to.
Also you can provide him with Kong type.
toys thats keeps them busy,
Keep the radio on when you leave him alone, so he doesnt feel so lonely.
Good luck!

Answer 6

Be very observant if this doesn't stop take him immediately to the vet it is probably nervous disorder do to possibly genetic line breeding this one of the down falls of this I have seen this in very nervous breeds such as terriers and dobermans.
to cure this it can be a task .

Answer 7

One of two reasons; stress or allergies. Have the Vet take a look at him and tell the Vet this info and he/she will tell you what he needs. If it's stress you can figure out for yourself what is causing it, separation, loneliness, anxiety,,,,, ?

Answer 8

might have something in there that he is trying to get out. or fleas....double check everything and if nothing is stuck on top or underneath his pay then use the bitter apple stuff....just make sure it wont hurt him

Answer 9

Animals do this when they are stressed. Make sure, too, that he hasn't eaten any plants, for example.

Answer 10

your dog just like to clean there paw might be a type of compulsive thing