Why does my dog chew on her legs?

Question

My dog constantly chews on her legs. Why does she continue to do this? Is there anything we can do to get her to stop?

Answer 1

First you have to find the problem. It could be allergies OR fleas.
Fleas can be very difficult to see. If you arent keeping her on a good flea preventative such as Advantage or frontline....she probably has fleas. Even if your not seeing them easily.

Allergies could certainly be another cause.
It could very well be her food that she is eating.
If your sure there are no fleas, try switching over to a good holistic dog food. Give it about a month of nothing except that food and see if it stops.
You may be VERY suprised!
My dogs had terrible allergies, but after a month of good holistic food their allergies are basically gone.

Hope this helps!

***ADDED****
For the person below..."butterflychamp"
Allergies in dogs do not only make them scratch and chew their feet.
Heres a link for you to check out:
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:9DMSqcCE8RUJ:www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm%3Farticleid%3D74+&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us

Answer 2

Dog Chewing On Leg

Answer 3

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Answer 4

There could be a few causes. If your dog does not get enough exercise, or does not have enough to keep her occupied when she is just sitting around the house (filled bones, etc.), she might chew herself out of boredom. If there have been or are going to be big changes in her surroundings or routine, she may be chewing out of anxiety. Or, it could be another reason entirely.

Have you tried putting bitter apple spray on her legs? Rather than spray it right on, maybe put it on a cloth and wipe her legs down with it. It tastes awful and is made specifically to stop pets from chewing on things. People usually use it for furniture, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work on your dog.

Or you could find a bone she really loves. Try different types and flavors until you land on one she’s just crazy about. Every time she starts chewing her legs, give her the bone. Sometimes dogs just need to be redirected to the right thing for them to stop doing the wrong thing.

Some dogs will develop hot spots if they chew too much. They are wet, red sores, and they seem to make dogs want to chew even more. They make spray and cream to heal them. If your dog is developing these at all, please pick some up at a pet store.

Good luck. I'm sure your dog is even more frustrated that you are.

Answer 5

My dog also chews on her back legs sometimes. Not the skin on her legs, she puts her leg in her mouth as if it was a chew toy. I found out she was doing this because she was bored. After i take her out to go for a walk, or run and chase the ball she doesn't do it anymore. That could be a reason why she does it. Does she get enough exercise? Does she have her own chew toys?

If she is chewing on her skin, this could be a number of things. It could be an allergy to something. Either inhaled allergies (those kind of allergies show up as itchy skin in dogs, unlike Upper Respiratory symptoms as in humans), or an allergy in something on your carpet, or on your lawn. It could be itchy from fleas or mites, or this is also sometimes due to boredom. If more exercise and stimulation doesn't help, I would suggest taking her to the vet and see what they think. Good luck!

Answer 6

Fleas are the first thing that comes to mind, but chiggers could be a problem, depending on how warm it's been in your area. If the dog continues to gnaw on her legs and paws, the paws could develop abscesses that get infected and just make her chew more. If you don't have her on an anti flea/tick medication or collar, get her one immediately and look around your local pet store for foul tasting antibiotics to put on the places she chews the most. If she continues to do it after flea medication, or raw swollen sores start to develop, take your dog to the vet.

Answer 7

The owner of the dog needs to know how to "operate" the dog, same way you can get into a car that's in perfect running order but if you don't know how to drive you won't have much luck making the car go anywhere. If the owner doesn't know how to maintain the training, the dog will soon become untrained again. Read more here https://tinyurl.im/K36gh

People seem to think that once a dog is trained, that's it. Not true. You must reinforce the dog's training every single day in some way. It's best if the owner and the dog go together to get trained. As a professional trainer once said to me "We can train any dog in 2 days. It takes longer to train the owners

Answer 8

Bath her with Dawn dishwashing soap about 2-3 times in a week. Suds her up real good, especially her legs. If it's fleas it will kill them on contact and help with the itching. If it's some kind of mange or allergies, it should stop the itching with several applications then you can go to 1 bath a week so the skin doesn't get too dry.

Answer 9

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RE:
Why does my dog chew on her legs?
My dog constantly chews on her legs. Why does she continue to do this? Is there anything we can do to get her to stop?

Answer 10

Chewing on the legs or paws is a sign of an allergic reaction. Check what the pup has been eating lately or been into. My dog for instance is allergic to wheat and breads.
Good Luck!