what does it mean when your dog bites his paws and the paws are pink? sometimes the skin is raw?

Question

It does not happen daily but here lately it has been more than normal. He will sit there and just bite on them and I have looked to see what it could be and there is never anything in bettween his paws.

Answer 1

I would have to say that he either has something in his paw or has an allergy to something. Maybe his food, change in weather,carpet, can be many things. Best to have him checked out by a veterinarian.

Answer 2

The primary reason your dog is biting at himself is that he has an allergy. The question now is, to what?
Dogs can have a negative reaction to a number of things.

Fleas are one source. And though you may not see any fleas on your pup, just one flea bite can send a dog into a frantic allergic reaction.

Food allergies are also common sources. Wheat of any kind is one of the top food allergies, but a number of other ingredients can be just as troublesome. And if your dogs food contains any of a number of artificial ingredients (preservatives, colors, flavors, etc) they, too will cause allergies in some dogs.

Other allergy sources could be chemical or biological. Some that come to mind are: certain dog shampoos or pesticides.

Regardless, your dog will not recover from this problem until he sees the vet. Most likely your dog will get a steroid or cortizone injection and possibly some medication that you will have to administer at home.

Think about changing his diet for starters, as usually the main cause of allergies is the food it eats.

I have listed some links below that may be of some help to you.

Best wishes to you both!

Answer 3

My guess would be allergies. Unlike humans who show signs of allergies in their sinuses, dogs tend to show "hot spots". I had a German Shepherd who had the same problem, his paws were pink and raw, he licked constantly, also he itched at his muzzle-he also had chronic ear infections. The vet prescribed antibiotics/ointments/washes but nothing worked. Then they wanted to inject him with cortisone-which was a type of steroid. I changed to dog food several times and found that the only thing that worked was a basically raw diet. I think he was allergic to either soy or maybe the preservatives. Be wary if a vet tried to just treat the symptoms rather than actually root out the cause of the problem. You can try a change of diet and see if that helps before you take your dog into the vet.

Answer 4

The same thing happened to my cousins dog who is a yellow lab. IT WAS NOT ALLERGIES. Dogs sweat through their paws, basically her dog had athletes foot. She noticed that her dog would lick and gnaw her paws until they were raw because like you and I, they itched due to the fungus that was causing the athletes foot. Her vet told her to get an athlete foot powder, cream or spray and then sock her dogs paws and to limit her running. It took a little while but eventually it went away, and she didn't have to give her dogs any kind of allergy meds.

I would check with your vet to find the actually cause but this is another option to think about if your dog is a high active/energy dog that is doing alot of running.

Answer 5

Ok, check the inner,between the paws,see if there are any sores or dry patches, if not look for fleas, they will infest anywhere, even between the toes, also no dog is allergic to grass, they eat grass when they have an upset stomach, its the chemicals that are blown in or placed in the yard that is what can make a dog allergic, also if you can't find anything that I had you look for, take the animal to you local vet, some dogs gain toe hairs that's very aggravating when they come in ,check for that to. and
Good Luck.

Answer 6

I would suspect allergies. To grass, insect bites, but more likely food! You know how your nose itches when you have an allergy? Well my vet told me that dogs have essentially the same type of cells in their feet, instead of their nose itching their feet do.
Do his feet smell like fritos? Too much corn in the diet, if so.
Check the ingredients on the side of your bag of dog food; corn and wheat are two of the worst ingredients for causing allergic reactions in dogs, and really should not be included in dog food IMO. Try something like Canidae (no corn, no wheat, made of all human grade products of US origin)
Benadryl can help alleviate the itching but unless you determine the underlying cause it won't cure it; this may require a visit to the vet. If he is chewing them raw he could also get a secondary infection which will require antibiotics to treat. Get him in; he is miserable.

Answer 7

My dog does that too- apparently he has a bit of a grass allergy. When he goes outside, he steps all over the grass, which irritates his little paws, so then he chews on them until they're raw. The reason you didn't notice until now is that just like humans, dogs' allergies aren't as severe in the winter. Take him to the vet, and he/she can prescribe something for his allergies.

Answer 8

ALLERGIES! This is the time of year for them, and both my personal dog and foster are chewing like crazy. Call you vet and explain it. He should be able to tell you if you can give your dog benadryl(yes the people kind, much cheaper then what the vet will try to sell you and works just as well). I give mine 2 pills 3 times a day and it really takes the edge off.

Answer 9

Take your dog to a vet. My dog chewed her paws until they were raw, and it turned out that she was allergic to the grass in our yard and it was making her paws itch. A friend's dog did that and it turned out that she was nervous about my friend leaving during the day. Dogs chew their paws for many reasons, and only a vet can figure out what the cause is.

Answer 10

It means he has an allergy. You need to have him checked at the vet incase his paws are infected. Then you need to change his diet. The most common food allergy in dogs is wheat. You’ll need to find a high quality dog food that has zero wheat in it.