My dog won't stop licking his paws. Why would he do this?

Question

He's a chihuahua/terrier mix, and even though we scold him when he does it, he won't stop licking and gnawing on his paws. Help?

Answer 1

Sorry, but the OCD answer made me giggle so much, that I actually snorted. I can almost guarantee that it's allergies. Every May or June, my dog does that exact same thing. The first time he started chewing/licking at his paws, I took him to the vet and she prescribed him Prednizone. Within the 2nd day of him taking it, *get this*... he stopped chewing/licking at his paws!! Most small dogs will get an allergy to the grass around the beginning of summer, especially here in Oklahoma, when there's dew on the ground in the mornings. I've heard this type of allergy by another name... Dew Poisoning. It can cause hotspots under the arms, their chest, belly and, of course the obvious, legs and paws. Before I tried anything, talk to his vet. They might suggest a spray that will help with the itching before they prescribe anything. So, long story short, just give his vet a quick call. Hope he gets some relief, soon, and good luck.

Answer 2

I once had an elderly lady for a friend. She had a wonderful little dog. A mix of some sort. She had the dog trained well and it behaved very well. Learn here https://tr.im/BNwiW

She kept an uncovered candy dish on her coffee table with candy in it. The dog was forbidden to eat the candy. When she was in the room observing the dog he did not even appear to notice the candy. One day while she was in her dinning room she happened to look in a mirror and could see her dog in the living room. He did not know he was being watched. For several minutes he was sitting in front of the candy bowl staring at the candy. Finally he reached in and took one. He placed it on the table and stared at it, he woofed at it. He stared some more, licked his chops and PUT IT BACK in the bowl and walked away. Did he want the candy, oh yeah. Did he eat it? Nope. They can be trained that well but most, I'll admit, are not trained that well. When I was a young boy, maybe 5 years old. We had a german shepherd. He was very well trained also. My mom could leave food unattended on the table, no problem. She would open the oven door and set a pan roast beef or roast chicken on the door to cool. No problem. He would not touch it, watched or not. But butter? Whole other story. You leave a stick of butter anywhere he could reach and it was gone. He was a large shepherd so there were not many places he could not reach. Really, I think the number of dogs trained to the point they will leave food alone when not being supervised is very small indeed.
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Now if we are talking obedience training, not food grubbing, that is a different story. Way back when I was first learning obedience training one of the final exercises was to put our dogs in a down/stay and not only leave the room but leave the building for 15 minutes. The only person that stayed was our trainer, not the owners. Most of the dogs in my class did not break their stay, which would be an automatic fail. I'm happy to report my dog was one of the ones that passed.

Answer 3

My dog will do this when he is bored, lonely or anxious. I try to make sure he gets plenty of people time and lots of exercise. Unfortunately, he'll also do this if his paws are itchy or irritated, so you kind of have to take your clues from what's going on with him. Scolding doesn't really help, although redirecting might, if you can do it often enough to break the cycle. I also got my vet to give me a lidocane spray, to stop the itching; it must not taste good, as I have seen him start to lick and then try to rub a taste off his tongue. Even if you are successful in keeping him from licking his paws, some dogs will simply move on to a different spot to lick, so make it a practice to look him over from time to time - hot spots can come up very quickly. Good luck!

Answer 4

First off, I would suggest exercising the dog whenever it starts to lick its paws. This behavior may just be from boredom. If the exercise doesn't work, you can try an E-collar, but the best thing would be to take the dog to a vet.

Answer 5

Take him to your vet, he probably has allergies. They can give him meds that will make him more comfortable. Licking and chewing the paws are one of the first signs of allergies.

If allergy meds don't work, they can do allergy tests and find out what he is allergic to and will then give him desensitization shots.

It could also be that he is an anxious dog and has obsessive compulsive disorder. This is less likely however.

Hope that helps!

Answer 6

This type of behavior is a type of OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder - if there is no other reason like something stuck in the paw pads etc. I had a australian cattle dog that did it to the point that he damaged his paw so bad that it had to be amputated. His was an extreme case but you may try spraying his paws with some bitter apple spray,and offering raw bones to chew. You may want to consult a trainer if that doesn't stop the behavior and/or a vet to rule out other problems.

Answer 7

Chewing on their feet is probably the most common sign of allergies in dogs. Sometimes they have food allergies, and will need to be switched to a different food. Sometimes it's envioronmental allergies, and wiping their feet off everytime they come in from outside will help. Call your vet and have them look the dog over. They might find a different cause for the chewing, or prescribe an antihistamine to help control the discomfort the dog is feeling(if it's allergies).

Answer 8

If there's nothing there - like a rash or a splinter or something, he might be bored or anxious. Try walking him more. I saw The Dog Whisperer do it to a little dog who just used to run in circles all the time. Turns out, she was bored and did it to get attention.

Answer 9

Jermery,

Your dog has allergies, that is why he is licking his paws.

Answer 10

My dog did that for a while. It may be because allergys. Or it may be because the grass is bothering his paws or the fur between his toes might be bothering him.