how can i stop my 5year old dog to stop chewing his paws.am at my wits end.?

Question

my 5 year old cross ridgeback has started to chew his paws,this is the third week now,we have antibiotics off our vet to stop any infection,but he has got so bad that he has part chewed off two of his pads on one paw.we dress all his paws to stop him,but he takes them off in the night when we are sleeping,i cannot have a collar to stop him getting at his paws because his brother will keep attacking him.he is losing sleep over it and so am i.any suggestions on how to get rid of the irritation and to keep his mouth away from his pads.

Answer 1

Gosh, this sounds rather extreme! I don't know if it will help, and you should check with your vet first, but you could try giving him an antihistamine tablet to reduce and itching and irritation. Good luck!

Answer 2

I think it's going to be very tricky and much slower to allow them to heal without a collar, his brother may need to be separated from him unless strictly supervised for a while.
Continue to dress the wound as you have been. He's on antibiotics which is great but you could also consider alternative medicine. A recent article by an alternative vet suggests for open wounds:
Arnica 30, 3 daily for 7 days - promotes healing, minimises bruising
Myristica 30, 3 daily for 7 days - a homeopathic 'disinfectant'
Propolis 500mg for small dogs, 1,000mg medium dogs or 2,000mg large dogs for one month - natural antibiotic
Dermagel - swiss herbal formula which promotes wound healing and encourages fur to grow back a normal colour and hide any scarring. Apply twice daily, alternate with Manuka Honey.
Manuka Honey - promotes rapid healing of wounds, use the highest strength available.
As a totally natural treatment you would use all of the above. Since your dog is using antibiotics you would want to use only the topical medicines, dermagel and manuka honey but I included the others for future reference/reference of others.
Hope this helps, I imagine you are both very distressed.

Answer 3

Oh poor baby! I completely understand my 13 year old allergy ridden chow would chew off her legs and feet if she was given the option!

This is what I did way back when~ when cones just wouldn't work out.

Take 3 tube socks and put 2 of them on his legs. secure the 2 socks onto the 3rd one and fasten around his waist. Before you put the socks on his feet dress the pads so hopefully they will have time to heal. I have done this and it went well. Since I have chows, I definitely know what you mean about the attacking~an injured animal is always a target!

Did you change his food recently? Does your vet know what is causing this? IMO~it sounds like allergies, and most dog allergies are from food. Good luck to you sweetie!

Answer 4

You've probably had these checked already but could it be his nails? My dog does it, although not to the extent that yours does when his nails are too long! If all else fails, try the following but you will end up with messy floors - buy a tub of Sudocream or a very good nappy rash cream ( trust me it works! ) Expect to pay around £4.00 for the nappy cream, i'm so sorry but i've forgotten its name but i think it begins with M and is a sickly yellow colour and stains everything it touches so please watch your clothes and furniture! Apply this cream, or the sudocream which is just as good and stains in the same fashion, to the whole of your dogs paws and wrap well in a bandage secured with surgical tape. Wipe good old english mustard or a similar strong mustard over the bandage ( it will stop him ripping the bandage off! ) and then put the paw in a scented nappy sack ( the type you buy for babies dirty nappies - the pound shop do around 40 for £1.00 of course ha ha ). He won't want to rip the nappy sack because he won't like the smell of it but if he does dare to, he's got the mustard dressing to contend with and he's either very stupid or very brave to get that off ha ha.

Answer 5

My dog does this. She has food allergies and so she is constantly licking/chewing on her paws. First of all, you need to put one of those satellites on his head (Petsmart has these...or your vet). It's only temporary until he gets better. If the other dog is bothering him with this on, then you need to separate the two until the one gets better. Also, change your dog's diet. At Petsmart there is special food you can get for dogs with sensitive skin or skin allergies. Your dog is doing this for a reason. He is allergic to something...so now you just have to figure out what it is. If it is not the food, maybe something on the grass he walks on (pesticide, etc) Also, benadryl is good too and will help with the inflammation. Ask your vet about this first to make sure it is not interacting with any other meds he is on. Hope this helps....good luck!

Answer 6

Is he having some type of allergic reaction to something?
Sometimes this can cause the itch and make them chew.
We have treated some of ours who were just chewing with a topical spray called Bitter Apple. You spray it on and it tastes bad and most (notice I say most) will not chew on anything that has it on it. Some do not care and will chew right over it.
They also make pepper sprays that you can treat the bandages with to help stop him from chewing them off. The Bitter Apple can be used on the bandages as well.
Good Luck

Answer 7

my dog indie was like this after cutting the grass, first see if there are any changes ie diet, cut grass, if there are then try and remove the changes, the products you use to make the vac smelll better often have this effect, or a cleaning product in the house you may have just started using, a change in washing powder made my duke bite his bottom sore, i use the spray antiseptic on my dogs to heal some online dog mags have limks to vet products at reduced prices good luck

Answer 8

DO NOT SPRAY ANY BITTER APPLE TYPE PRODUCTS ON HIS PAWS. Bitter apple on should go on bandages to stop them from pulling it off. It sounds like your pup has allergies. He may have food allergies. Food allergies are very common in dogs. They tend to chew at there paws when they are allergic to food. There are many hypoallergenic diets out there. I would take ask your vet about hydroxyzine (like benadryl, but stronger and better.)

Answer 9

Have you ever considered allergen testing for environmental allergens your dog could be allergic to. It is somewhat pricey but well worth it. If by chance it comes back that there is no known allergens consider a food allergen switch to a limited ingredient diet. With food allergens it is based on feeding the dog and watching for changes in skin and behavior with a certain diet. Most common food allergens for dogs are wheat,corn and poultry such as chicken. Diets such as lamb,venison,rabbit,duck and whitefish are typically suggested by the vets.

Answer 10

Get one of those plastic cone shaped things that go around their neck. This should prevent him from getting to his paws. Maybe after a couple of weeks, the paws will have healed and he won't want to chew them anymore. Would also continue with the antibiotics during the healing process.