# Keeps chewing on his paws?!?



## Blondie (Oct 10, 2009)

A trip to the vet is needed for sure. Is he bleeding at all at the site of the missing pad? I would think he might keep opening up a scabbed area that's trying to heal, but unable to heal at this point. Don't want an infection to hinder recovery of your boys sore paw and pad. Antibiotics might be needed. He seems irritated and is more than likely in pain. This is unfortunate, but with the hot weather and insect season, don't want it to get any worse before it gets better. A woman I work with had to have one of her golden's toes amputated. Any chance you could avoid walking him on hot pavement? Musher's Secret is an excellent non-toxic product for pads and feet year round, however I would wait until your boys pads are healed after seeing a vet for treatment. Not sure if your boy has any allergies, as from your post, cannot figure out if the chewing on his feet was started before the injury to his foot and pad. In any case, see a vet and get your boy healed. In the mean time, what are you feeding? The food you feed your boy could cause allergic reaction, alot of times with the behavior being displayed as you have mentioned to that of dogs chewing on their feet. Keep us posted.


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

Paw chewing is often allergies or OCD. Go visit the vet. There are some things you can put on the paws to make them taste bad, but see the vet first


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

Start him on daily benadryll. Does he do this year round? Or just a seasonal thing? Absolute yes to the vet but you can try benadryll to see if it helps. Also, get a cone of shame to put on him when you can't monitor him. I also wouldn't be walking tucker outside with that wound on his foot and I'd likely be treating it with neosporin plus COS when I apply it for at least an hour or so so the med can have a chance to work.


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

Along with the other suggestions, wash and dry his feet really well. The licking/siliva causes them to itch more. Wash his feet well, and dry them really well between the toes etc. I find a hairdryer set on cool works well. Could be a yeast infection between the toes. If it is, once the cut is healed, a water/vinegar solution to rinse his feet with helps. The Vet can tell you for sure if it is a yeast infection, allergies, etc. My boy Logan suffered from enviornmental allergies. If he walked on grass I knew he would be licking his feet shortly thereafter. Washing his feet, using the vinegar rinse, then doing a final rinse of cool water, and thoroughly drying helped a lot.


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## TuckersMom (Sep 26, 2010)

Wow thank you all for the replies! I have a feeling it could be OCD; he is a hard core tail-chaser. But I was thinking it is also possible that he had some residual shampoo from his bath a few days ago, stuck between the toes. I dont think he has any allergies, although this is only his second summer, so its hard to compare the different years. He didnt itch like this last year when he was a baby though. We definitely arent going for a walk until it heals, but unfortunately I dont have a non-paved surface to walk on around here. We have a great bike path nearby but it is concrete as well. We usually walk at night time too so the sidewalks have a chance to cool down. I will try a small dose of benadryl to see if that helps, and I would really like to try neosporin but we have to get a COS.


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

TuckersMom said:


> Wow thank you all for the replies! I have a feeling it could be OCD; he is a hard core tail-chaser. But I was thinking it is also possible that he had some residual shampoo from his bath a few days ago, stuck between the toes. I dont think he has any allergies, although this is only his second summer, so its hard to compare the different years. He didnt itch like this last year when he was a baby though. We definitely arent going for a walk until it heals, but unfortunately I dont have a non-paved surface to walk on around here. We have a great bike path nearby but it is concrete as well. We usually walk at night time too so the sidewalks have a chance to cool down. I will try a small dose of benadryl to see if that helps, and I would really like to try neosporin but we have to get a COS.


COS are pretty inexpensive and you can buy them at your vets. I think pet smart and other pet stores like that sell blow up ones so that might be an option too. I hope Tucker gets well soon!!


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## TuckersMom (Sep 26, 2010)

Well good news so far, he doesnt seem to be bothered by it much any more. He is a trooper! 

Quick question.. do their paw pads tear pretty easily? Ive never seen this happen before, and its not like he is exerted to a point where they would get injured like that... we dont go on bike rides, hardly ever walk on the road, and never walk over glass. Maybe its just one of those freak accidents?


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

While they don't tear easily, sometimes just jumping over a rock in the garden at home and catching it the wrong way can cause a cut. The good news is that they do heal rather quickly. Glad to hear he is feeling better.


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## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

Darby has seasonal alergies with his feet. I use 1 part listerine, 1 part witch hazel and 1 part water to clean his feet, dry them and sprinkle with gold bond powder. This seems to help quite a bit and he doesn't like the taste the licking stops.

I also have him on chinese herbs and that is helping quite a bit, I was skeptical at first but you never know. The herbs are rather expensive but the foot wash and powder are easy. Good luck.

Darby has scraped his pads and I used neosporin and wrapped his feet, it worked with him but most dogs would've take the bandages off, they do heal fast.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Bio Groom makes a great no chew spray. Have you tried Temeril P?


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

My go for broke golden, Laney eroded her pads on several occasions... sometimes just by running non stop on dirt, but also by running up and down on rocky areas.


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## TuckersMom (Sep 26, 2010)

He does seem to have healed almost all the way (yay!) but he is still chewing on the others. I will try some of these remedies you guys suggested to keep from from licking them. Do you think the hair between his pads makes them itch? Should I trim his foot hair?


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

Glad to hear his torn pad is healing nicely! I find that trimming the hair between the toes helps to keep them dry. As mentioned before, the dried silva from licking makes them itch, so that just adds to the problem.


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## RazorbackGolden (Mar 3, 2010)

Tucker is still chewing his feet. We've switched food, treats and everything. It is less, but it is still VERY often and he's been having to wear a cone for a few weeks now because he just get into these moods and just chews and chews and chews his feet or elsewhere it's quite annoying! :doh:

He didn't do this as a puppy and then started this last year around June and hasn't stopped... 

I'm going to try to walk him more, as far as toys go I don't know what to do as he destorys anything we give him as a toy, so he just has bones and plastic chews to chew on but he gets bored. He likes squeeky toys but again he ruins them within minutes.

I decided to take him for a late night walk to see if it helped. He went crazy when we got home and now has been chewing on a bone for about 10 minutes, I really think he's just bored or has OCD.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Hank started licking his back feet last fall. Since nothing had changed about his food I thought seasonal allergies. I tried Benedryl at first but it really didn't work after about a week or two. I took him to the vet, they said he probably has seasonal allergies and gave him a long-lasting shot. It worked. Hank was your Tucker's age when the allergies first showed up.


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## RazorbackGolden (Mar 3, 2010)

Well he slept real well and hasn't been chewing his feet today, took him for a brisk walk and through all his toys he has on the floor to let him pick. I really do think he just gets bored and starts eating his paws and itching away. We will see.


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## Ryley's Dad (Oct 12, 2010)

Ryley chewed and licked his paws so much that the fur in between his toes and the bottom of his paws, turned red from all the saliva.

We decided it was an allergy. Up til then we had been giving him dairy products and chicken product. We cut that out completely by changing his food and treats.
We also started giving him benadryl.

The extensive licking and biting stopped and his paws are now a normal color.

Here's a pic of what his paw looked like before.


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## Amberbark (Oct 5, 2011)

TuckersMom said:


> Well good news so far, he doesnt seem to be bothered by it much any more. He is a trooper!
> 
> Quick question.. do their paw pads tear pretty easily? Ive never seen this happen before, and its not like he is exerted to a point where they would get injured like that... we dont go on bike rides, hardly ever walk on the road, and never walk over glass. Maybe its just one of those freak accidents?


We found that Amber has part of the pad torn off at the bottom of her hock. The only place that she had been prior to that morning was Puppy Class the evening before. We took her into the vet and he said to put some triple antibiotic on it and after a couple of days it scabbed over and she left it alone. Good thoughts coming your way! :wavey:


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## hvgoldens4 (Nov 25, 2009)

Yeast is actually often the culprit when there is a lot of licking of the paws going on. Usually when there are allergies, there will be other symptoms, too.

You can actually get lotrimin OTC and put that on his feet. It works amazingly well for yeast issues.

If you do go to the vet, make sure they test for yeast. Many times, a golden walks in and right away, they just assume allergies.

Best of luck!!


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## Phillyfisher (Jan 9, 2008)

Tucker will chew his paws when the fur between his pads gets too long. A trim might be a good idea too.


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## RazorbackGolden (Mar 3, 2010)

We trimmed, seemed to help but not solve the problem. The chewing has become less and less but it's still going on. I think it's a mix of being bored and maybe a yeast infection in his paws?


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## RazorbackGolden (Mar 3, 2010)

We trimmed, seemed to help but not solve the problem. The chewing has become less and less but it's still going on. I think it's a mix of being bored and maybe a yeast infection in his paws? Since he licks so much its moist in there. I'm thinking of washing his feet daily with mild soap and water.



hvgoldens4 said:


> Yeast is actually often the culprit when there is a lot of licking of the paws going on. Usually when there are allergies, there will be other symptoms, too.
> 
> You can actually get lotrimin OTC and put that on his feet. It works amazingly well for yeast issues.
> 
> ...


Interesting, could you use stuff thats in a spay or even athletes foot type stuff?


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## RazorbackGolden (Mar 3, 2010)

RazorbackGolden said:


> We trimmed, seemed to help but not solve the problem. The chewing has become less and less but it's still going on. I think it's a mix of being bored and maybe a yeast infection in his paws? Since he licks so much its moist in there. I'm thinking of washing his feet daily with mild soap and water.
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting, could you use stuff thats in a spay or even athletes foot type stuff?


Anyone? Can I use athletes foot stuff to spray on there? Because I don't think the diet did anything.


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## RazorbackGolden (Mar 3, 2010)

I have noticed he may start playing with a toy and then stop to start eating his paws. He then gets the cone. Within minutes he goes back to playing with the toy non-stop, which makes no sense.


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