Dog chewing paws

• He has an allergy and his paws are itchy. It could be his food or environment. Have you laid a new carpet recently or made any other changes to his environment that could explain it?

• He may have dermatitis. Yes, dogs get dermatitis as well.

• He has cut or scraped his pads. Our rottweiler bitch Kira is always doing this with her front paws. She will then lick and chew at them until they are raw. We disinfect the area, which also tends to stop her from licking it so much! Then on walks, we boot her (Muttluks) until it heals.

• He is stressed. Symptoms of stress in a dog include panting and salivating, diarrhoea, relieving himself in the house, excessive scratching or licking and loss of appetite.

• He is bored. If a dog spends most of his time alone either in the house or in a yard, he can become so distressed that he will start to chew on his own paws :(

If there is no obvious sign of injury, I would suggest your first port of call should be your vet. He will be able to diagnose any physical problem and give you appropriate advice.

If your dog is stressed, can you think of any obvious reasons? Have you moved house, is your dog being teased by children, has there been any change of your dog's routine or circumstances? If you still can't explain your dog's behaviour, consider contacting a professional dog handler to advise you.

If your dog is stressed because he's on his own most of the time, then consider getting someone to come in 2-3 times a day to walk and keep him company. It is cruel to keep social animals like dogs away from human (pack) company for long periods of time. How would you like it!

Remember, your first stop should be to visit your vet. Once you know it's nothing physical, then you can start to look at your dogs lifestyle and make any adjustments you find necessary. Also, the quicker you get treatment, the quicker your dog will recover. Don't leave the problem and just hope it gets better as it usually doesn't. It gets worse!

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All the best,

Laura

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