Licking paws?

[Shockadine]

I remember reading something on here a while back about why dogs lick their paws, but I can't remember what was said about it. I noticed that Shilo licks her paws. She also scratches her front legs with her back legs. Could it be a food allergy? Should I be concerned?

[NylaRaye]

Shockadine, Every dog is different but generally speaking if they lick their paws alot then most likely its a food allergy. Are you feeding your dog any type of beef product rather it be in treats, human food, or dog food? REason being is that is two of the symptoms for a dog being allergic to beef. They can be highly allergic to it and we would never know. Nyla Raye (my baby) is very allergic to beef products and now she wont eat anything but the very expensive Venison meal. She hates Lamb to the point that if I mix it with sauce, she will like the sauce off and spit out the rest (its very funny). Check all your foods that you feed the dog for even trace amounts of beef and if it is in htere take it away from her and see if it starts to clear up. Nyla's did, and we actually just found out that her training treats have beef in it as well (we didnt realize it since it didnt say on the back) so I'm switching nyla's treats as of this week. you can also get some good recipies on the internet for dog treats and my dog and my sisters dog absolutly goes crazy over them. Anyways, I would check into it and see if it is beef.

[Shockadine]

I just adopted her 2 days ago. They had her on Nutro at the rescue. I haven't checked the ingredients in it. I'm trying to switch her to Chicken Soup. I personally have not given her anything else.

[JustJo]

Is it only the paws she is licking? Typically itching at only the feet can be caused by inhalent allergies, an allergen the dog is walking on such as lawn chemicals or even the grass itself, or food allergies. Wheat, corn, and soy are probably the most common allergens in food. Was she doing this in the foster home or rescue or did it start after you got her home? Which Nutro is she on?

Compulsive licking usually involves more than feet. Compulsive lickers most often lick at their forearms. Bullwinkle is a compulsive licker. He used to be so bad he took all the hair off his forearms but then I adopted Rockie and he quit with the really bad licking. He still is a compulsive licker but not to the point of injuring himself. Now he just compusively licks me mostly.

[sheplovr]

Oceana does this as a bad habit I feel. She has been on every kind of kibble I can think of. She did it all winter so I can rule out grass, lol. Had her on Flint River for Sensative skin, no results. She is on chicken soup kibble and not doing to badly. She does it when bored it seems. Like we bite our nails, some smoke, just a bad habit I feel. They are not sore, pink and bad looking, just something she likes to do but when I holler she stops. Of course I do not sleep with her so she can bite and lick all night, never lame, never sore so I just overlook it as I have done all I know to do.[/SIZE]Bitter apple I sprayed once she quite for a day or so.

[Shockadine]

She seems to only lick the bottoms on her paws (and peoples faces lol). She was in a kennel before I got her (unfortunately they never found anyone that wanted to foster her :( ) I don't use any chemicals on my floor or yard.

They didn't really specify which food. My little card in my adoption folder said she was eating nutro max or nutro natural choice adult food. I didn't know at the time there were so many, so I looked at the ingredients on some of the different ones and I thought they all looked bad, so I just picked one. I think it's nutro max adult for active dogs. I'll have to ask if she was doing this before.

[For_the_dogs]

My sister's terrier mix licks her paws a lot, but only when the hair between her pawpads gets mats in it. Its tough trimming between the pawpads. Just something to check...

[jojoalexis]

My dog licks when she goes to bed, it's soothing for her I think.

[NylaRaye]

some dogs are natural lickers and thats all they want to do. I know with Nyla her paws were always red and iritated, and at times she bit them to the point that she couldnt walk very easily and limped around. Thats when I really started noticing a problem. She had been eating the beef products up till then mainly Iams and when we were at my parents house OldRoy (yucky food).

I had done some research on the internet and they had said that common symptoms of beef allergies is iritated paws so that the are red and painful, and itching which both she did. So anyways I took her off the beef food and put her on venison and now the only time she licks her paws is when she had been out digging in my yard (which I prefer for her not to..). Then she thinks she has to lick all the dirt off them so her feet are clean. She is a maticulously clean dog.. She picks up her toys for me.

I would diffenetly check into all the above posts. I'll try to find that research I found a while back. It has several types of allergies listed and the symptoms and stuff like that. didn you say she has some scratching issues as well? course that could be just pour nutritious as well. At times if they havent had very good nutrition prior to the society or rescue kennel then their skin will get flaky and irritated from the lack of nutrition. It could be that as well if her skin is flaky...do you notice any "dandruff" flaks in her fur?

kathie

[JustJo]

Only two of the eleven Nutro adult dog foods contain beef. Odds are they were feeding one of the chicken/lamb formulas. However, several of them contain corn, wheat, soy, gluten, etc. that can be highly allergic to some dogs. Regardless, since you are switching to Chicken Soup that would eliminate all of those allergens and you could go from there. Be sure and do a gradual switch over at least ten days. It will take 4 - 6 weeks to probably notice any improvement IF your dog's paw licking is caused by food allergies. Good luck!

[rachjone]

I rescued a grate dane almost two months ago....she had no house training or obedience trianing either. She will be 1 next month and she licks often. Sometimes I catch her and can get her to stop but I think she does the majority of it while she is in her kennel during the day while I am at work. She licks so much that her skin looks red and irritated and I did find one scab area on her back leg. Wondering if anyone has suggestions to how I could get her to stop this being that I am not there most the time she does it?

(I also have her on Nutro but it is a lamb/rice based mix)

Thanks

[JustJo]

It is tough to call with a Dane. They are prone to allergies but they are also compulsive lickers due to having a tendency to suffer separation anxiety. Bullwinkle's licking is compulsive behavior and not from allergies. Both my Danes clean themselves like cats so apparently they just like licking themselves also. It almost sounds to me like your Dane is licking from separation or boredom.