Paw licking

Ever since my dog, Lily, got groomed at the beginning of this month she has been licking her left front paw. I have examined it as thoroughly as I can and can find nothing amiss with it and cannot figure out why she has suddenly started doing this. It does look like it is starting to get a little red around the bottom of the pads from her licking. What can/should I do to stop this? She is 6 yrs. old and has never shown any other type of neurotic behavior. Do they ever do this just because they are bored? Thanks for any advice.

Have there been any other changes lately, in diet or environment? And was this a new groomer, or someone you trust?

And yes, some dogs do this when they are bored, but usually there's something else at issue.

For now, you may have to "cone of shame" her while that paw heals, as now it will feel itchy and sore since she's been licking it so much, and that's perpetuate the problem!

No, she has the same groomer she has always had and no changes in diet or environment. The only thing I can think of that is different is I have not been letting her chase the laser around so much anymore... i just got tired of doing it every day.. hmmm... i think i need to start doing that again. i am sure it relieved any stress she had. Thank you for your reply...:)

Mikey ONLY does this after a big thunderstorm, in which he has a major fear of. He will do it for a few days after and then stop. I believe it to be a stress reliever. You can try some bitter apple spray? I know that is for objects but what can it do to harm a dog. Or distract her with something else like the lazer pointer.

There are multiple causes for something like this. The fact that is is ONLY one paw kind of indicates that there was or is something irritating that foot and causing her to lick it. Perhaps the groomers got too close with the clippers and got a little razor burn or maybe something unrelated to the grooming incident and she stepped on something, causing irritation... etc.

The problem is that... something irritates them, so they lick... then they keep licking and licking... and now they're causing irritation by the licking... which can lead to infection... and now they're licking because the skin is infected because of the licking... it can be a vicious cycle.

Because you're only noticing it on ONE foot, I would recommend a vet visit to rule out any other causes, like a foreign body, soft tissue damage, or just a secondary skin infection from all of the licking (but the primary cause is no longer a problem).

Maybe allergies? My dogs lick their feet when they are itchy.

Jessica covered it all, but, I'm inclined to think it's a foreign object/sticker.
Some of our guys grow an abundance of Hair in the "palm" of their Paws. Not sure about the term, but the depressed area between their Toes and Heel. I've found numerous objects pushed up into that area (stick/rock/stickers) where I had to trim the excessive Hair out to find it.

Try a closer inspection and or trim in that area. ;)

Allergies do indeed cause dogs to lick their feet, but *typically* they'll lick more than one... usually both front paws or all four paws. When a dog is only licking one paw it is usually indicative of an isolated incident, such as foreign body or injury.

How is she?