Paw Licking

[Giselle]

Most, if not all, paw licking cases are skin irritations, be it allergy or whatnot.

The only cases of legitimate, OCD paw licking I've seen are dogs who already HAD allergies but who learned to lick their paws for attention. Either way, it points to allergies/skin irritation

Go to a veterinary dermatologist to be sure. Better safe than sorry!

[Pekemom]

I've been having the same problem with my two. They lick themselves so much (mostly paws) that it wakes me up at night here lately. I've checked for skin irritations and fleas and bathed them both in an oatmeal bath for dogs. I'm not sure what it could be, but I don't see that it is likely they both have allergies. Now it has progressed into itching...the vet says dry skin, but it I don't really buy it. It seems like it happens more when we're getting ready for or are already in bed.

[carrie]

I agree that this will lead to skin irritation BUT the most common, non medical, reason for paw licking - and indeed for any other self harm behaviour in the dog - is attention seeking. This not a dog being a brat and licking their feet because they know it will lead to skin irritation, worry for the owner and expensive trips to the vet. It is simply the dog telling you that it can gain control of you. At any moment the dog has learned, because of your reaction, that having a good lick or chew at a foot will focus your attention on the dog.
Obviously, get the vet check, but mention this theory to the vet and see what they say - vets are not behaviourists and I could only do emergency first aid, not surgery, on a dog!
Vet check is clear then you need to learn how to ignore the behaviour - don't look, don't speak - leave the room if you have to!
One family with this problem I got to all stand up, go upstairs and shut bedroom doors as soon as their dog started this. They had to stay in bedrooms until five minutes after they stopped hearing their gorgeous Lab moving around the house. The dog then escalated the behaviour to chewing it's feet, cushions, table legs etc. It took them three hours of consistent walking away without looking or speaking and the dog has never licked or chewed it's feet or anything else since.
The hard thing is that if something you do works - the dog will try harder with the behaviour before it gives in or it will distance itself from you (a good thing!!!) to have a think about what just happened - when it comes back to you it will be wary, not scared, ignore it and it will work it out in a way that the dog can accept and understand.

[carrie]

Just an add on - I didn't realise the attention seeking aspect of this behaviour until I had seen a Greyhound that used to live in a house with a family become a very good racing dog. The dog was then moved into our training kennels to "maximise his potential on the track". His pads were a little softer than a track/kennel dog and he picked up a few scratches - not an issue when he lived at home. In kennels, the staff treated these scratches, spent more time with the dog, looked at him more often than when he had no scratches etc. Instict led the dog to connect issues with his own feet to the attention he got from humans. He ended up chewing his own feet to the point of bleeding before I realised what was happening. The vet didn't get the behavioural aspect of it and prescribed drug after drug. In an assertive dog this could lead to a leadership challenge/other behaviour problems.

[Freedom]

This is quite common in bichons and other small white dogs. It usually is allergies, with them.

One thing which helps: soak each paw in warm water with epsom salts, 3 minutes each. I've never done it, seems a huge bother!

Try to isolate the allergy. Is this happening all year round? Then it is more likely to be food related, assuming you feed the same food consistently. If it is not year round, less likely to be food related.

Sugar does this every year from late Sept to about January. I haven't been able to figure out why; YET. Working on it. With white dogs, the salt in the saliva makes the white hair turn pink! and you can't wash that out, you have to wait for it to grow and then cut it off.

One easy thing to try: switch to metal food bowls, and use distilled water for drinking. I have one friend with a bichon, switching from the tap water to distilled water did the trick.

Wish I could be more helpful.

[Pekemom]

I really find it hard to believe that both of my animals have the same allergies exhibiting themselves in the same way. I'm leaning more towards the behavioral aspect for a few reasons. One is that both of my animals have been challenging the pecking order lately, and the scratching/licking started around that time too. The more aggressive one has been more of a problem, but even the more passive of my dogs has started licking himself quite a bit. It's really frustrated after I've bathed and groomed them because grooming them is such a hard task in the first place-hair flies EVERYwhere

[K9soul]

I think there are a multitude of causes for excessive or repetitive licking. I don't personally feel in general it is a manipulative behavior on the dog's part. I think to some dogs it just becomes soothing. My Tommy will often lick on one foot or the pads of the foot slowly and repetitively when he is settling down to relax for a long while. He will do it in another room or the room I'm in, whether I say anything to him or not. He often does it for awhile before goes to sleep, it reminds me of thumb sucking.

Tasha is cat-like in her grooming and extremely cleanly. She will spend a lot of time cleaning her paws and legs, and even biting her nails down. I've even seen her grooming on my other two.

I think it can just simply become a habit. Perhaps in the case of the Pekes who both do so, one took the cue from the other and so it is something they both do now.

For me if it gets to be annoying I will simply say their name and they stop.

[carrie]

If you end up with a "wet eczema" area then Epsom salts are excellent - dabbing it on with cotton wool (soaked in soloution from a bowl) is more effective than putting the foot in the solution. The trick to this treatment is to incorporate into your usual grooming routine (worth training for this even if you use an outside groomer). Train your dogs to stand, turn, sit, allow foot, ear, eye, teeth and gums inspections on a daily basis. Generally, soft brush the hair against growth, then comb with hair growth, brush with hair growth (include the tail on all these) and inspect each foot (include nails and use nail clippers every day, near the nail, so the dog get used to the sensation and the noise). Once you have an idea of what is "normal" for the dog it makes it easier to ignore the attention seeking. If you do notice that the licking has caused a lesion then a quick run through of the grooming routine, adding in the treatment with Epsom Salts, will not seem, to the dog, like attention for the licking. It does not matter how many times each day this treatment is given as long as the grooming routine is followed.
If the licking is habitual or allergic reaction - following this method of treatment reduces stress, strengthens bonding and reinforces status. Staus is reinforced because you have to be encouraging to teach the movement required, calm at all times - even when it goes wrong! - the dog is only rewarded physically when it gets it right and it is a very relaxing and rewarding activity for you both when it all comes together.