Paw licking

[Sharon_FL]

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...

[Alysser]

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.

[Jessika]

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).

[beeniesmom]

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