Another Paw Pad Issue

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Poor Spud.   He is a mess.  This weekend I babysat my neighbor's 5 Dobermans and their Albino foster attacked Spud.  He has wounds on his nose and under the jaw but they are clean and seem superficial.   He also has two spots on his legs that he will not leave alone and are not healing for the past few weeks, also superficial but he is irritated.   He has another ear infection and is on antibiotics--since these are frequent I have antibiotics (drops) at home.  He did not see the vet this time.   Mr. Arrogant even looks dejected or just worn out. 

Late last night he started licking the Carpal Pad on both front paws.  They are not ripped but raw and scarlet red.  He is not limping or having trouble walking as I read with previous posts about ripped paw pads.   He really paws and paws with vigor at this Frisbee--he tries to flip it over.   These pads look more like a burn wound rather than cracks.  Could be from the pawing  but others who have experienced this may notice a similarity in his symptoms.

Older posts suggest:  restrict activity, no topical ointments, do not wrap, and give antibiotics.

So what do you think
Since the Carpal Pad does not really touch the ground, he is not limping,  does a Vet Visit seemed warranted? He also is a little itchy--or has a few sore spots on the legs and I began Epo a few days ago.  Socks are just not going to work with him--I've spent over a year locking up all socks for this boy.  Ingestion of socks is more than likely if placed on his feet.   Environmental factors playing into his symptoms.  : (   No way do I want to go to the vet so they can start the " dreaded food allergy lecture and mounting bills"

Any suggestions OR this too shall pass.   The other posts did not look promising. 

The CARPAL Pad it letter E.    

Yucky feet though--I should have taken his picture and posted.  Must cuter feet on a doodle than these feet but thank you Wikipedia anyway

UPDATE P.S.  They are now cracked  :(

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's hard to know if the problem is inhalant allergies or an irritation. But if it's only that one pad on both paws, I'd go with the irritation if I had to guess.
I'd clean his feet gently but thoroughly, keep them dry, and see if the antibiotics help. I hope he gets better soon.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Karen--not giving oral antibiotics at this time. Just drops to the one ear ( same ol' icky ear). I have not called the vet since I was hoping this looked like a burn wound and not the crack wounds I have read about in other posts.

Was kind of waiting to see what this post says about antibiotics, wounds, cracks, and allergens.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I don't have any advice but I just wanted to say that I hope poor Spud feels better soon. Sounds like he has it rough.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

:) thanks Camilla

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I forgot to add--the most important, he is a base of the tail chewer. No open wounds, loss of hair, or sores, but he stops and chews on it regularly.

Maybe it is a dog thing. NOT

[Adrianne Matzkin]

My Beardie had baby soft paw pads when she passed at the age of 13. She ran around my in-laws pool barking like a lunatic when they kids were in it. You can imagine what running on the slate did to her pads. Later that night she can could not walk. When I examined her feet she had huge blisters and split several of the pads open. My Mother In Law called U of P Vet Hospital (they lived in Philadelphia) and their suggestion was to soak her feet on cool plain old ordinary tea bags. It helped to soothe her feet while they healed. Unfortunately, not much could be done except to relieve the pain and socks.

Jo - try to tea bag - certainly couldn't hurt.

[Taylor & Huff]

This has happened to Huff too never tried the tea bags though. Good idea:)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Will do. Used to do this with stray cats when we found them as kids. Acidic reasons? Can't remember why this works--who cares but I do have lots of tea bags here.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Poor Spud. Carpal paw pad--learn something new everyday but there's a nice picture on Wikipedia.Try some soothing salve an sit with him a while while it gets a chance to get absorbed into the pad a bit so you can keep him from licking it all off. A and D ointment or something like it would be worth a try.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

P.S. Went to Wikipedia and retrieved the picture to place in the discussion.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I bought but haven't tried yet a frisbee from the Zogoflex folks. It's called a Zisc. Supposed to not hurt the dogs' mouths so no doubt it would be gentle on paws.
http://www.westpawdesign.com/catalog/dogs/dog-toys/eco-friendly-dog...

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I tried Rubber Frisbees and he will NOT touch them. Must taste funny or feel strange in his mouth? He won't tell me why. :) I did hear that these Frisbees are much easier on the teeth.

Like the above suggestion with salve. Sounds like cuddle time tonight after his school. He is on the NO PLAY command all day. Giving me dirty looks as we speak.

We also taught him the Thump command when he was a puppy. He Thumps --Slams his paws down on the ground. Originally it was to have him crush the bugs and not eat them. He thumps everything now. Don't teach this one to your dogs.