Chewing & licking paws at 10 weeks old?

[Jess & Stewart]

Stew licks & chews his back paws, sometimes until they are very wet. He doesn't seem to be in pain & isn't constantly licking. I wipe all his paws after we come in from outside with a wet washcloth. Even if he doesn't need it, it'll get him used to sitting and having me grab his paws.

He has his next vet appt this Saturday for another checkup & second round of shots. I'll be sure to ask her about it. Any reason why it's only his back paws? I also haven't given him a bath yet, I still need to get puppy shampoo. Could I dilute regular Pantene shampoo & use it until I get puppy shampoo? It would mostly like only be once as I have Amazon Prime & receive orders very quickly.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Did you check underneath? Doodles have webbed paw pads. It's almost like a pocket sometimes when it comes to catching and storing debris
Things: mud, pebbles, burrs get stuck under there. Gently work your fingers between his toes and see if you find anything

[Ginger LeMasurier]

What are you feeding? One of our labs had a problem with licking her paws at night and we found that the food we were feeding contained wheat. Might ask the vet about that. Also check the length of her nails. Our dogs hate it when they are too long.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

At 10 weeks, a puppy hasn't been eating any food long enough to have developed a sensitivity to it. Wheat is a really lousy ingredient and I would avoid any food that contains it, but it's extremely unlikely that a 10 week old puppy would have developed any type of food sensitivity. And you wouldn't see a histamine response in the back paws alone. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wouldn't use the Pantene. Human shampoos don't have the right Ph for dogs, and especially for such a young puppy with a possible who may have some type of skin irritation, the Pantene may make it worse.

When you wipe his paws with the wet washcloth, do you dry them thoroughly afterwards? Leaving them damp can encourage yeasts to grow.

[Jess & Stewart]

Yes, I do dry them. I squeeze any excess liquid out on a towel, then towel dry them more. I try to get in the toes also. I don't use a very wet washcloth, just damp. I didn't find anything between the toes also.

I'll ask the vet if he continues to do it over this week. Now, I'm just more concerned that I didn't do enough crate training. He's fine at night & whenever he's sleepy & I put him in his crate, he's fine & goes right to sleep, but he doesn't settle down in it during the day. He barked for the whole hour he was in it today. I put him before I would need to go to work, then left to do laundry like I left for work. As soon as I came back, he was immediately quiet once he saw me. He did mess up the blanket over the crate & his mouth/beard was wet. He was fine once he was out though. Karen-is this separation anxiety or just not used to being alone?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maybe someone else can answer the question about the crate issues, but I doubt that has anything at all to do with his licking his back paws. 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

From my experience, no puppy will always like being in a crate, especially when he can see, smell or hear his momma, even in the next room.  But he will get used to it and settle in.  My guess is your pup was quiet most of the time he was crated while you were out of the house, but once he heard you return, he started to bark. (if you were in hearing distance, yes, maybe he did bark-but you have to stay firm).  To me, this is not separation anxiety, just normal puppy stuff.  He will get used to being in there when you are not home. Are you giving him something safe to chew?  Treat filled Kong?  I would not make an issue when you let him out either.  Just open the door and get on with your routine.  I've read many of your posts, and it seems to me you are doing fine!  Relax and enjoy your cutie pie!  

[Jess & Stewart]

Yes, I don't make any issue of coming or going. I leave when he's occupied by a treat. I tried to do my morning routine today. We got up at 5:15, took him out to pee, played a little, then fed him at 5:30. He pooped at 5:45, then fell asleep from 6-7. How do I keep him up, so he's really tired at 7:30? I need to leave for work at 7:30, so I played with him, tried to exercise him hard, then did a training session. It's hard to exercise him when it's just us in my apartment. He seems to sleep a lot! He went in the crate after a treat, he only gets his snuggle puppy in the crate. I gave him a greenies & left while he was eating it. I went down to our basement to do laundry. Was down there for an hour to adjust him to an hour at a time until I get to the 4 I will be away at a time. He started screaming while I was halfway down the stairs. When I returned, he was still screaming. He stopped as soon as he heard me walk in, I went to him when he was quiet & let him out. He whimpered, but stopped as soon as I said "quiet". I guess that's good, right? That maybe he knows what the word means.

I have a kong but I think I got a size too big, I'm not sure what to put in it. I feel like it would encourage him to go in the crate. He's never gone in the crate, which is great!

Hopefully he just needs to get used to me being gone, since I've been home for the past 2 weeks.

[Heather]

Just wanted to mention that whatever puppy shampoo you get, you should have Johnson baby shampoo to use on his face. You don't want to burn his eyes and it's Gentle. My groomer Always uses that on their faces. :)

[Tammy and Violet]

Violet is chewing on her hair on her front paws now as we speak ...not  good for her to do and eat her hair.. I just gave her a shin bone now do chew on ....well that lasted 1 second ...