Pull / Chew the fur in paws

[Hazel & Chester Wayte]

Chester sometimes tugs or chews at the fur between his paws. I trimmed the fur a little to try and stop it. But they still seem to bother him. We have our first appointment with the groomer this week so perhaps that will help. I inspected the paws and don't see anything. Does anyone have any ideas as to why he would do this?

[Diane, Baker & Oskar]

"They" say it's due to allergies.  Baker did this quite a bit when he was a young puppy, we switched foods until he did it less & less.  Now that he's 2, the foods we removed when he was younger (chicken, etc) don't seem to bother him now.  The hair will stain from the saliva & turn brownish red if they chew their paws enough.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If he were older, I'd say he may have allergies, as licking, chewing, and biting the paws is one of the most common symptoms. But it would be very unusual for such a young puppy to have allergies. Is the fur between the pads darker or reddish brown in color?

[Barbie]

Hercules, my Portie, did this when I first got him. His paws also smelled - like really bad. I took him to the vet and he had an infection between the toes (he has webbed feet too). So, you might want to have your vet check Chester's paws to rule out an infection. You may not smell an odor at this point. Hercules' infection was really bad and he apparently had it a while - to the point that it became smelly.

[Hazel & Chester Wayte]

He is 12 weeks..The fur in his paws isn't darker or reddish brown - it is lighter colour.I don't smell any bad smells.

We are transitioning him to different food Orijean so I will see if that seems to affect it. It is often first thing in the morning that he seems to this.

I am starting to experiment with what I feed him- Watermelon,bananas and yogurt so maybe I should hold off until I can determine the causes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It would be extremely unusual for fruit to cause an allergic reaction in any dog, and again, an allergic reaction doesn't happen the first time the dog is exposed to something. So I wouldn't worry about giving watermelon or bananas. Yogurt is a dairy product, and some dogs do have trouble with daity products, but again, he would have to have been eating it for a while to have an allergic reaction to it.

If there's no staining and no smell, it doesn't sound like there's an infection. I'm really at a loss.

[Hazel & Chester Wayte]

Thanks for the help..I am going to keep my eye on it- Maybe the switch to orijen will help.

[Eva]

What about contact allergies to something like grass? Not sure though. Good luck

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Grass allergies are typically inhalant allergies, it isn't contact with the grass that causes the itching, it's inhaling the pollens. And this is the wrong time of year for grass allergies anyway. Plus, again, the puppy wouldn't have had a prior season's exposure to the allergens, which would be necessary in order to have developed an allergy.

[Hazel & Chester Wayte]

After our visit with the groomer she trimmed the fur in his paws and they are quite red..and sore looking around the pad.

not sure if it is heat spots??She suggested we make sure that we dry the paws really well.

She put some calendula gel on them.

We are going to the Vet first thing tomorrow. they don't seem to be causing him too much stress at the moment.

(Just me). When I looked at them I guess I didn't dig deep enough :( 

 

[Jane Smith]

My Ethel does this too, and it wasn't until I cut the hair between her pads that I saw how bad.  It is hot spots, and it's important to keep their feet clean and dry.  I was even told to put Gold bond on their feet, but haven't yet.  I will look into the gel you mentioned.

[Hazel & Chester Wayte]

The verdict from the Vet is Moist Interdigital Dermatitis. Suggested that we soak in Epsom Salts twice a day. We didn't want a course of antibiotics (Or antibiotic cream.)

We are doing that and if it doesn't clear up then we get the antibiotic cream. They also recommend ensuring they get dried well.

We were talking to someone at a Doggie Health store in Lunenburg and they recommened Miracle Dust- so we will try that first. I think it is like Thornit powder - similar ingredients.

Thanks for all the help.. and suggestions.. I guess my initial question didn't belong on this group. At first I was thinking it was a quirky behavior until it became intense.