Why My Dog Licks His Paws — How To Fix Dog’s Paw Licking
Hello, It’s Marvellous from millennial pets and today we’re going to be talking about why some dogs constantly lick their paws. Constant paws licking can drive both the owner and the dog absolutely insane.
Lots of clients ask me why is it that “My dog paws licks its paws so much”
and the answer is there are lots of different types of causes. Some are medical and others are behavioral.
So as a Vet the first thing I do when a dog comes in constantly licking its paws is trying to figure out the medical cause for this behavior. Once we’ve ruled out any possible medical causes then we say this is behavioral and we look at modifying that behavior.
When dogs come into the practice with this common complaint, the first thing we’re going to do is examine their paws and look at the interdigital spaces, this is the space between the dog’s toes. If this area is red or swollen, inflamed, or hot to touch or if the skin is bumpy, there might be a local irritant such as a grass allergy or even a grass seed abscess or it might be an infection such as yeast or bacteria, fungi or other parasites.
Skin allergies and ATP are a really common cause of Poteau dermatitis and interdigital dermatitis. These dogs are prone to allergic reactions all over their skin and some have a particular problem with their paws. This is one of the most common causes we see in practice and it can be the trickiest one to treat.
Little abscesses can also appear in this region and they can make the dog feel really uncomfortable which is the reason for this constant licking and even if the irritating cause is no longer present the dog can lick and scratch and create a self-propagating cycle.
Think of yourself when you get bitten by a mosquito, it’s often the itching and scratching that causes more damage than the bite itself and dogs do this all the time, it’s known as piyo traumatic dermatitis. It’s where the dog creates leisure and get secondary infections from the bacteria in yeast that live on the skin.
In Australia, grass seed abscesses are also common. This is where a grass horn tracks in under the skin creating a foreign body reaction and often we need to go to surgery to remove them and so that’s some of the medical causes of dogs constantly licking their paws, but if none of those are taking place your vet might be confident to say this is behavioral.
Paw licking can be a habitual behavior, it might be something that your dog does when they’re feeling bored or relaxing. Well, some dogs do it when they’re stressed or feeling separation, anxiety. when their owners aren’t home. Other dogs chew their nails, this is something my dog used to do when I go out.
Behavioral modification to stop your dog licking its paws requires time patience and consistency.
Physical restraints such as an E-collar which is the bucket that vets put on dog’s heads to stop them from getting to places like stitches and to their paws can be very effective.
Alternatively, you can get topical products, it tastes terrible, and that acts as a good deterrent. Distraction is always a good technique too if you see your dog chewing its paws, distract him, get out a treat or a ball or take him for a walk.
If your dog is only occasionally licking their paws, I’m talking a couple of times a week, don’t worry about it, it’s likely just them grooming, nothing to worry about but when I say excessively licking their paws, you’ll know what I mean if you have a dog that does this, they’re just constantly licking their paws day, night, doesn’t matter, sometimes it’s a seasonal thing, often you’ll notice that their paws or between their toes, the skin is really red or wet,
you might even see some open wounds for dogs with white fur, often that fur is stained., it’s a nice brown color from the saliva from them licking up so much.
So the most common reasons why our dogs lick their paws a lot is either behavioral, so they might be really bored if they’re at home alone all day, they’re just so bored that they’re kind of licking themselves to entertain and to pass the time or alternatively they might be really stressed, so anxiety can cause excessive paw licking and the other really common reason why dogs lick their paws a lot is allergies. So either allergy to fleas allergy to something they’re eating or an allergy to something in the environment that we call ATP.
Causes Of Paws Licking In Dogs
While it’s normal for dogs to groom their paws every now and then, too much licking is often indicative of an underlying problem, don’t let your dog's paw licking get out of hand. Sometimes it can become an addictive habit that is difficult to eradicate.
We will be looking at several reasons dogs may lick their paws
1. PAIN
If your dog suddenly starts licking his paws, this can be indicative of pain especially if your dog is licking only one paw. When the licking is limited to one paw, then this often suggests that the source of trouble is right there on the paw, the pain in that area can be caused by anything such as wounds, insect bites, a thorn, a piece of embedded glass, a broken nail, etc.
If you do not see anything, don’t just ignore it, take your dog to the vet for further evaluation.
Sometimes there may be something going on at a deeper level such as a muscle sprain or some type of inflammation or fracture especially if the licking is accompanied by limping.
2. ALLERGIES
Chronic paws licking is often attributed to allergies that can be caused by food, the chemicals in the yard, carpet cleaning products, weeds and so much more. For example, if your dog is licking his paws after walking, then the itching is likely caused by pesticides found in the grass or by the grass and weeds themselves. Clean your dog’s feet with a wet wipe after going for a walk
to prevent further irritation.
Finding the real cause of the itchiness can be a frustrating ordeal, it may take some investigative work to figure out what your dog is allergic to. Your veterinarian may put your dog on a food trial if food allergies are suspected.
Left untreated, excessive paw licking and chewing may cause
scrapes and opportunistic yeast infections to set in.
3. BOREDOM
Modern times have created an environment of boredom for dogs. Once used to walking and hunting for up to 10 hours a day, dogs today are often left at home in a small yard or worse in a crate for many hours a day. High-energy dogs may become frustrated and often engage in destructive activities
that may include excess licking and chewing of the paws.
4. ANXIETY
Anxious dogs often try to find relief by licking themselves excessively. The causes of such anxiety may vary and range from separation anxiety to obsessive-compulsive disorders.
In this way, paw licking or chewing is similar to human nail-biting, if the licking becomes compulsive and excessive dogs, may lick themselves raw and develop unsightly ulcers often referred to as lick granulomas.
It is still not completely understood whether lick granulomas are triggered by anxiety or if they are the cause of anxiety. It’s a sort of chicken or egg scenario.
5. HORMONAL IMBALANCES
When a dog has a hormonal imbalance, he either produces too much cortisol otherwise known as Cushing's disease or doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone hyperthyroidism which causes red spots balding and brittle hair.
Licking these irritated red spots or bald patches can lead to secondary infections. A thyroid test can rule hormonal imbalances out.
6. PRESENCE OF PARASITES
Fleas can cause severe itchiness that can lead to compulsive licking and chewing. In most cases though, dogs will also lick and scratch other areas of the body. The condition can get even worse if your dog is allergic to fleas.
Demodex mites are other pesty parasites known to cause annoying infections in a dog’s feet.
The presence of mites can be ruled out by having a deep skin scraping done by your vet. Other causes for flicked inflammation and licking in dogs include hookworm, infestations and
pellagra infestations
7. WALKING ON SNOWS
If your dog only licks his paws during the winter, then the cause may be de-icing salts. The salts used to melt ice on driveways and roads can lead to irritation and chemical burns on your dog’s feet.
Avoid areas that are sprayed with the icing products or give your pet boots to wear when going outside during the winter. You should also keep a bowl of warm water and a towel near the door so you can wash off your pup's feet and prevent them from ingesting the toxic salts.
Ice balls can sometimes form between the hairy toes when the snow gets caught in the fur. It can lead to cracking, bleeding, and irritation. Keep hair between your dog’s toes trimmed short during the winter.
8. OTHER POSSIBLE CAUSES
Dogs may also lick their paws due to several other possible conditions such as autoimmune disorders, a foreign body embedded inside the footpad, and in some cases even cancer such as melanomas squamous cell carcinomas and mast cell tumors. Sometimes, a real cause is never found despite extensive
testings and that refers to these cases as “Idiopathic.”
What To Do If Your Dog Is Excessively Licking Its Paws
So I will strongly recommend seeing a vet if you are having an issue with your dog licking their paws a lot, the reason being is that both behavioral issues and allergy issues are not going to go away by themselves and unfortunately very unlikely to go away with anything that you yourself can be done at home.
If you’re not able to go into a vet straight away, you probably want some ideas for what you can do at home to provide your dog with some relief. If your dog has any raw open wounds please don’t do anything without consulting a veterinarian, we don’t want to create any more problems for that
skin and we also definitely don’t want to add anything to that wound that’s going to cause them any pain.
So chat to your vet if you’re noticing any open wounds around the paws but if you’re just noticing that the dog’s skin is really red and just looks irritated, no wounds but just looks red or if there’s a lot of first staining from the saliva, what you can do at home is use an Epsom salt bath.
So go to your local Walgreens or supermarket, pick up some Epsom salts that you might may itself use on in baths and what you want to do is fill a tub, either a bathtub or a bucket that you know your dog is going to be able to fit in. Fill it with water a couple few inches high just enough to cover their feet, warm water and then you want to dissolve say half a cup one cup of Epsom salts just enough so that it dissolves into the water and then soak your dog’s paws for a good 10 to 15 minutes and that will provide a lot of nice soothing relief for the skin and reduce their desire to lick quite as much at least over the short-term.
If though you have a dog like my lovely Wizzy, who will not tolerate hanging out in a bath for that long, the next best thing you could do is still get that Epsom salt solution, so you know, fill a small tub with some warm water and Epsom salts and then just put a washcloth in and use that washcloth to kind of dab between your dog’s paws or if they’ll tolerate it and place the cloth
between your dog’s paws or around where that irritated skin is, that’s not quite as good as a long soak but it will help to provide some soothing relief at least for the short term.
A lot of people recommending apple cider vinegar these days, it’s a really great product for a lot of other things. Does have antibacterial agents, anti-yeast agents that can help address some of the issues but please don’t use that until you chat with your veterinarian. Apple cider vinegar can really sting wound so I don’t want you applying that without the confidence that’s not going to cause any pain for your dog.
One of the things I want to tell you is any type of ointment, sab or cream that you were applying to your dog or cat’s paws may temporarily reduce the itching or licking but it doesn’t manage the issue long term and most importantly, once the medicated aspect of that cream or sab is gone, all you have is a GU usually petroleum-based that actually provides a foundational
substrate or growth plate for yeast and bacteria to replicate.
So I’m not a big fan of putting ointment on itchy spots on a dog itchy paws. I’m a huge fan of irrigation therapy which is naturally disinfecting the whole paw, you will not be able to get in all of the crevices around the nail beds, around each individual toe, pad, and paw as well as in the fur with a washcloth.
So the best thing you can do to help relieve itchy paws is to do
whole paws foot soaks.
You can use a coffee can, you can use a rubber made sweater tub, you can if you have a small dog, you can fill your kitchen sink up with little water or your bathtub, you can add betadine which is povidone-iodine an all-natural organic solution, you can buy it any pharmacy or health food store.
Povidone-iodine is wonderful because it kills yeast, kills every type of bacteria. We actually use it in a surgical scrub but it’s safe, totally safe if they lick their paws but it kills off everything but it’s very very soothing.
So by you adding povidone-iodine to shallow foot silk,
you’re going to make the water about ice tea color, you’re going to have your pet stand in there for 30 seconds or so to help kill off all those secondary bacterial as well as remove yeast, you’re going to lift your paws out and then pat them dry.
You doing intermittent foot soaks throughout those summer itchy months or some of the best ways that you can reduce that intense licking and chewing that not only drives you crazy watching them but helps provide tremendous relief to your itchy pet.
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