Paw licking?

It could be an allergy, it could be boredom, it could be a "tick" in his personality. Look at his feet between the toes, look for infections, smell the feet, they should smell like popcorn.

I know, it's odd... but they do smell like popcorn(unless ofcourse they ran through fecal matter of whatever kind). Some Neo's smell like vinegar on the muzzle, just at the stop, between the eyes.

i've got two allergic dogs at home and if the licking is due to an allergie, your dog will lick alot almost fanatic. the white fur on the paws (if your dog has any white fur there) will turn red if your dog has red fur there the fur will turn dark purple, the paws are moist between the toes and the skin there will have turned red, they will smell (i don't know if i would describe it as popcorn though), light claws will turn red to puprple and almost black beginning at the socket of the claw, the dog might get dinges between the toes that will get infected and become open sores. all those are symptomes of athlete's foot, which dog's get when having allergies, mostly against some food source, propably a proteine source. if your dog is allergic to something he eats he might aswell have stomache troubles such as diarrhea, he might have thin fur on his head or pimples between his legs and/or in his face. however, your dog will dislike you taking or touching his paws trying to draw them from you grip, if the licking is due to athlete's foot caused by an allergie. a blod test and a scrape test on his skin can determine if it is an allergie and what kind of allergie it is. but licking and athlete's foot can also be due to if a lot of salting is done on the roads (against ice and snow). if it is the case that they use a lot of salt in winter (if you have any snow where you live), than the problem will disappear in spring. during winter time you should wash you dog's paws after every walk in that case. if it's because of boredom try to activate you dog a bit more ;)

My Bulldog licks her paws, mostly in summer though, contact allergy to the grass and everything else outside. It's gotten better over the years, used to be so bad, there was white stuff (pus) in between her toes, and she's had a couple interdigital cysts, had to go on antibiotics for those.

Very nice post LillSophie. I would like to add that red staining and skin can also be a result of the licking solely. It is when it is combined with the other symptoms you mentioned (reddish build up between toes and discolored nail at the cuticle) that it is from the yeast infection. The ultimate etiology should be dealt with, but you can do a simple foot bath to treat the fungus. Some dog do lick to the point of self-mutilation. One thing not mentioned is nervous system issues. Some dogs, like humans develop disc and vertebral issues. Spondylosis (arthritic changes of the vertebrae) can pinch different nerves. Common symptoms for brachial plexus pressure is obsessive front paw licking. I know a Doberman who has this issue. An intuitive owner saw his behavior changes in his work and his new paw licking habit and contacted a Vet. Now with NSAIDs and regular adjustments, he is fine.

when we got the allergie diagnosed and could start to treat it (changing food) we found that our male got calmer. before he would bark and whine alot without obvious reason - he could drive us crazy with his whining on occasions. but other behaviour changes didn't occur in our case - ok well, he got lazier and wasn't as grumpy against other dogs as before. before changing food, we tried all kinds of differend treatments both directly on the skin and pills without success. the only result from all those treatments is that our male now flees the room in panic if one holds/takes/brings a small bottle. the only thing i can recommend a little is a 10 minute (foot)bath in warm water with soap made of liquid palm rosin in it (not more often than once a week). that helps against small skin issues and the itching in the paws, but only if you are treating the allergie.

our dogs lick their paws after bath aswell, they also franaticly lick our legs after we have taken showers/baths, so i think that this is rather something not to worry about. but keep an eye on his paws just in case, as you say. our male has learned to stop licking his paws on command. i want to keep his paws as dry as possible since he easily gets fungus there even though he gets his special food.

keep us updated

How large of a dog? Have you given him anything yet? How old exactly is this dog? I know you mentioned its been going on for a couple of months, what state do you live in? Can you correlate it with going outside? Also when did you make the food switch exactly also?

Dogs and people can develop sudden allergies to stuff they've been fine with all along. My dogsitter said that her vet told her that Benadryl isn't that effective for dogs, and the more popular antihistamine now is Reactine. I would strongly suggest a blood allergy panel to get an idea of what your dog is reacting to. I did one on my Bulldog, and was worth the $500. I'll bet that is cheaper in the US. Here's her panel:

All they need is a blood sample for this test, i think all vets should offer that. My bulldog cost me over $12000 in her first 4 years for vet bills, $500 is chump change to me LOL It's not a perfect test, but i found it a good guide especially when choosing the best food. I used to have my bulldog on benadryl or chlortriplon, but it never really helped. Also tried Evening primrose oil supplements, accupuncture and prednizone. Last year, i said wtf and didn't put her on anything. her allergies seemed better, will see how she is this summer...

Usually these RAST and ELISA blood allergy tests are sent out to labs, so most Vets can do this for you. Just a note, most of the blood based allergy tests were developed for humans, therefore there is a high account of false positives. It is a good idea for a general idea of allergenic triggers, but not to be taken definitively.

Thanks for the info and- I am Sorry for my delayed responce. I forgot this %$@^ computer at work on Friday! Glad to hear the dog is clearing up. Have you then kept it off of grass since then? One thing I wanted to mention is it also could be a Different type of plant that was in that field that set him off...