His paw is a chew toy!

One of our dogs Licore, chews on his paw. He is 6 years old. He chews on the same paw each time. He treats it like a chew toy. You can hear him across the room. We have had the paw looked at by the vet and x rayed. Nothing. If you try to pull him off of it he just goes right back to crunching. The only thing that seems to help is putting a sock on it. Then it is like taking away a chew toy. Out of sight, out of mind. Any ideas??? LL

That's usually a nervous trait, like biting your fingernails, and you know how hard it can be for someone to stop doing that! Try putting bitter apple on it and giving him a good bone to chew on instead.

Renee is right, it is a nervous thing.
My Chihuahua does the same thing. I try putting a bandaid on it and she just goes and chews on another paw. It's really frustrating because I can't get her to stop.

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I would also agree that maybe putting the sour apple on the paw might detour the chewing. I used to bite my fingernails, and it is a terrible habit to break. Good luck.

If you do not have chemicals applied to the carpets which can cause discomfort,or other situation similar to this,what you have here is truly obsessive compulsive behavior! I am no expert on it but have seen many dogs suffer from it. I had a pest control customer who had a shephard that literaly lick the skin off both front paws! If my memory seves me right, the dog was put on some form of anti anxiety drug and the owner was instructed to find more ways to occupy the dogs time, walking, toys and tasks like fetch items etc. I persoally would try the time thing before the drugs, but that is just me. Maybe start teaching a trick when you notice the chewing and the distraction may be enough. My expertise is not here and I want you to know this! But I always try to find alternatives to meds.Just trying to help, Brent

Jersey does the exact same thing with her back left paw. She gets it so far in, we laugh, sometimes and she just looks at us like, "What's so funny?!" We keep a close eye on it, but she doesn't chew it very hard. I think it's a comfort thing for her, like thumb-sucking. If it goes on for too long, we'll tell her to stop chewing, and she usually falls right to sleep!

To all the owners of dogs with this behavior. Does the dog have tasks or "tricks" that are enjoyable? If so, try distracting the dog on a regular basis by getting the dog to concentrate on a task, it may not cure the problem but may help to allow the feet to dry etc. I would rather feel it were boredom than a psychological issue, just my feelings. I would like to think it could be fixed without drugs but if not ,let the doggy shrink fix it. Good luck to you all with this problem. Brent