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I'm at the end of my tether with his chewing. He's a 3 year old Staffordshire bull terrier cross. For about 2 months he's been fixated on chewing his left back paw. He does this almost exclusively when two people are in the house. If it's just one he gives it the odd lick,but that's generally all. The second someone else comes through the door he starts. And cannot be stopped.
The only thing that distracts him occasionally is a particuarly tempting treat,and even then not always.
Sometimes he just holds the paw in his mouth,other times he sits and makes loud screaming noises.
This started when we got a dog trainer in. We had no problems with this before. He's a nervous dog generally,and excitable,so I paid a lot of money to bring a dog trainer in. I think the whole experience,strange people,and having training discs thrown at him was a sensory overload for him.,and the problem started then. The dog trainer didn't return after two sessions,but that's another thread.
We took him to our lovely vet yesterday who said he has a skin infection,and gave us steroids and antibiotics for him. She agreed it's partly anxiety too,and recommended a pheremone collar which we've ordered.
The vet recommended ignoring him when he chews,we'd been putting a soft muzzle on him for short periods of time to stop him chewing, as it seemed to let him relax,but now he knows how to get it off. Bitter apple has not helped.
The problem with ignoring him is that he's making it red and sore by chewing it. So I don't feel that I can do that all day either.
Does anyone have any tips or advice? How should I react to him when he's chewing/sucking his paw in order to help minimise the problem?
TIA
The only thing that distracts him occasionally is a particuarly tempting treat,and even then not always.
Sometimes he just holds the paw in his mouth,other times he sits and makes loud screaming noises.
This started when we got a dog trainer in. We had no problems with this before. He's a nervous dog generally,and excitable,so I paid a lot of money to bring a dog trainer in. I think the whole experience,strange people,and having training discs thrown at him was a sensory overload for him.,and the problem started then. The dog trainer didn't return after two sessions,but that's another thread.
We took him to our lovely vet yesterday who said he has a skin infection,and gave us steroids and antibiotics for him. She agreed it's partly anxiety too,and recommended a pheremone collar which we've ordered.
The vet recommended ignoring him when he chews,we'd been putting a soft muzzle on him for short periods of time to stop him chewing, as it seemed to let him relax,but now he knows how to get it off. Bitter apple has not helped.
The problem with ignoring him is that he's making it red and sore by chewing it. So I don't feel that I can do that all day either.
Does anyone have any tips or advice? How should I react to him when he's chewing/sucking his paw in order to help minimise the problem?
TIA