HELP, my dog is eating - Page 1

i have an 11 yr old dobe that has been chewing his toenails back to his paw. and leaving a bloody mess. has anyone heard of this?

Being that he is 11 and just starting this... my bet would be on allergies. My female started chewing her feet and stomach and scratching her ears when she developed an allergy to poultry. Allergies to beef are quite popular too. And after switching to Lamb and Rice or something the dog isn't allergic too... it still takes a month or so for them to get the allergin out of their system. Best of luck.

my friend has this with her dog and she had to put it on vitamin P. Some ace might help in the short term til you figure whats up. Benadryl if you think its allergy for the short term til you see a vet

Definitely you will need to use an Elizabethan collar to prevent this behavior and to allow the wounds to heal. Some dogs start licking and chewing an area and once it is weeping serum or blood they will just keep doing it and won't let it heal. This sort of thing can go on for literally months, but don't let it go that far. Use the collar. Your dog will hate it, but he'll get used to it pretty quick.

No Eliz. collar is needed..unless she is mutilating herself!!! We have a female who has severe allergies and does this. Her paws itch so she bites and the circle continues. Because she also has a heart problem, we cannot give steriods. This is usually the first choice of treatment. We now use a spray of antibiotics and steriods. I spray it on and she is good. You can also keep her paws clean by soaking them at least once a day. I was told this is an inhalant allergy or a seasonal. Hope this helps...

he is mutilating himself, he's chewed one nail down to the toe. it pulsate blood until i hold pressure and stop it. and 10 min later he licking and chewing again. he has chewed both middle toe nails on his hind feet

This may not be an allergy. Based on the age of the dog, it may well be that the dog is experiencing burning, itching or numbness in the foot and he/she may have some sort of neuro deficit beginning or on-going. It would be important to get the dog to a vet who is good with neuro issues. Unless that is ruled out, or something very obvious is on the foot the dog is chewing, I would be very concerned that this is the beginning of some neuropathy, or possibly a sudden injury to a nerve or disk. If that is the case, time is of the essence to treat it. Is it a single paw on the hind quarters? Has the dog been to a vet? And yes, you must prevent further injury, even if you have to use an e-collar, and for gsdlvr2, there is no such thing as vitamin P. Good luck.

its the middle 2 nails on both back legs. he doesn't bother the front paws or the outside nails on ths back legs. just the 2 middle nails on the back legs. he has not been to a vet yet. we'll be there 1st thing monday

I would suspect a degenerative condition of the spine causing some sort of loss of feeling, stinging, tingling etc. The right thing is to take this dog to a good vet as soon as possible. In the meantime, do what you can to stop the chewing. Good luck.