Our dog has taken his habit of licking and knawing at her paws to the next level, she harms herself...?

It could be a fungal infection or a neurological condition that causes constant tingling/itching. We had a dog once that had lived through distemper (before they had vaccinations) and the fever was very high and caused neurological damage and caused her feet to tingle and she was chewing them off -- she had to be put down as there was no way to make it any better and she was literally eating herself - it was very sad. I hope your dogs is something curable like a fungal infection -- it can take a lot of time and diligence on your part though... good luck...

add: The cone thing might make you feel better but imagine if you were her and you had a foot that itched horribly all the time and you were not allowed to scratch it.... itching is actually categorized in health care as 'discomfort', same as pain - I have had neurological damage to my leg that caused tingling/itching and I would have preferred pain to what it was like...

It may be anxiety especially if there has been any drastic change in your household like absence of a family member or pet, or even if you have moved around furniture which can sometimes confuse and agitate an animal giving way to nervous habits.

It may also be allergy or skin mites, and I highly recommend seeing a vet for a second opinion or if it is of very high concern consider consulting a pet psychologist.

Good luck in finding your answers/reasons. ^^

She most likely has allergies (most likely from grains such as wheat and corn, or protiens such as chicken, beef, lamb or pork) that are manifesting themselves in a contact or wet dermatitis or fungal infection. Smell her feet. I bet they have a bad odor.

My dog has food allergies that cause him to get yeast infections between the pads of his feet. We've got his allergies under control now, but for a while I had to wash his feet everyday with a speical antifungal (yeast is a fungus) shampoo.

You should talk to your vet about allergies, and consider switching her to a grain free, alternative protien food. It will be somewhat expensive but worth it. I'd stay away from Science Diet ZD as it contains a few common allergins. We didn't see much of an improvement in my dog's allergies until we took him off that food.

There are many good foods available at specialty dog botiques/pet stores. My dog is on a grain free protien free dehydrated raw food made by The Honest Kitchen (Preference). They also have a grain free, turkey food (Embark). We supplement with frozen raw diets as well (for the protien).http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/index.shtml

Since switching him to Preference a year or so ago, we've discovered that he's allergic to wheat and corn (he reacts w/in a half hour!) and possibly rice and oats. We stay away from the 4 most common protiens I listed above and use things like goat, bufflao, rabbit, phesant and duck as alternatives.

I encourage you to do some research and talk with the employees at a locally owned pet shop that sells high quality food. It's a pain in the butt at first, but it's worth it. Your dog will thank you for it.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me through my profile.

Try UC Davis for diagnosis, they are the best. (In Sacramento) We had a German Shepard that would chew holes in her front paws mostly (dishes, wrapped socks around, towels) she would chew through it all.

Bless her heart part was nerves the rest was she actuaclly had exta bone marrow that was painful. After eight years of not being able to help her we had to put her down. Good luck.

Has her diet changed? Is there anything different in her living environment(more stress, new people, ?) Could she be walking in/on something that is irritating her feet? Has the amount of excercise or mental stimulation she gets changed? Border collies need to keep busy, especially their minds. If not, they will find ways to keep themselves busy, somethimes with OC behaviors.

JK

Many dogs chew their feet because of allergies.

What food are you feeding? That may be the culprit - but environmental, and airborn allergies are always a factor also.

Could be any of those or a combination, but it is probably an obsessive habit at this stage. You may want to try a different OCD med as there are several out there. Clomicalm, fluoxetine (can't remember brand name, but it is the same as prozac), amitriptyline, etc.

we have a 10 year old staffy cross at work who in the past year has developed the same problem which is due to allergies, something she'd never suffered from before.

we can't work out what it is due to, and she has to go on courses of steriods to treat them on a regular basis.

we found that a cream obtained from my naturopath is the best thing on a daily basis and keeps the skin from worsening and also helping to heal.

i'm not sure what it's called or made up of, but i really suggest looking toward alternative therapies to help in addition to treatment from your vet.

it could be a combo of things. allergies or anxiety started her chewing it, and now it's a habit / more anxiety that prevents her from stopping.

i'd get a second opinion from another vet.

My dogs does the ideal comparable concern im uncertain why. on the start i assumed she in basic terms enjoyed her paws sparkling yet then she began to bite so i enable her lick them yet i scold her whilst she bites because of fact she is hurting herself. i'm hoping your dogs going to be ok.