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Dog licking paws and tummy excessively, with red irritated skin?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 1 year and 4 months old | 16 lbs

My dog has been licking her tummy excessively, as well as chewing on her paws, and hips. She has irritated spots on her tummy that are bright red. No blood, or open wounds, but the skin is very red. She has the same thing beneath her paws. I put 50% apple cider vinegar on the affected areas. It calmed her down, but she still continues to lick the areas.

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on June 16th, 2018

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 5th, 2016

    Fleas can be sneaky, and a dog will often have fleas without the owner seeing them. Another cause of this itchiness includes allergies, which can be common in Basset Hounds. I would take Rosie into the vet in the morning. The vet can use a flea comb to see if she does have fleas, and can do blood tests to determine if she has allergies. Once a cause is diagnosed, the vet can prescribe a treatment.

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