My dog chews his paws until they bleed. Is it allergies or anxiety?

Question

Hi, I’m here regarding to my concerns about my dog. He is a white miniature poodle, 2 years old. This issue has beeen going on for a while, he tends to chew and lick on his paw to the point where it bleeds, not like to the extreme, but it does stain his paw, he started with one and now he starting w the other one. I know they do get anxious which leads them to doing that but I’m worried that it can be more serious. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Pet's info: Dog | Miniature Poodle | Male | unneutered | 2 years and 1 month old | 20 lbs

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

My dog chews his paws until they bleed. Is it allergies or anxiety?

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