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My dog is licking and chewing his paws raw. What's the cause?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Australian Shepherd | Male | unneutered | 1 year and 2 months old | 38 lbs

My dog has been licking his paws and paw pads a lot recently. Just noticed he had chewed on his carpal pads enough to open them up. What could cause him to do this?

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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 July 24th, 2019

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

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2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Other Answers

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

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 28th, 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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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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