Dog chewing his hind leg - help!

[viking]

Can anyone advise please? My Westie has started licking and chewing his hind leg. The skin isn't broken but I'm worried that could be the next step and might result in infection. He's a healthy wee dog and the vet didn't seem too concerned. It also looks unsightly. All advice welcome!

[arana negra]

Our Scally does that sometimes, licks and kinda chews on her sore joints. We are waiting for test results to find out more hopefully.

[viking]

Thanks for that. I'll keep a close eye on him.

[emszxr]

how old is he.

[Liz]

It's a tricky one as dogs will lick and chew if any area is sore ie pain in the leg.

Is he limping at all or does it seem sore if you apply pressure to this leg?

If not, it could be that something has caused an irritation in which case bathing the area with a saline solution may help.

Hope he is okay soon.

[teenybash]

Agree with Liz....you could also try bathing the area with cider apple vinegar which is soothing and safe.:)

[buggyracer]

sounds like he could have skin mites or the likes, i once had a similar thing in one of my dogs, a shampoo and anti-biotic course sorted it quickly from the vet ;)

[viking]

He's 3 years old with no signs of stiffness or pain. Thanks for all the help - much appreciated.

[jings00]

my sister's westie, he will chew and lick his leg, but doesn't seem to be any reason other than he is cleaning himself.(his whole paw will practically be in his mouth!)
my westie will do that now and again, but it's more like he is chewing his nails, just to get himself clean i think.
westies can be prone to skin problems and suchlike though.

[Aaldtimer]

Our Westie chows his feeties aal the time! I think it's a wee nervous habit they have...never any damage done...apart from when he does it on my lap...the troosers get a bit soggy!:Razz

[Miss Mack]

Its possible he could have mites!

[muffin]

Our dog licked his knee until it looked very sore, took him to the vets who gave us some antibiotic tablets and some cream. The dog is no better and we are £40 lighter. He hasn't got fleas or mites, if you find the solution to this problem I would love to know.

[unicorn]

my grandads spaniel used to do this before phantom pregnacies, I think it was a comfort thing when she was stressed.

[_Ju_]

It can be a million things. It could be anything from a mental problem ( eg stress) to a skin problem and passing through everything inbetween the two.
Skin problems are very dificult to treat, epsecially when people want a magic potion or pill that will solve it all. Doesn't work like that....even for us.

As for your itchy westie: they are notorious for difficult to treat skin problems. Don't feed him bits/treats from your own food ( ESPECIALLY CHEESE!). Reduce the frequency you are bathing him drastically (unless he is doing a medicinal bath). Choose a good quality dog food to feed him ( This excludes cans and pouches, by the way- unless a medicinal diet ofcourse). Good animal food is more expensive in the short term but can often solve itchy dog's problems. Ask for help at the pet shop to choose a good quality food and then if it agrees with him, don't go changing it aroiund alot for "variety" (think: in the wild he would eat the same thing almost everyday- if he even managed to hunt everyday). Do all these things, keeping an eye on the area he is scratching (incase of infection) and I bet that you will see an improvement. A slip up (say a cheese cracker) and you are back to the scratching though.

[annemarie482]

really late....i know!
but my dog started chewing his leg and after 5 months of tests for mites, allergies, skin conditions etc it was finally recognised as a sign of mental boredom.
the breeder told me that the dog was lacking mental stimulation as walks weren't enough.
unfortunately my dogs got that bad that for his own health i had to
re home him as i simply couldn't give him what he needed.
he's now a very happy working dog, and no chewing!!

[Stefan]

As for good dog food, I would not recommend asking advice in a pet shop. One of my dogs has been chewing his feet for years to the point where he would take his skin off his pads and limp on raw flesh. No vet found a solution, I tried every expensive food in the pet shop. I got food from the vet, nothing helped. I must have spent hundreds on vet bills and food I chucked away.

Looking for natural remedies I found Burns Pet Nutrition, a natural food for dogs and my dog has stopped biting his paws. He still licks them sometimes but doesn't do any damage.

Highly recommended and if you buy 15kg delivery is free, even to the Highlands !

They now do a new food which is rice free, made with maize, they also do potatoe based food, and it's all dry, so no problems with teeth. They do a hypoallergenic food for dogs with allergies.

I wouldn't feed anything else ever again and I have had dogs for 23 years and probably tried every dog food there is/was.

My other two dogs are also much healthier, fitter and their coats are shinier. When they go to the toilet there is very little to pick up after them and it's firm and hardly smells. Shows how little rubbish there is in the food and how much their bodies are using of the food. It seems that you need less food as with other brands so in comparison it turns out cheaper for me than buying some big name expensive "good" food from the pet shop.

I can only highly recommend the food to anybody who owns a dog.
They also do cat and rabbit food.