How do I stop my dog from chewing his leg?

SalsaVerde

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#1
I'm at the end of my tether with his chewing. He's a 3 year old Staffordshire bull terrier cross. For about 2 months he's been fixated on chewing his left back paw. He does this almost exclusively when two people are in the house. If it's just one he gives it the odd lick,but that's generally all. The second someone else comes through the door he starts. And cannot be stopped.
The only thing that distracts him occasionally is a particuarly tempting treat,and even then not always.

Sometimes he just holds the paw in his mouth,other times he sits and makes loud screaming noises.

This started when we got a dog trainer in. We had no problems with this before. He's a nervous dog generally,and excitable,so I paid a lot of money to bring a dog trainer in. I think the whole experience,strange people,and having training discs thrown at him was a sensory overload for him.,and the problem started then. The dog trainer didn't return after two sessions,but that's another thread.

We took him to our lovely vet yesterday who said he has a skin infection,and gave us steroids and antibiotics for him. She agreed it's partly anxiety too,and recommended a pheremone collar which we've ordered.

The vet recommended ignoring him when he chews,we'd been putting a soft muzzle on him for short periods of time to stop him chewing, as it seemed to let him relax,but now he knows how to get it off. Bitter apple has not helped.

The problem with ignoring him is that he's making it red and sore by chewing it. So I don't feel that I can do that all day either.

Does anyone have any tips or advice? How should I react to him when he's chewing/sucking his paw in order to help minimise the problem?

TIA
 

Maxy24

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#2
What if he has access to other chews? Like bully sticks, nylabones, hooves, Himalayan chews, etc. Does that keep his attention off of his foot at all? Try feeding meals out of toys so at least that occupies him for a while.

It would be ideal if you could get down to the source of the anxiety. Is it a particular person that causes the anxiety, or just that he doesn't like hustle and bustle? Does he have access to somewhere quiet he can go when he wants to be alone? Is he getting enough exercise and mental stimulation so that he's not wound up all day?
 

emc

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#3
How about wrapping his paw in a soft cloth then he would busy trying to get that off.
 
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#4
Poor guy :(

This certainly sounds like it caused the skin infection and not the other way around. It reminds me of several feather plucking parrots and cribbing horses at the animal sanctuary I work at. They have anxiety, etc.. and pick/lick/chew to control their own situations.

Have you tried a DAP diffuser or a thunder shirt? I definitely second the suggestion of giving the dog a 'safe-zone' it can retreat to in times of stress. Keep a crate in a quiet place and cover it.

Try a kong filled with peanut butter or something similar so he can satisfy that urge to lick without having to lick himself until you can help work with finding his trigger.

If commotion/people trigger his behavior can you work on showing him company is a good thing? So he learns his favorite stuff happens when visitors come over?
 

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