It has taken everything I have not to lose it at the dog. I've been yelling NO NO NO NO NO every day. I know it's not her fault, but I've been so so triggered by her incessant and insistent LICK LICK LICK CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP. Plus I'm an introvert and I still find her presence suffocating. I was this close to throttling her little neck or kicking her across the room while sweeping her face away from her paws. I had to make myself do a time-out, and review my own attitude. I'm not clueless. As long as it's not solely a medical issue, I can train this dog myself and modify her behavior. Finally, I put her in the hard plastic cone for most of her waking hours. It comes off only during walks, meal-times, and supervised chill-out sessions. The cone deters her from too much licking. She can still get at her paws, but it makes it harder to do so.
Choya's licking is compulsive. I realized that she does it during her usual grooming sessions, which can go up to six times a day (after meals, after walks, after naps and two random ones). WTF. That's one too many. Oddly, she doesn't chomp on the paws in the nights or when we're not in. We should be thankful that she chomps on her paws (not her body) in front of us.
When you google 'why dogs lick paws' and how to stop the habit, you get ten thousand hits. It can be one of the most frustrating habits to break (among many others); it has to be broken before it develops into a compulsive disorder and acral lick granuloma/dermatitis set in.
The vet examined her paws and legs. He cleared and eliminated food allergies, fleas, mites, ticks or broken bones/nails or deep cuts. He isn't one for meds until it's necessary. Yay! He advised us to continue what we're doing (diluted povidone iodine and a colloidal silver spray). He said it'd be likely the soaking of paws would have to be done daily, and there won't any negative effects to soaking paws in diluted iodine, beyond staining her paws a bit brown-yellow. I'm fine with that—it's more or less her coloring anyway. Hahahaha.
When my weekly helper comes, the dog and I sit in the patio so as not to get in her way. I can easily supervise the dog. In fact, I've been sitting out in the patio a fair bit so as to train the dog—need to spend a fair chunk of time doing 'Redirect and Substitute'. The moment she licks a paw, she gets shoved a chew toy. The itch is clearly not that bad because she gets tired of this 'game' and goes to sleep in about ten minutes. She has her two favorite chews from Nylabone (courtesy of Aunty D who cleverly chose what remains her favorite shapes to violently chew on), designed for power chewers in a petite size because she likes to hold her toys.
The other day I shoved her edible chews, just for a twist to 'Redirect and Substitute'. These can only be chewed on the patio and not inside on the carpet. She has a habit of chewing her toys while on the carpet because it provides traction. To my surprise, the braided pork tendons from Rawring Treats are a hit with the dog. It takes her a total of an hour to get through it. However, she doesn't chew on it for the hour straight. She chews on it with gusto for a good 15 minutes, takes a break, then chomp for another 15 minutes; she'll nap, then get back to chomping later on. This edible chew is certainly more satisfying than the regular Nylabone. It occupies her for the entire afternoon till our evening walk. Perfect. I'm going to repeat this afternoon many many times till she gets it.
Choya's licking is compulsive. I realized that she does it during her usual grooming sessions, which can go up to six times a day (after meals, after walks, after naps and two random ones). WTF. That's one too many. Oddly, she doesn't chomp on the paws in the nights or when we're not in. We should be thankful that she chomps on her paws (not her body) in front of us.
When you google 'why dogs lick paws' and how to stop the habit, you get ten thousand hits. It can be one of the most frustrating habits to break (among many others); it has to be broken before it develops into a compulsive disorder and acral lick granuloma/dermatitis set in.
The vet examined her paws and legs. He cleared and eliminated food allergies, fleas, mites, ticks or broken bones/nails or deep cuts. He isn't one for meds until it's necessary. Yay! He advised us to continue what we're doing (diluted povidone iodine and a colloidal silver spray). He said it'd be likely the soaking of paws would have to be done daily, and there won't any negative effects to soaking paws in diluted iodine, beyond staining her paws a bit brown-yellow. I'm fine with that—it's more or less her coloring anyway. Hahahaha.
When my weekly helper comes, the dog and I sit in the patio so as not to get in her way. I can easily supervise the dog. In fact, I've been sitting out in the patio a fair bit so as to train the dog—need to spend a fair chunk of time doing 'Redirect and Substitute'. The moment she licks a paw, she gets shoved a chew toy. The itch is clearly not that bad because she gets tired of this 'game' and goes to sleep in about ten minutes. She has her two favorite chews from Nylabone (courtesy of Aunty D who cleverly chose what remains her favorite shapes to violently chew on), designed for power chewers in a petite size because she likes to hold her toys.
The other day I shoved her edible chews, just for a twist to 'Redirect and Substitute'. These can only be chewed on the patio and not inside on the carpet. She has a habit of chewing her toys while on the carpet because it provides traction. To my surprise, the braided pork tendons from Rawring Treats are a hit with the dog. It takes her a total of an hour to get through it. However, she doesn't chew on it for the hour straight. She chews on it with gusto for a good 15 minutes, takes a break, then chomp for another 15 minutes; she'll nap, then get back to chomping later on. This edible chew is certainly more satisfying than the regular Nylabone. It occupies her for the entire afternoon till our evening walk. Perfect. I'm going to repeat this afternoon many many times till she gets it.
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