Why does she do this?

flurrydor

flurrydor

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Three times in the past month our 3yr old lab has nibbled big holes in the pads on her rear paws, twice on the right and now on the left.

We rehomed her at 11 months, she was a trainee gundog who did a cruciate at 7 months, and then wasn't wanted. The then owners had the leg repaired and caged her for recovery, a total of about 4 months - so when we got her she was a foot chewer. But she got over it.

A year ago she did the other cruciate, and had surgery. We managed the recovery without caging and we had no problem with foot chewing.

I think she has a pretty good life. She is almost never alone, but because she is a double cruciate we have to manage her activity. She gets one big off lead walk per day ( 1-2 hours), and 3 or 4 shorter ones. I also try to do 10 /15 mins of training a day with her and she goes to hydrotherapy once a fortnight.

This foot thing is a problem because it makes her lame, and puts more stress on her repaired stifles. She is also a very sensitive soul, so anything like this really upsets and unsettles her. She is not good with pain.

If anyone had any suggestions or help I'd be so grateful.

Thanks for reading this.
 
Allergy, habit (boredom from cage rest that has now become ingrained) or stress/self-comforting, which is kind of related. She may not realise she is causing herself the pain, and continues to self-mutilate to make herself feel better. Or externalising something she can't reach that may be causing her discomfort internally.

As exercise is an issue (although that sounds like a tonne of exercise), I'd see if there is something you could do for her brain, finding exercises, teaching her lots of tricks, tracking etc.
 
Thanks CC- I was hoping you would answer.

I just hate to think of her self mutilating to make herself feel better. The foot chewing had gone away and I'm racking my brains to think why it has returned in the last month.

In the 10/15 mins a day we practice tricks (she a has quite a repertoire) and she is fab at find the tennis ball.

I don't think it's allergy because there's no inflammation or redness.

I'm at a loss.
 
Dobiegirl said:
This is almost like her default setting, CC suggestion of brain work is good and I would also give her frozen kongs and bones to satisfy her urge to chew.
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Thanks DG. I'll get some bones from the butcher. Because of her leg history we have to really watch her weight and she is a terrible pig. Will the bones add lots of calories?
 
It could be anything, dogs feel stress in a completely different way than we do x

Also allergies don't always come with redness or inflammation, there could be a really irritating sensation somewhere else that she cannot reach.

Allergy could be anything from washing powder to pesticide to flowers or trees.

Don't you wish they could talk!

You could replace one or two of the shorter walks with another session of training and never do the same thing over and over again, break all the cues and always mix things up for her.

If you're worried re weight, treat the bone or the stuffed Kong as her meal and let it replace a bowl of kibble. My young one gets all his food through 'work' - a Kong full of minced chicken or tripe, a bone he has to chew, or kibble from my pocket during training.
 
No the occasional bone wont add calories but why not give her her normal feed in a kong, if its kibble wet it and stick it in the freezer and this will keep her occuppied for a long time. This and the brain work will occupy her but not if its an allergy, I would give this a try first before you go down the vet route.
 
CaveCanem said:
It could be anything, dogs feel stress in a completely different way than we do x

........
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Absolutely right. Strangely they can display stress in very similar ways to us too, and self harm can be one of them. As has been suggested, some form of mental stimulation may be of help. As a suggestion, and if she has a strong retrieving instinct, then how about giving her some detailed search work to do? The type of work that is the forerunner of drugs or bomb work. It starts with a toy, and as the dog becomes more experienced, so the tasks can become harder. The results can be quite spectacular, and good fun too!!

It may not be the answer, but in most cases, self harm is an expression of frustration. Good luck, and if you give it a go, will you let us know how you progress?

Alec.
 
I_shot_Santa said:
Absolutely right. Strangely they can display stress in very similar ways to us too, and self harm can be one of them. As has been suggested, some form of mental stimulation may be of help. As a suggestion, and if she has a strong retrieving instinct, then how about giving her some detailed search work to do? The type of work that is the forerunner of drugs or bomb work. It starts with a toy, and as the dog becomes more experienced, so the tasks can become harder. The results can be quite spectacular, and good fun too!!

It may not be the answer, but in most cases, self harm is an expression of frustration. Good luck, and if you give it a go, will you let us know how you progress?

Alec.
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If she was doing gundog stuff before, you could try getting hold of some artificial training scent and using this (just because she may already know and want to find the smell). You can apply it to a toy, and then later to a scrap of cloth that you can hide just about anywhere (Henry once found the cloth when it was hidden inside a DVD case!).
 
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