Does anyone else have a baby who hair licks?

[:o)rosie:o)]

Does any one else's baby's lick their paws/legs? Rosie does this somtimes at night to her right leg. I used to think this was b/c she was bored but after checking her legs several times I noticed that the nail that is further up her leg was red like a sore on the skin underneith the nail. I've heard of other Maltese that do this. We're going to the vet tonight so i'll ask then. Has anyone else experienced this?

[abbeys-mom]

Hi Rosie,

Abbey went through a phase where she would lick constantly at her paws. I learned from this board that it could be mites, or fles, or a irritation of some kind. I kept the area clean, and she stoped. I also heard that it can become an obsessed behavior, where they lick out of habit, and this can cause sever infection and irritation.

Hopefully your vet helped.

Let us know what happened.

[:o)rosie:o)]

Well we went to the vet last night & I told him about the sore. He didn't seem to think it was annything to worry about (couldn't see anything) , same for the actual licking. I'm going to keep an eye on it though because I dont want any infections. I'm pretty sure this may be just a habit that she has developed. I think she may lick because shes bored but no one is playing e.g late at night when I've just got back into bed form taking her to the toilet. When she does lick I try to stop her by covering her paws where shes licking. Any suggestions on how to stop this would be great!
BTW thanks Abbey'smom

[ShowandAgilityPaps]

The answer to your "why?" can be a number of things. Many dogs lick from allergies. Another explanation could be stress or boredom. The pink that you are seeing is probably from bacteria. It's the same thing that causes a dog to have stains around the eyes. I would suggest washing his feet as often as possible and applying bitter apple if you have to because some dogs will lick themselves raw.

Best of luck,
ana and the Papillons

[pinkyrat]

OR MAYBE HE HAS OBSESSIVE COMPUPSIVE DISORDER.