Itchy feet driving my boy mad AFTER walks???

[Monty Mumma]

Hi all,

Does anyone else find that their dogs feet seem to really bother them AFTER they get back from walks?  Monty has always seemed to suffer from this and it is always directly after going for a walk, no other times.

He goes absolutely mad and he will kick his back legs out and then run around and kicks them out (same as when they kick grass up after going to the toilet).

I have tried washing his feet thoroughly after walks but this does nothing - what is it???

There are no sores or cuts or anything, being a cocker he has lots of hair inbetween his toes so he has extra protection for his pads, i just cannot work it out.  It goes away after a few hours but he gets quite stressed and licks his feet and just can't settle.

Please help!

[Nicola]

It sounds like something he is walking on is irritating his paws. Do you always walk in the same place? Paw irritation is fairly common and can be caused by a lot of things, it can also vary depending on the time of year. Is he like this year-round or do you notice it more at certain times? Causes at this time of year could be a reaction to salt or grit on paths and roads or just irritation from having snow and ice balled up in his feet. At other times of year harvest mites, grass seeds, nettles and grass and pollen allergies can cause foot irritation. You could try bathing his feet in a solution of dilute Hibiscrub and making sure it gets worked in between his toes and pads. If that doesn't help you could try giving him a child's dose of Piriton and if that stops the symptoms then it's likely he's allergic to something and it would be worth speaking to the vet. If nothing makes a difference I would probably take him to the vet to see if they can spot anything on his feet.

[Monty Mumma]

Thank you nicola for your advice, I have in the past given him half an anti histamine tab but i don't like to give it to him too often.  He's been fine whilst the snow was here and today it had been really raining and alot warmer, he got v muddy and wet so came hime and had a bath but this has been the first time for weeks it has bothered him, summertime it is nearly every day they bother him.

Might try rubbing vaseline onto his paws before we go out to see if that prevents it.

thanks again.

[babushka]

My dogs always get this and it's down to nettles

[Helen]

My dogs always get this and it's down to nettles

Jarvis suffers too but the frost and snow has killed them all off here so it's been a lot better 

You could try paw wax - when Jarv suffered from nettles badly I would give him 1/2  a piriton before the walk as it takes about an hour for it to kick in, put paw wax on and then go for a walk....and it worked fine.

You could also bath his paws in warm water with bicarb soda in it afterwards as this helps stop the itching and soothes.

[supaspaniel]

 I dip their paws in vinegar or tcp solution for nettles ...that works for us

[Teddy Cosdon]

Thanks to this forum we bathed Ted's feet with bicarbonate of soda and gave him half a piriton; within half an hour he had calmed down as opposed to behaving like a distressed whirling dervisher.