Bit of a scare today

[jonnytrabant]

Harry is a 5 month WCS. He's an absolute joy. Went out today for our usual walk. I normally walk him bout 30 mins off The lead then about the same off, I know it's more than the '5 minute per month rule' but I have made it known about my feelings about that previously. This morning however I took Harry on a new route off the lead and where there were loads of shrubs, bushes etc you know the sort Cockers love and boy did he love it, scurrying about, sniffing widely and that tail of his, I thought he was going to take off. Also had a paddle in a lake which has been formed due to the recent weather. A good time was had by us both........ Till we got home. Harry suddenly turned into this demonic monster, running around the house, and generally going wild. When I went near him he had a go at me and was biting frantically at all of his paws, first thoughts were he had something in them a thorn say, but all four?? Hardly. Anyhow I gave him a biscuit and hoped he'd settle. No way, he just got worse in fact I thought he was going to injure himself after hurling himself full throttle into the French doors and the crying, so loud. After about 30 mins, time for the vets, luckily I live 2 mins from the vets and got him to see Neil the vet straight away. Neil checked him throughrally nothing in his paws, no broken bones all the time Harry was crying so hard. And the diagnosis? Sore paws, they were all inflamed and very pink and the poor soul was in such pain. Neil gave him an anti inflamitry and a seditive to help him sleep which he is as I write this.

In conclusion Harry from now on will be not out as long and deffinately staying away from really thick bushes shrubs at least till he's older. I feel a bit crap, for ignoring all the warnings posted on here about walking young pups. Thankfully his bones are fine, he's just got sore feet.

If I have learned one thing, is our pups are so fragile at times and like children they don't know what's good for them at times.

[jobartlett]

Oh my.....Poor Harry and poor you too.  I hope that he is OK and that his paws are settling down.

Keep us informed

[jaybee]

Hope he feels better soon

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Could his sore inflamed paws be a reaction from pesticide/something in/on the bushes?

[Bibby]

How scary for you both! Hope he feels better when he wakes, poor chap

[Pearly]

sounds like you both need a    hope Harry's feet are back to normal after his snooze x

[piph]

Hope Harry feels better soon.  Sending gentle squishes for him when he wakes up. 

[8 Hairy Feet]

Yikes does sound like a scary
time but he's ok now, chalk
it up to experience!
Cocker snogs to Harry from Ellie
(She likes a toyboy )
steffxxx

[jonnytrabant]

Thanks folks your replies mean a lot.

That's an interesting point Dipsy, about pesticides, though I doubt it as he was mainly in thick under growth, not farm land. I just think it was an error of judgement on my behalf and not appreciating how delicate his little paws are.

I have always said, that they are tougher than we give them credit for, maybe it's because my dog has super confidence but it just goes to show they can be very vulnerable while they're young or any age for that matter.

He did wake a bit before and had a bit clean, but was crying while he did it, and now he's back asleep. I'll keep posting on his progress

[jonnytrabant]

Also having the vet, 2 mins walk from my door, was a godsend and of course seeing him straight away.

[Bibby]

Please do keep us posted, do you really think it's just too much walking? It sounds to me like there must have been something that affected his paws

[piph]

Just one point - do you do any pavement walking with Harry?  Pavement walking toughens up their pads quite quickly, as long as it's not for too long while he's little.  Ozzy's pads were very soft and delicate until recently because his walks were always straight onto the grass in the park behind our house, and we have a gate straight into it at the bottom of the garden.  It's not very well drained, however, and becomes a quagmire during wet weather, so last week he had several days of 20 min pavement walks - he was fine afterwards (no sore paws) and his pads are already feeling a little tougher.  I'm going to continue one pavement walk every day from now on to continue the process.

Modified to add - It's just occurred to me that we had something similar happen years ago to our collie/lab cross - it turned out that she had disturbed an ant's nest and been bitten by the ants on all 4 feet.

[jaybee]

Interesting, similar thing to what you described happened to Bingley after we took him for a walk along the canal for the first time.

[HelenS]

Cupar displayed the same behaviour after nettle stings !!!! Running around ,up and down stairs, biting and scraping his paws and generally going mad. This has happened on 2 occassions but the old Piriton settled him.

[Patp]

I hope Harry is feeling better soon.

I agree with the others and that ants, pesticide or nettles could have been the cause rather than over walking (I am with you on that one).  I now nettle stings in spring can be very distressing and in some cases very serious to animals.

Jinley had a sore paw a couple of weeks ago and I remembered the day before stopping to chat with somebody who then informed me they had put some granules on their drive to kill the weeds!  Although I washed her feet, I must have missed part and she started to lick her foot between her toe.  After bathing in hibiscrub for the week and applying some steroid cream it was fine but it was a lesson learned!

It will be interesting to see how quickly he recovers, presuming if it is a reaction to something, he will be fine later today whereas paws sore due to overwalking will take longer to heal??

Let us know how he goes.

Pat