Leg chewing (his legs - not ours!)

[Lumi]

Dylan chews his legs every so often (he's 2 months and a bit). Just wondering what that's all about. I've searched the forum and come across paw-chewing but not so much leg-chewing. They don't look sore - he just has a chomp once in a while. Any ideas? 

[Rachel B]

Could it be that he might have fleas or something?  When barney has an itch he bites away at the spot where he thinks something is.

[Lumi]

It's not that sort of bite - I know the type you mean, like a nibble in one spot (he doesn't have fleas).

But this is his whole leg in his mouth. 

[MrsMac]

Melody does this with her back legs when she's having her usual 'mad half hour' dash round the sitting room at night  She actually does forward rolls and then she has a good yelp at her leg!!!!

[Abby]

Clive used to do this when he was younger (3-4 months especially) but he seems to have pretty much stopped now (nearly 7 months). Unless it's actually damamging the leg, or he seems to be doing it most of the time, or at times of stress, it's probably just puppy exploration! We did have a bearded collie when I was a kid who chewed his paws raw (we now think through stress) but Dylan doesn't sound anyhting like that. He'll probably grow out of it.

[DennyK]

Paddy's breeder said a useful way to indicate (but not conclusive!) whether it's an itch or a habit (like biting your nails or the cuticles I guess) is to gently lift his head away while he's chewing and waggle a toy around.  I've found with Paddy that if it's an itch (when he had dry skin), he's only distracted for a few seconds and then has to chew a bit more, but if it's more of an "I'm bored" habit, which has happened a few times, he doesn't return to it while you're playing with him at all - which is the signal for getting him to do some snuffling round looking for things or running round the house or garden with toys for a while.

[CraftySam]

When my lab was a puppy, the puppy class leader said that if they were chewing their legs around the joints then it could be possible that they were being walked too far and that their legs were hurting a bit.

Don't know if its true, but thought I'd share it with you.

Max, my 1 year old Golden Retriever chases his tale and I'm trying to stop that become a habit.

[janey]

molly is 11 weeks old,and bites(gently)her paws.she is not that gentle with our hands,i can tell you.
she mainly does it when having a mad half hour.if she was still doing it when older,i would be worried,but think it just a puppy thing

[Cob-Web]

I think it might be similar to "chasing their tails" - Molo would pounce and chew his legs as a pup, and I still catch him occasionally watching his back legs - he seems to make them twitch and turn it into a game (but he really is not the brightest of cockers  )

[Lumi]

When my lab was a puppy, the puppy class leader said that if they were chewing their legs around the joints then it could be possible that they were being walked too far and that their legs were hurting a bit.

We only take him out for 10 mins a day walk on Dartmoor (2 months old) - the rest of the time he's in the garden where he's usually tearing around like a loon, so maybe he's over doing that?
It is during his mad moments he does it, like when he wakes up from a sleep and gets a bit silly (usually means he needs to go out) and he starts mouthing stuff. When we tell him off for trying to bite a hand, he's like "well, I was actually just going for my leg, see?" and he puts his leg in his mouth. He chases his tail too. Sometimes we think he might actually be a cat.

Thanks for sharing everyone. It must be a puppy thing but we'll keep an eye on it.

[Nicola]

I wouldn't worry about this too much, it's just puppy behaviour. Alfie does it too, mostly when he's a bit tired as he gets grumpy so he rolls about on his back having a good old chew on his paws and grumble to himself. He also chases and bites at his tail... well I never said he was the smartest dog