My Dog Keeps Licking His Paws a Lot - What Should I Do Now?

Okay, so, my dog, Max, he's a golden retriever, and lately he's been licking his paws like crazy. It started a few weeks ago, just a little bit here and there. I didn't think much of it at first. I was Thinking, you know, dogs lick their paws. It's what they do.

But then, it got worse. He was at it constantly, morning, noon, and night. I'd be watching TV, and all I could hear was slurp, slurp, slurp. I started to get a little freaked out.

What I Did First

First thing I did? I checked his paws. I thought maybe he stepped on something, or maybe he had a cut or something I couldn't see.

• I looked between his toes, spread them apart, really got in there.
• I felt around for any bumps or lumps.
• I even sniffed his paws (don't judge), to see if there was a weird smell, like an infection.

Nothing. His paws looked totally normal, at least to me. Clean, no redness, no swelling. This is the first thing that I inspected. I found nothing.

Then I Googled It... (Of Course)

So, naturally, I turned to the internet. I Googled "dog licking paws excessively" and, oh boy, did I get a lot of results. Everything from allergies to anxiety to boredom popped up. I felt Overwhelmed.

I read through a bunch of articles and forum posts. Some people said it was food allergies. Others said it could be environmental allergies, like pollen or grass. Some even suggested it was a behavioral issue, like he was stressed or bored.

Trying Some Stuff Out

Based on what I read, I decided to try a few things:

• Changed his food: I switched him to a limited-ingredient dog food, just in case it was a food allergy. This took a few days to get, and I slowly mixed it in with his old food.
• Wiped his paws: After every walk, I started wiping his paws down with a damp cloth. I figured maybe he was picking up something outside that was irritating him.
• More playtime: I tried to play with him more, take him for longer walks, just to see if maybe he was bored and needed more stimulation.

The (Slight) Improvement

Honestly, the food change seemed to help a little bit. He wasn't licking quite as much, but he was still doing it. The paw wiping didn't seem to make much difference, and neither did the extra playtime.

Finally gave up and went to the vet

After a week or two of this,I tried everything myself,but it didn't seem to work, so I gave up and took him to the vet. Better safe than sorry, right?

The vet checked him over, asked me a bunch of questions, and said it was probably allergies. She gave me some medicated wipes to use on his paws and recommended a special shampoo. She also suggested I might want to see a doggy dermatologist if it didn't improve.

And Guess what? The shampoo and wipes the vet gave me,Worked!After I tried it for a few days, it improved! I'm very happy now.

So, that's my story. It was a bit of a rollercoaster, but I'm glad I finally figured it out. If your dog is licking their paws a lot, don't panic, but definitely don't ignore it either. Check their paws, try some simple things, and if it doesn't get better, go see the vet!