Dog Paw Injury
Dog Foot Problems

Dog Licking Paw and Foot: It's very easy for a dog's foot to get cuts if the dog has walked over an area with broken glass etc. and cause a dog paw injury or a foot problem. When this happens, it causes the dogs paws to bleed a lot, however it's important you don't panic when this happens in order to not make your dog nervous. Put a clean cloth over the wound or wounds pressing on it to stop the hemorrhaging. Never try taking out the pieces of glass or foreign object that is stuck in the dogs paw, doing this can cause more hemorrhaging and/or make the lesion worse. The wisest thing to do is take the dog to the veterinarian right away. Usually when these types of accidents occur it's necessary for the veterinarian to give the dog stitches and apply general anesthesia. If the cut is very deep and it has affected the nerves, it will take awhile for the wound to heal and the veterinarian will probably tell you that the dog cannot walk on that foot at all. Antibiotics are also prescribed in these cases in order to combat any infection that could have appeared as well as to prevent other infections. Believe it or not but a broken nail can also cause a dog a lot of pain, limping, and irritation. It's very important to keep an eye on the size of a dogs nails since they can snag and break. If your dog has a broken nail, you must cut it to relieve the pain to avoid the dog from getting more lesions. If the quick of the dog has not been affected, the dog's nail will grow back again. There are occasions in which one or more nails get infected because of bacteria, a virus, or a fungus, or the beginning stages of cancer. In these cases the diagnosis is not easy, and it's usually necessary for the animal to get a biopsy.