Practical Solutions for Common Dog Paw Problems!

Back from a walk and Halle’s dog paw is signaling an injury. Here we go! Keep her in the foyer. Prepare a cleaning solution and some towels. Vish gets the dog cut treatment jelly with some gauze pads and some treats.

Ok now, let’s see what’s bothering her paw.

Paw checkups are almost automatic at our house. Walking back home staring at Halle’s feet for any potential dog paw problems and the ground for red markings along the stone path. We’ve been taking extra care of her dog paws since she was a rambunctious bouncing puppy. She’s had plenty of misfortune surrounding her cutesy feet. I use to say to myself “Ah, maybe she’ll grow out of it! Maybe it’s a puppy thing.” Not quite. She’s nearly 4 and her paws (like her pink belly) are still super sensitive so we have to give them extra special dog care. Incidents happen every few weeks.

Your dogs paws are super special. Inspecting them regularly and perhaps including the ritual to your dog grooming routine is a good idea. It doesn’t take long and it’s worth the extra effort. The benefits for dog and owner are plentiful. Not only will you get more familiar with handling your dog but you’ll also increase and strengthen your bond. Plus you’ll foster a greater awareness of your dog’s essential needs and you’ll be quicker at spotting any future dog injuries. As well, your dog will become more comfortable with being handled if you practice regularly.

Bonus – it prepares you both for when a dog paw problem does occur. You’ll both be much more confident and ready for the situation.

Dog Paw Injury Treatments

Here’s a series of in-home dog paw injury treatments you can safely perform in the event that you notice your dog engaging in one or all of the following:

- Lightly limping (make sure nothing is potentially broken)
- Excessively licking or nibbling his paws
- Pausing or walking slowly
- Bloody paws or marks on the ground
- Pain and discomfort
- Sense of urgently wanting to hide or to be left alone
- Or (like Halle) walking on tiptoes with great distress

Chances are your dog may have a paw-ouchie! Poor thing! The first step is to remain super calm and asses the degree and type of injury. Invite your dog to a peaceful location. For easy convenience you can also quickly back-tie him to a door. Your mission is to give him an examination so you can quickly locate, evaluate and properly treat the affected dog paw without overly stressing your already anxious animal.

Whenever you’re working up close and personal with your dog or whenever you need to temporarily restrain your him, always do so in a calm compassionate fashion and always have yummy treats on hand. This will allow you to get your job done peacefully and keep you pup’s attention on the goodies, not the injury. We keep a small metal container with a trail mix of treats handy in the closet right by the front door for such situations.

Words of Caution!

The treatments that I’m covering are only for minor dog paw problems that typically don’t require professional assistance. For any other situations please consult your holistic vet to reduce any further distress and health concerns.

If at any moment you don’t feel comfortable treating your dog paw injury yourself or you know something’s wrong and you can’t seem to pinpoint it and you’d prefer to have it checked out by your vet, then go for it! Do what it takes to get your pup happy, healthy and back on track.

Properly evaluating the injury will not only make things easier for you but will greatly increase your dog’s natural healing process and shorten his recovery time.

When using essential oils, I urge you do your own research first before applying any to your pet. There are many things to keep in mind including dosage, quality, combinations and freshness of your oils. It’s very important to always dilute your essential oil with a carrier oil like sweet almond before applying it to your dog. I highly recommend if you’re going to be using essential oils therapy on your dog to find a therapeutic grade, hand made, small-scale producer to insure the purest product.

Cuts, Scrapes and Punctures

- First thing is to pat dry and apply slight pressure on the affected area to control the bleeding (if bleeding).

- Flush the cut with fresh clean water or a saline solution (mix ½ tsp. of salt with 1 Cup water). I also add a couple of drops of Tea Tree essential oil to help prevent any infectious organisms.

- Remove any debris like hair, gravel, dirt and sticks that surround the cut. That will greatly lessen the chance of infections.

Next step is to help the skin in the healing process. You can use any of the following soothing agents:

- Apply a Calendula (herb) cream or lotion. Saturate a clean gauze pad and apply it to the wound. Bandage the area if needed. Calendula’s natural properties help to heal and close skin rapidly – excellent healing tool to have around the house.

- If your dog is overly stressed, I like to use Lavender essential oil because it’s both soothing on nerves and skin cuts and scrapes. It has amazing healing and calming properties. Another huge favorite of mine.

- Aloe Vera Jelly is another excellent choice in stimulating healing for dog cuts. Apply a few beads to the affected area and let it do its magic.

As a rule of thumb, if your dog’s cut is smaller than ½ an inch, you generally don’t have to get your dog checked by your vet. Unless it’s a puncture wound, because you can’t predict how deep the actual dog cut really is. Dog paw pad insect bites are somewhat rare unless your dog unintentionally happens to step on a bee – yikes! If you suspect your dog has been bitten by an insect, a quick vet consultation is definitely a good idea.

Burns, Sores and Blisters

- Immediate cooling is required to calm the delicate tissue. Soak and submerge your dogs paws in cold water for at least a few minutes – 5 to 10 would be recommended if your dog allows it. Very gently pat dry with a clean towel that doesn’t leave any residue.

- Prepare a solution of cold water and a couple of natural mild soap drops to flush and disinfect the affected area. Again pat dry very gently to avoid any additional skin irritation.

- Apply any of the soothing agents that I mentioned above: Lavender, Calendula or Aloe Vera jelly.

Cracked Pads

Cracked pads are generally due to a poor diet, a particular nutritional deficiency or an environmental side effect. If you notice your dog has consistently cracked pads and he’s regularly bothered and gnawing at them I have some great solutions you can try.

An immediate action you can take is to simply increase your dog’s daily water intake. You can also add some vitamin E or Omega 3 fish oils to his diet. If you’re going to be supplementing your dog’s diet, look for Holistic dog supplements instead of their synthetic cousins. They are of much higher quality in terms of ingredients and processing. For a greater, in-depth diagnosis consult your holistic vet so that you can locate any nutritional deficiency and help restore your dog’s natural balance.

In northern areas like here in Canada, our harsh winters can cause our dogs paw pads to seriously crack and bleed. Especially when walking on salted sidewalks. Booties and a good protective natural paw balm are excellent. Essentially the goal is add moisture to treat and heal cracked pads. Again if you’ve tried the above with no luck consult your vet for a thorough examination, there may be a more serious underlying health problem taking place.

Post Treatment Care

Give your dog a break from the everyday exercise routine. You want his body to rest and focus on the healing, not the playing. Monitor your dog and reduce any hard playing and zooming around for the next couple of days to allow the body to repair. Sometimes it can be a challenge if you have a “Hurricane Halle”. When an incident happens, we tend to remove all her balls and toys and give her more quiet time in her crate because unfortunately “lil’ missy” has NO off switch!

Keep your eye peeled for any unusual signs that something might be going wrong with the injury. Look for any signs of swelling, lack of appetite, lack of sleep, sudden fever, lethargy or any sudden change in character. In these cases don’t hesitate – make a trip to the vet just to rest your worries and make sure your dogs cut isn’t potentially infected. A waterproof bandage, dog booties or a thick clean sock wrapped in plastic can also be applied for weathery days and potty breaks.

When Halle was a pup we played fetch in a local parking lot that had 50% greenery and 50% concrete. No matter how carefully we threw the ball or Chewber Tug’n Toss, Halle always managed to turn it into a dramatic chase scene with added (and often unnecessary) bounces, flips and airtime, running back with swollen blistered up paw pads.

Prevention Prevention Prevention

Save yourself the hassle and take good care of your dogs paws. Our pups spend 2/3 of their life on their feet, protecting them and keeping them healthy is a must. The best way to keep your pups paws in top shape is of course, prevention. Unfortunately, with Halle we learned this the hard way. No more playing chase on hard surfaces. No more running on gravel. Awareness is key if you want to protect your dog’s delicate feet.

Every now and then, when we’re on the ground playing or while grooming Halle, I’ll gently grab each dog paw and carefully press in between her toes and pads, looking for anything unusual. We also give them a quick check when she voluntarily offers her paws for a swift wipe when she comes in from outdoors.

Regularly apply natural oils, balms and lotions to keep your pups pads healthy and crack free, especially during winter months. A good trick – put your dog in his crate for a few minutes to allow absorption after an application so your floors don’t end up all balmed up.

There are many other dog paw irritants that can cause some serious trouble to the delicate fours. Unknown chemicals, dog allergies, bacterial infections, harsh household floor or carpet cleaners, footpad diseases, insecticides or pesticides immediately come to mind. I strongly urge you to use a healthy mix of common sense plus the techniques outlined above and advice from your canine doctor.

Always stay a step ahead to insure happy, healthy dog paws for life. Please share your thoughts, puppy paw woes and comments with us in the space below. Hope this guide serves you well!

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