Excessive licking/lick wounds

[gerty]

I have an 11 year old GSP. Over the years, when bored in the winter months, he seems to open up wounds on his lower legs/feet by excessive licking. When summer rolls around, they seem to fade away for the most part. This year seems to be worse than usual. I have tried everything to get him to stop, but nothing seems to work. Looks painful and I am worried about infections. Any one else have this problem? Anything worked to get them to stop licking?? Any help is appreciated.

[charliepete]

Have you sprayed his wounds down with bitter apple? They make stuff to prevent thumb sucking that is also a good deterrent. Have you thought about coning him until the wounds heel?

[PartyWhine]

I'd guess your dealing with an alergy.

Made worse by general dryness and lack of snow cover.

Pine pollan can affect their feet.

I'd be careful with the bitter apple and open wounds.

Ever have a mosquito bite on your ankle ?

The kind you just can't ignore ?

If the dog has self inflicted open wounds, I'd consider getting

a steroid from my vet to knock down the itch.

You can also give dogs Benadryl ... but I think you might be past that,

atleast for this winter.

[Eric Wettschreck]

My GSP/farm dog mix did the same thing. At first I didn't think that much of it but over the past couple years it got pretty excessive. I posted it up in here and a lot of guys said he may have some type of allergy. I looked and looked and looked and could not find any little critter crawling around on him so I figured I better take him to the vet and let her take a peek at him.

Turns out there were fleas in his dog house outside. According to the vet (I'm not a bug or dog expert) the fleas jump on, grab a quick snack, and jump off. I thought it was weird but she's forgotten more than I'll ever know about animals. So, a couple doses of Frontline and a good bombing of the dog house and my living room later, no more licking and the dog is back to his happy cat killing self once again.

[gerty]

I have tried the bitter apple stuff in the past. He seemed to lick that too. I am thinking of changing his food to see if that helps from an allergy standpoint. Haven't thought about fleas. He is an outdoor only dog. He is real close to being due for his annual check up so I will have to see what the vet has to say.

Thanks for the responses.