Okay so I usually check Mishka's feet to make sure they aren't dry or cracking or anything. I have never found any issues with them. Well this morning I noticed him chewing on his foot and when I went to see what he was doing I noticed there was an area that was peeling sort of. He was chewing off a piece of loose skin from his pad.

They aren't bleeding nor have I noticed him favoring them or anything but he has them on both of his front feet on the big pads. I'll keep an eye on them but is there anything I should do to make sure they don't get worse?

Right paw.




Left paw.





And his face after I messed with his feet for so long. Lol.



Thanks guys!

There is another thread on this, I just don't know where it is. This happened to Siku's paw last Spring, and it was recommended to put Vitamin E oil on it, and then I covered it up with Musher's Secret and it healed really quickly! I would recommend trying that, other than that I have no idea what causes them since I doubt the tar is that hot in your area right now.

Ditto Erica's remedy. This happened to Bode last year too. It healed up fine with no issues.

is it in the same spot on both feet? looks like it, that seems odd. when it has happened to our 2 its been from long days hiking on the rocks or if a thorn or pricker got stuck and infected and they were messing with the pad. as well as the above suggestions you can try epson salt baths on the feet as well.

I tried searching but came up with nothing. I have vitamin e and musher's secret so I'll try to put that on and hope he doesn't lick it all off.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, Jenn, they are on the same place on both feet. We did go on a nature trail twice this week and we normally walk the neighborhood which is mostly concrete but this has never happened before. Unless it's from the dog park Sunday which is just weird.

simplify wrote:

Yeah, Jenn, they are on the same place on both feet. We did go on a nature trail twice this week and we normally walk the neighborhood which is mostly concrete but this has never happened before. Unless it's from the dog park Sunday which is just weird.

I would say from the dog park. Does he run the fence at the dog park or chase other dogs a ton? Sadie did that to her feet last spring other than she actually wore through the skin and it was just big bloody holes on the big pads of her front feet pretty much in the same spot. Now Sadie is an addicted fence runner so I think that's how hers got to bad so fast.

We were at the dog park for 25 -30 mins tops and we had noticed her taking a few stiff steps but then she shook it off and was back to running. When we were loading in the car we noticed they were bleeding and rushed her to the vet.

The vet said it was pretty common that dogs feet would get soft over the winter because they are out as much and the concrete is covered with snow for most of it. He said he sees a few cases every spring and with mild ones they are not a big deal just need to take it easy for a few days but because Sadie had run the skin of her feet clean off in two places we put her on antibiotics and pain medicine and had to wrap her feet for a week and go easy on her for two weeks. We also had some power medicine we used but that was because of the extent she hurt her feet.

Poor girl. He does run a ton. He loves to be chased. He doesn't run the fence though. As far as his feet getting soft in winter, we don't get snow. Lol. And we still walked nearly every day though. But it's possible it could have been a factor.

Thank you for sharing your experience!

Lycus had something very similar recently on both his front paws as well. I think it was from the dog park too. That's where I noticed him limping on one foot and our dog park has no grass :/ just dirt and some gravel. I did the same remedy as above, and I've been making sure that I put mushers secret once every week or two and it hasn't happened since.

They look like they're already healing up really well. It's really common for the pads to break off like that when the dogs run a lot or exercise on pavement, hiking etc. It happened to mine a few years ago, but his were much worse. Just keep them clean and dry and don't let your dog lick his feet and they'll finish healing in no time