For years now Sitka has chewed the hair on his front "wrists" so that the hair is always short. It kind of looks like someone has taken hair trimmers and trimmed his fur there. I've asked my vet what his thoughts are and after checking the mobility of the paw he mentioned that it may be arthritis. He also said that it may be a rash and prescribed Sitka with some antibiotics but those didn't stop his chewing. He's done this ever since I adopted him at 10 months old. Every time that I have taken him to the vet he's had Sitka walk and run quite a bit to see if he notices any signs of arthritis or joint pain. Unfortunately (fortunately?) he says that Sitka appears to be completely healthy and without joint pain. Thoughts? Cures?





-Chad

The first thing that came to mind was OCD.
Dogs can suffer the same way as us humans with OCD but obviously it manifests in diferent ways , and it may have started with the stress of being in the shelter an the adjusting to you.
Think of the dog that constantly chases its tail , or will scratch itself raw without reason.

Here is what i would do.....If you catch him doing this avert his attention some way.
Dont make it seem like its a big deal to him though by scolding him everytime he does it.
Maybe keep his mind occupied with an everlasting treat ball or filled kong.
Boredom is sure starter of OCD type behaviour.
I cant see it being anything medical to be honest so i wouldnt so much worry about that
Hope this helps

Much appreciated and welcome to the forum. Now that he's out of the crate during the day he's been doing it a bit less, but I still notice the fur keeps getting short so he's doing it while I'm not around.

Head over the The Doggy Door and introduce yourself.

Justme is probably right and it is just destructive chewing due to stress or boredom. But I thought I should mention that some allegies can cause that behavor as well. And in some cases the chewing starts because of something like a flea bite that itched, but the dogs continue to do it even after the itch is gone because it has become a comforting habit to them. I had a dog growing up that used to do this, he licked and chewed so much that he got a sore and he had to be taken to the vet. He started doing it when me and my brother started school for the first time.

I would talk to the vet first to help rule out allegies or bug bites, but if what Justme suggested doesn't work you can always try using a bitter agent, like bitter apple. I would check with the vet first because if he has a sore underneath the fur or allegies, bitter agents can make it worse.

Jen wrote:

But I thought I should mention that some allegies can cause that behavor as well.

My first thought as well. That's why the vet prescribed antibiotics. After the antibiotic cycle things didn't change, so I guess that's good that it's not a allergy or rash.

The thing that made me think it was OCD is...
1 ) its a localised thing limited only to his wrists
2) The anti-bi's had no effect
Dogs with allergies tend to have the issue in more than one place.

Bitter apple is a great idea for deterring the chewing whilst you are unable to watch him.
Just be careful of putting any topical solutions on broken or red skin , especially something as acidic as bitter apple.
If the skin has no sign or redness or scabbing then it should work great.

Savannah had a problem with excessive licking of her wrists last winter - her fur was turning pink from the saliva! After ruling out a number of things, I finally figured out that she was holding bones with her paws and would continue to lick after the bone was gone because she could still taste it on her fur! I started wiping her paws after she ate and it made a big difference.

I agree with Linzi that an allergy probably wouldn't be concentrated in just one area and a bug bite or sore wouldn't be on both paws. Bitter apple will definitely hurt if the skin is raw or broken, which can result in more licking.

ok here is what i use for my pug who bites her pads and licks them until they are raw! i know the previous post was way back in may 09 but use regular listerine! the gold colored kind with no extra additives in it. just rub it on with a cotton ball...should help. thats what the vet recommended to us