Ask Me Help Desk - Dog's paws and snow

Well were still down at my gramma's house because ours is still getting fixed. Everything's going pretty good, Rex is respectful of his boundaries and most the day he just spends in the room where we sleep at night. Here is the problem, a couple days ago he somehow unclipped his rope and got away. I found him of course in the same spot he always is behind our house digging in the snow for mice. Now normally this wouldn't be a concern seeing as snow is softer then mud but not this snow it was like ice. When we coaxed him back down the hill into my gramma's house I noticed him limping, he only did it for about a sec but I noticed. Then he started licking his paw like crazy. So I got down and took a look at his paw. It wasn't to bad at least not as bad as I though, yeah it was red but like I said not to bad. That was 4 days ago now his paw is only getting worse, the hair looks like it is pulling away from the pad, and there was a little bit of blood coming out of it and you can tell it hurts him if you touch it because he will begin to whine. Its not to bad yet to have to take him to the vet but I know that if I don't get on top of this it will get worse and may even become infected. What can I do to protect his pads while he is outside. I do have the wax/gel/cream stuff but it isn't enough. What should I do?? And is there something I can clean it with to prevent it from getting infected??
Thanks

I think it's time for the Vet. The paw should not be getting worse over time. My fear is that he got something in it.

I'd do what you would do with a human. Bandage the paw.

I'd also carefully inspect it for anything that could have been embedded in the skin.

For a human, I'd suggest bathing his paw in cool water with some epson salts and then bandaging it.

I agree with KISS (!? ) don't wait longer it should not be getting worse, but you could pore some 3% peroxide on the paw (no it won't sting), this will at least clean it. Dogs are very fussy about their paw quite naturally. If you wrap, he will only rip it off. Keep it clean, soak it, etc. But yes, get to the vet before something happens. It sounds like he has picked up a big sliver of wood.

My dog once he is out in the snow for a certain amount of time will limp alternating paws. He does this because he is a warm to hot weather dog and can't handle the coldness of snow on his pads. I freaked out when it first happened and took him to the vet.
Sadly for your case I think you should take him to the vet right away. It does sound like he got something stuck in it. It might not even be a wood sliver it could be worse like a finishing nail or anything (you would be surprised where nails can pop up around the yard)

Well, I know there isn't anything in it. His paw has been like this before, if it does get worse I will take him to the vet but right now I will keep checking it. He's been licking it and my mom even thinks it looks better then this morning. It looks very clean. I know it is just from the snow, ice and salt. But I think I'm going to buy some more boots for his paws.

Boots are a good idea. There is a cream you can buy too that dog racers in the ididarod race use too

I'm wondering how rex is doing. Has he seen a vet?

i just came upon this question, but i would have been telling you that it was definitely a case in which to have him checked out. I know how much you love this dog, and i know that you would never forgive yourself if this wound was more serious than you thought and never healed properly. After all, many times not even an experienced vet can tell just by looking what kind of damage there is beneath the skin, so they need to take an x-ray.

Quote:

"the hair looks like it is pulling away from the pad, and there was a little bit of blood coming out of it and you can tell it hurts him if you touch it because he will begin to whine"

I'm also concerned about the fact that it was getting worse. Anything minor that can heal on its own will not get worse with time. That's a red flag. It's also possible that if you wait, you will wind up spending more in the long run to fix a more serious situation, plus he will have suffered more. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

also, i would be concerned about putting anything on his pads, as some creams should not be used on wounds. As frustrating as it might be to him, he might be better off staying off his feet as much as possible until his paw has healed.

everyone here knows how much you're crazy about rex. I really hope things have been getting better. Please let us know how he is!

I think it would be near impossible to keep a husky 'off his feet' linnealand. Working dogs are an entirely different breed, used to treating their own wounds. I know how rex's mom feels about Rex, so I am sure she would have been on here letting us know if anything bad happened. We would all like to know, too. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tickle

I think it would be near impossible to keep a husky 'off his feet' linnealand. Working dogs are an entirely different breed, used to treating their own wounds. I know how rex's mom feels about Rex, so I am sure she would have been on here letting us know if anything bad happened. We would all like to know, too. :)

That's an interesting approach, tickle, if not a little unexpected.

Rex is a working breed, but he's not in a situation where he has to haul 50 babies in a sled over the course of 20 miles because he and the babies are stuck in the middle of nowhere and he has to get them home no matter what.

If he's injured, resting his injury is better for him than not resting it would be. That is a fact that applies to all living creatures. In this case, to be determined by the people who actually care for him, keeping him off his feet would mean, for example, skipping a twice daily 5 mile run for a couple of days. Don't know how to do that? You keep him in the house and take him outside on a leash, and only to do his business. So much for "near impossible."

As the actual extent of the injury had not been diagnosed, and in order to prevent the injury from getting worse, avoiding excess exercise could be both medically helpful and, yes, physically possible.

As I pointed out in my last post, I know how much rex loves her husky. I only wish that other pet owners had a fraction of the love and the dedication she has for her dog. This world would be a very different place! That's also why I decided to respond to this thread. I am sure that any input that could be helpful would be appreciated, whether she decides that it's relevant to rex's situation or not. I have tremendous trust in her love for rex. That said, I also know that she might not have the same options as some other people might, perhaps related to her age or finances or location or access to a nearby vet. I'll bet that if there were a free vet in front of her house, she would leap at the opportunity to get him looked at. I'll also bet that if it was necessary, she would carry rex on her back and walk 100 miles to get him checked out. That's the kind of friend she is to him. No one is putting that in doubt, and everyone here has rex's best interests in mind.

I do hope that it was nothing serious and that he's doing better! My thoughts go out to both of you.

Hi, Linny, I think girl and dog are pretty well matched ! Of course, agree with all you say.

Thank you so much you guys. Linny thank you for what you said, I do love my dog, hell I even got a license plate on the front of my car saying Rex, a true friend. Thankfully his paws are doing great I watched him closely for a few days let him out to do his business and made sure he didn't dig.

Despite being a Husky and a working breed he is extremely laid back. That's one of the best things I love about him, he can sleep all day but he is always up for a walk or anything like that if I ask him. So keeping him off his feet(paws I guess I should say) was pretty easy!!

I know I'm kind of hypocritical because I can tell other people Take your dog to the vet he need medical attention and then not do it myself when something like this happens. So let me give you some insite on my reasons of not taking him to the vet. My mom has not been working for 6 years because of her sickness(thought to be MS) therefore less money is being taken in. I am only 16 I go to school and babysit(not very often anymore). My parents went bankrupt a couple years back after my mom quit work so they have been and still are in a tight spot financially. Our dishwasher leaked and now we've been out of our house for a couple weeks and can't go back for another couple weeks. Thank god the insurance covered most of it, but my dad's going to have to pay a couple hundred to a thousand dollars out of his own pocket.

And after stating this, for me to bring Rex in for a check-up, which is just the doctor looking at his paws, not taking blood or x-rays or anything like that would cost 65$. Now don't get me wrong if urgent enough I WOULD MAKE SURE that he got to the vet and got what he needed. If that meant selling our 4-wheeler or our car, I would do whatever it takes to assure is health and well being it's the least I cold do. And rest assured if his paws got any worst we would have been making a trip to the vet. Thankfully for now they're looking much better.

Thank you all for your concern, your input is ALWAYS wanted and greatly appreciated.

Ah, that's great rex's mom, I am so glad he is okay, although I wasn't worried at all !

tickle, I do imagine we're on the same page.

Now for the other part...

Rex, you are amazing. I know that you didn't write what you did so that people would tell you that, which makes you even more amazing, but it's the truth. I don't know how you managed to communicate the amount of love you have for Rex all the way from Alaska and across the whole world to the shores of Italy, but that's exactly what you've done for as long as I've been here. Also, I just want to emphasize that you have nothing to apologize for; like you said, and like I and all of the other regulars here know, you would do anything for that pup if it was necessary. The truth is that not all of us humans go to the doctor for each of our scrapes, bumps and bruises, and that's because some things just require enough time for the body to heal itself. Any and all additional advice has been as an extra precaution, or things to watch out for and so on. I also know about your mom, which I'm really sorry about because I can only imagine how hard it's been, and the same goes for all of the other tough things that have been going on too. This is not something I've really talked about on the boards (but I probably should), but my mom and my dad were both diagnosed with very serious diseases at the same time last january; my mom all of a sudden developed a rare genetic and incurable autoimmune muscle disease that looked like it was going to make her basically immobile for the rest of her life (thank God she was diagnosed and the treatments she has undergone have been keeping her in really good shape), and my dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer (which, also thank God, after a really tough year, we just found out has been defeated). So I really feel for you, and you're not alone in trying to hold it together when times seem to flip your world upside down. If you ever want to talk about it or just vent to get it out of your system, you can always write about it here in the forum and get the rallying around support that could only help you feel a little better in going down these roads. You're also not alone in the deep and infinite love you share with rex. I don't know what I would do without the pets I've had in my life. It's amazing how much strength, resilience, compassion, purity, soulfulness and just plain fun they bring into our worlds. I think that your story is a lesson for every single person who passes through here. It's something I know that I won't soon forget, and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way about you. I think it also reminds people to look at and treat their pets as the treasures they really are. So... thank you for being you! I'm really glad to hear that Rex is doing better!

Thank you for all you've done for me linny, I don't think you realise it. I know this is something that my mo would say but I will keep your parents in my thoughts and prayers.