My dog keeps licking his leg until it's raw!?

Question

My Great Dane is obsessively licking his front legs until they are raw, red, and bleeding. I don't know why he does this. Before he does this, his legs look normal; the skin is not red and the fur is good. After he obsessively licks the area, then the skin is missing fur, is red, and bloody. What is...

Answer 1

It could be a food allergy-- you can develop them over time. Once they start licking the skin gets bacteria growing on it and it itches MORE. A cycle of licking is then started. I would look over his food as a possibility. The vet can give you meds to make the infection and itch go away.

Answer 2

Actually, he has an allergy. My parents yorkie licked his front and back feet raw. Rubbed raw and the hair off two spots on his back. He has a permanent yeast(fungal) and bacterial infection of his skin. My parents tried everything. Then they found out about colloidal silver (look it up). Well, they bathed him then rubbed it on his skin. Then everyday they put 6 drops on his treat, and a dropperful in his mouth (to eat). He doesn't really smell anymore, his hair is growing back, his skin healed right away and he hardly ever licks his feet. They have been doing this for only a month at the most. Let me tell you their dog smelled so bad, you could tell when he was in the room. Also, they eventually got one of those collars/hoods (looks like a lampshade) that the goes around the neck so they don't lick or chew. He wore that everyday all day. He doesn't need it anymore. Colloidal Silver is what they stick in newborn babies' eyes right after theya are born so their eyes don't get infected from possible stds or infection in the birth canal of the mother. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Answer 3

There could be a number of things.
1. He hurt himself while he was outside. He is licking his wound to make him feel better. Dog's saliva has some healing properties and that's how they care for wound in the wild.
2. He has allergies and he is itching on that spot, since he can't scratch or put med on himself, he licks it trying to make it better.
3. He's OCD and that would need to be determine by a doctor.
If you are concern, have a vet check it out. Don't bother buying anything until you see a vet because you don't know what's causing the problem. You don't want to make it worse.

Answer 4

My lab started licking his front to legs about 2-3 years ago. He licks it until it s raw and gets infected. The vet set he had hypothyroidism so we put him on thyroid pills for about a year. It helped a little but not completely. He wears a "lampshade" all of the time now to give his spots time to heal. He s been wearing it on and off for a couple of years. As soon as the fur grows back we take the cone off and he starts right back again! He is 9 years old and didn t start this behavior until a few years ago. We have four dogs and lost one due to diabetes and an autoimmune liver disease right around the time Ziggy started licking. We got another dog shortly after the death of our other dog. Ziggy used to play a lot with the other dogs but now more with us and his toys. My husband saw these sleeves with Velcro at the top and bottom that go on their front legs but we haven t tried them yet. I hate seeing him stuck in that cone all of the time so any suggestions would be great!

Answer 5

I also have a Great Dane, and I've heard a lot about them doing this.
Do you feed him a beef diet? Beef for a Great Dane can actually cause painful sores on their skin, especially near joints or hips. If beef is high the list of ingredients in his food, change him to a poultry based food.
Also, OCD is another common reason for this (I have a german shepherd who also licked herself raw), and it won't stop until you treat it.
I used the product called Bag Balm on my dog, and then covered her wound and it cleared up instantly.
If this doesn't work, take him to the vet immediately before it becomes infected.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

I wonder if he's under some kind of stress. Animals will do that when they're stressed.

I wonder if it's an allergy and it itches, but usually with itchy stuff, they scratch by biting gently with their front teeth.

As for treatment, I'd put neosporin on it, gauze, and then wrap it with athletic (white) tape. Try to arrange it so neither end of the tape is available to bite. If this doesn't work, he needs a cone around his head to force him to leave the sores alone.

If this doesn't work, run him to the vet.

TX Mom

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Sounds like hot spots. If they are red, bald and bleeding then they are most like hot spots. Dogs will lick and bite at them because they are so uncomfortable. I'd call your vet and ask if there is any topical cream you can buy to relieve the itching but also bring your dog to the vet so that you can be sure that that's what they really are.

Answer 10

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
My dog keeps licking his leg until it's raw!?
My Great Dane is obsessively licking his front legs until they are raw, red, and bleeding. I don't know why he does this. Before he does this, his legs look normal; the skin is not red and the fur is good. After he obsessively licks the area, then the skin is missing fur, is red, and bloody....

Answer 11

Sounds like an allergy to me, he is getting what are called "hot spots"
The first thing you want to do is look at the ingredients in his food. Do they contain corn, wheat, or soy? These ingredients are the number ONE cause of skin allergies in dogs, especially corn. It can pop up even after the dog has been eating it for a while.
If so, switch your dog's food as soon as possible. In the meantime, they make anti-itch sprays and creams for dogs, and you can also put "bitter apple" on his fur to make it tast bad, that might hurt since his skin is raw though.

A couple of good dog foods are Innova and Wellness. I am posting a link to a good site to review what exactly goes into your dogs food.