Dogs Pads

[Phoneguy]

We have started looking at rescue dogs, our last boy having moved on last November. We were in the SPCA looking at a Lab/Springer Spaniel cross. 18 months old, great temperment and seemed quite smart.
He was surrendered because his owner was in an accident and couldn't care for him any more (so we were told).

Anyway, a couple of things that we weren't sure of (we being the wife, who will likely be the primary care taker). His pads on his paws looked raw in a couple of places. She is worried that he may have thin pads. Is this something that is treatable, or is it always going to be a problem? He also has some red skin/ rashes in his hind leg/ tummy area. Did not seem to bother him, no licking or anything. The workers said it is likely a food allergy, but we don't have a vet statement on that.

Comments?

[Phil]

The wear and tear on his pads may be from being on a concrete floor for an extended time. I have had dogs wear their pads down from too much play time on a rough surface. Hard to say what the red spots are but they might be "hot spots" from a high protien diet. Could be a food alergie too.

[Tikka7mm]

IMO you shouldn't waste your time and money trying to diagnose your pet by your self. It can be futile even with a veterinarian involved. My advice is take the dog to a vet clinic and have him looked over. The SPCA usually will get their animals looked over before letting them go to homes so they should be aware of the spots and if they aren't I would want them to have the dog looked at before I took it home. The spots could be a number of things. The reason I say this is because I just dealt with this last week with my 9 month old boxer pup and I am still awaiting the outcome. Things are back to normal for now but she is still on a dose of medication. She started getting hives out of the blue. We took her to the vet immediately. She, like this dog wasn't scratching either but regardless of this fact it can still be uncomfortable for them. There are many treatments for skin conditions on dogs. If the dog has spots or a rash on it, the chances are that they aren't normal and they should have them looked at right away before they get worse. Our dog had her diet totally changed after noticing her hives. After doing a bunch of research on the internet we found that beef, wheat, corn and beet pulp are common culprits in skin issues with dogs and chicken based dog food is also something many dog owners are starting to stay away from, which is what my dogs food used to consist of mainly. I am no expert just reitterating what I have read very recently. As far as food goes, from what I have read and I read a lot, it is better to stick with fish/venison/bison based foods or in some instances duck (for some dogs duck can be too rich so be careful) and instead of wheat, corn and beet pulp as filler look for potato or yams as a filler because these tend to be a more allergy free filler. Just so you know also, dogs can be allergic to pollen, cat hair, dust mites etc just like humans so like I said it can be hard to diagnose a skin condition on dogs. Chances are that it could be something simple like flea bites or flea bite dermatitus in which case the vet might just give the gog a medicated shampoo treatment and it will clear up. But if I were you I would definitley want the new pup checked out at a veterinary clinic and maybe ask what they are feeding it.

I hope this helps you and more importantly your new prospective dog.

[Phoneguy]

Thanks guys, another food filler that can cause skin allergies is Soya Bean products. Our Cocker had terrible skin, took us years to figure it out.

We are going to look at a different recovery dog tonight. Not given up on the first one, just a different one.

James

[Phoneguy]

Well, we brought home Luna, a Whippet / Border Collie cross. Kids and wife love her, I'm warming.