August 18, 2008
Our "westie" bites his right paw when excited.?
more precisely when a visitor comes to the house he will chew at his right dew claw and run around the house on three legs chewing it. We have had him since August 2007, a 2 yrs 7 month rescue dog. In all other ways he has an excellent temperament. He is house trained and goes to bed in a crate quite happily and we thought, settled and secure with my wife and I. We wonder if he feels insecure. He is very well cared for and walked three times a day and very much part of the family. We are considering consulting a dog behaviour expert for advice.
Our Westies have had food and other allergies, which we eventually cured using a fish & sweet potato food from Wellness. As mentioned by others, grains and meat protein—even fowl—cannot be tolerated by many Westies. But the major clue in your situation seems to be the presence of the visitors, coupled with the fact that your Westie is a rescue dog. The poor thing may think someone is coming to take him away again, just when he was settling in so happily with you. Recovering emotionally from his previous bad home experiences will take time, possibly a very long time. I'd suggest you try to socialize him with the visitors, perhaps even letting them give him a treat. (You could cease doing this when the nervousness around others goes away, of course). If there's someone the dog likes who could visit regularly (like a relative or neighbor), you might de-sensitize the dog by having the dog-friendly person stop by frequently, each time making it a positive experience. Good luck!
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Comments on Our "westie" bites his right paw when excited.? »
He's just a ravenous beast that's baying for blood.
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He's attention seeking. Ours did the same when our child was born. She wasn't the focus of everyone's attention anymore.
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Never heard of a westie doing this before, but if she is not hurting herself i would say it wasn't a big problem
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I have three Westies myself and one of them does bite his paws from time to time. Westies are prone to skin problems/allergies. Have you noticed that he does it more so when the weather is warmer? I would try food elimination in his diet. This has worked for my westies. Connor will lie there knawing away but he doesn't actually hurt himself which you'd expect. He may feel insecure but it sounds more like allergies. You can always try giving him benadryl for a few weeks and see if you notice any changes.
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Our Westies have had food and other allergies, which we eventually cured using a fish & sweet potato food from Wellness. As mentioned by others, grains and meat protein—even fowl—cannot be tolerated by many Westies. But the major clue in your situation seems to be the presence of the visitors, coupled with the fact that your Westie is a rescue dog. The poor thing may think someone is coming to take him away again, just when he was settling in so happily with you. Recovering emotionally from his previous bad home experiences will take time, possibly a very long time. I'd suggest you try to socialize him with the visitors, perhaps even letting them give him a treat. (You could cease doing this when the nervousness around others goes away, of course). If there's someone the dog likes who could visit regularly (like a relative or neighbor), you might de-sensitize the dog by having the dog-friendly person stop by frequently, each time making it a positive experience. Good luck!
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