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My SO's GS keeps licking his leg to the point there's no hair and skin left. It looks terrible and painful. His mother said it was from separation anxiety. Is this true? Does separation cause dogs to do this? How do we stop him from doing it besides staying home all the time and how can we help it heal?
we had a problem where our dog did that by his tail and it turned out it was something called a 'hot spot' according to our vet. Not really sure how to explain it but he had to give us medication I believe (its been a while now since it happened). It could also be separation anxiety....I would take him into the vet and see what a professional has to say about it. If its a hot spot, you would be able to feel it warm.
It does indeed sound like a hot spot which can develop out of total boredom. It goes without saying that you can't be with the dog 24/7, however he does need plenty of time for walks and playtime with his human pack.
My SO's GS keeps licking his leg to the point there's no hair and skin left. It looks terrible and painful. His mother said it was from separation anxiety. Is this true? Does separation cause dogs to do this? How do we stop him from doing it besides staying home all the time and how can we help it heal?
Hot spots can also be caused by allergic reactions and bug bites. Take the pooch to the vet. Side Note: DO NOT use alcohol or peroxide on the hot spot. Good luck to you and the pooch.
I believe a lick granuloma and a hot spot are pretty much the same thing, and either can be difficult to clear up depending on what caused it to begin with. My older golden used to be COVERED with them. I switched his food, and he hasn't had one in probably close to 4 years. Pretty much, once they start licking it, they won't stop and it will never heal and becomes a big scabby, puss covered mess. What we do at work for them is shave the area and clean it good with either betadine, or chlorhexiderm scrub and do a good warm compress for a couple of minutes. Keeping it clean is huge. If it's really bad and infected, you will need antibiotics. Your vet can probably also give you a spray to kind of numb it. We use something called derma cool that I love...I use it on myself when I get a bug bite or dry itchy skin
Either way, you can't just ignore it because it won't go away. I would think though that if this is the first time it's happened (and the dog is not a puppy) that anxiety is an unlikely cause, or it would have been a constant problem.
Evey - It doesn't look as bad as the pictures on that site, so I'm not sure about it. I told him he needs to bring the dog to the vet and get it checked out. I think she's doing it now out of habit.
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