This will help you look for any foreign object and help clean the foot. Be really careful when cutting because a dogs foot is very sensitive and if you mess up he will never let you look at his feet again. Look for any splinters or stickers in between the feet.

If you can find something you can remove, do so with care. Your pet might start to stress out. You can tell if your pet is in pain or in stress if he starts to pant or tremble. If it's too deep to take out yourself take him to the vet. Then it's not you he's afraid of. Who wants our pets to be afraid of us? Not me!

If you are able to remove the object wash the paws with a very mild soap like baby shampoo and apply a soothing ointment. Oatmeal is very soothing as is Aloe Vera. Find a product with either of these ingredients. Aloe Vera is very powerful in treating cuts and infections. You can find some soothing salves at the pet store.

This story is an example of what an animal will go through when they are in extreme stress. During the war in Bosnia, there was a lion in a Zoo. The town had very little food and the zoo caretakers did all they could for the lion.

Because of the bombs bursting and the constant noise the lion was so stressed he started to bit his feet. The caretakers couldn’t stop the noise and the lions chewed his feet into bloody stumps. It brought tears to my eyes to hear about this. I don't know if the Lion ever lived through it because the Zoo keepers couldn't get any food for themselves let alone the amount of meat it would take to feed a Lion.

• Foreign objects in the paw
• Fleas
• allergies
• Stress
• Splinters and burrs
• Long Toe Nails
• Cuts on the foot
• Separation Anxiety
• Fungus and yeast infections