Grooming his paw

[reneemac]

My 5 year old sheltie likes to lick his right paw. It's almost an obsession with him. Once he comes in the house to sleep at night, he licks and licks and licks it. I've checked the paw and there's nothing stuck in it or any sore on it. Is this normal behavior? He's able to walk on it fine and doesn't lick any of his other paws with such frequency.

[missjenneygirl]

The way I interpret a dog licking only one paw, the same paw, continually is to have it checked out by the vet. That also means requesting an xray. Dogs have an innate way of giving comfort to an area that has something brewing.
Don't brush it off, have it checked. I will leave it at that....instead of giving any more worry.

[corbinam]

I agree with Connie--eliminate a health issue first.

If you can rule that out, you can deal with a behavioral issue. It is possible that it has become an OCD type habit that you need to break.

Let us know what the vet says--sending good thoughts.

[reneemac]

The vet gave Lucky a clean bill of health, so it appears that it is a learned behavior that I will need to work on. Thanks for the advice!

[Chris]

Layla has a favorite paw to lick -- I don't mind. If it comforts her, no problem. When I ask her to stop, she does.