Phoebe is great. You would never know it was the same dog. Every time she goes into the clinic the staff comment about the dog that they figured would never live past the age of 5.
One of the things that I did try with good success was buying cotton baby socks and vetwrap. I put the socks on and then vetwrapped them over the cuff to keep them on without making them too snug. That way her feet could still breathe.
When a bitch is whelping she will tear and chew at whatever she can. It's something dogs do if they are in discomfort, physically or emotionally. I would be inclined to do some bloodwork if my dog started habitually pulling and chewing to make sure there was nothing else going on with it that was causing the foot chewing. Where some dogs might pace, licking feet can bring about a release. Unfortunately, it causes skin abrasions too. As I said, Phoebe's issue was because of stress originally - we bought her at 15 months and she didn't accept the change in her life well. We have since realized that Phoebe bonds closely with her pack mates. She missed Georgia, another westie, when she came here and is the only dog I have had that went into a depression when Vanna, the dog she transferred her affections to, died. Now she is bonded to Tinsel. Coupled with that she came into season right away. It was like a domino effect. Once one thing happened, the rest just kept piling on.
As for lesions, the vet can take do both tests on anything that is actively bothering the dog. If the coat is in the way they might have to do some shaving but hair grows back. Dogs can become sensitive to many things but I just want to caution you all about snap diagnosis on the part of vets. An elimination diet for suspected food allergies is more than changing a protein. One thing Dr. Yu said to us was that you can buy a food that is made with lamb but if there is bonemeal in it it could be made from beef. If the dog is sensitive to beef, the new diet will not work. He is not a fan of rotational diets but does suggest that you feed puppies one sacraficial protein until they are a year old and getting their booster shots then change the protein and never go back to the first protein in any form. There is a huge reason for this that would take a long time for me to try to explain but that's the crux of it.
But seriously, if I do hear any type of gagging from the dogs, I'll wake up. It's why Miko gnawing at his feet or the carpet wakes me up. Ugh! All other noises don't bother me. 