Last Christmas, Matthew bought me this great book about dogs called, Dogs, The Ultimate Care Guide, and it is just such a terrific book. If you have a concern or question about dogs, this book will answer it. On Saturday, we noticed Puppy Dog limped on our afternoon walk and started licking his paw more often than normal. We gave him a little Benadryl as directed by our vet to help ease his allergies. On Sunday he seemed fine but on Monday, he had a lump on his paw that was irritated and red. Matthew took him right to the vet that morning and the vet said that she thought it was due to his allergies but found a blade of grass had gotten stuck in his paw and caused it to get inflamed. Puppy dog had a lick granuloma. What is that? So we turned to our trusty book and found a chapter called "When to see the vet." This is what we found out about dogs licking and what vets say. Apparently sometimes dogs will lick for so long that they create a large open wound - a condition vets call acral lick dermatitis or lick granuloma. They can be extremely sore but vets don't exactly know why dogs do this and this condition has perplexed vets for years- some believe it is a skin problem, or a behavioral problem or a problem with dogs' nerve endings. In our case with Puppy Dog, it was an irritant in his paw that caused his paw to get inflamed.
Dogs are so interesting and curious to me, anytime there is anything unusual going on with Puppy Dog I search the book and check it out and I check the book out even when everything's a -okay. I just love reading about dogs. I find myself asking questions to Matthew in the style of Trivial Pursuit. Here's a recent conversation sparked from the book: Why do some dogs run around in circles? "To chase their tail." Let's check the book and see what it says." All is peaceful in the living room when all of a sudden your pooch gets up from her favorite spot (Puppy Dog's favorite spot is on top of the love seat looking out the window) and starts charging around and around the room like a mini tornado. Then, spent and happy, she returns to her favorite spot. She's just letting off steam, the same way children do when they run and wrestle. Although most dogs outgrow their fun-running by the time they're about three years old, some in particular terriers, may continue to do this until they are past middle age." I hope Puppy Dog always runs around like a mini tornado, don't you?
