sore paws

Question
Our year and a half mixed breed female has very long hair growing between her pads.  She always used to let me touch them but now the paws seem very sensitive.  They smell like old shoes.  Could this be a result of just the hair being painful or could this be a bigger problem?

Answer
Hi Mary!  Your poor little girl!  I would have to say this is hard to tell you what is exactly going on, being I can't actually see her little paws, but there may be an infection going on.  Generally that old shoe smell is the smell of infection.  I know this sounds so weird, but a healthy paw smells like Fritos hehe. I would definately suggest taking her to the vet.  There may just be something stuck in between the paw pads or, like I said, it could be an infection.  Either way, they will clip the area to see exactly what is going on.  A simple antibiotic will cure the infection if there is one present.
I hope this helps and please let me know how it goes!
Give her some kisses for me,
Hilary