dog chews paws

Question
Dr Gotthelf, first of all thank you for the last problem you solved for me....the little Scottie who had "schnauzer bumps".  Stopped the antibiotics and used etoh on them and they cleared right up! This little wheaton scottie is now chewing on her paws much of the time and I can tell she has them bleeding a little because her coat all around the paws gets a "pinkish" color.  Any suggestions?  
Thanx again,
"Lucy's" keeper

Answer
Chewing on the feet is a sign of allergic dermatitis.  Some of these paw lickers also have secondary bacterial or yeast infections in their paws.  You need to talk to your vet about allergies and what you can do for them. Sometimes a short course of steroids is needed to stop the itching and licking along with frequent baths and antibiotics for the skin infection if there is one.  Another thing to do now is to add Omega3 fatty acids to the food to make the skin less sensitive to allergens. These fatty acids take a month or so to get incorporated in to the skin. Your vet will have these available for you.