bulldog skin problem

Question
Thank you for the quick response and the link.  I think it may have something to do with him not getting direct sunlight to often. We will try to make him spend more time outside.  My other question is in regards to his paws.  The pads of his feet seem to grow out past his feet and really cause him pain.  Do the pads of dog feet have nerve endings?  What can I do to keep them from becoming dry and breaking loose? Is it possible to just cut off the overhanging pad?  I know it will hurt, but is it better than him dragging it constantly and hurting over and over again?
Thank you once again.
Casey
Happy Thanksgiving Day
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hi Marjorie,
 I have an almost eight year old male bulldog (Kong) who weighs about 65 lbs and is almost solid muscle at that weight.  When he was about 5 years old he developed a skin problem. It started around the back of his neck with little sores and the skin turns black.  I have taken him to many vets as well as a animal dermatologist, but have received no real answers.  They just put him on prednisone and antibiotics and eventually it would go away.  At first it didn't happen that often. Almost seemed like it happened with the changing of temperatures and seasons.  Within the last year or more he has had it the whole time.  It started with crusty sores around the outer ears and eventually he got them almost on his whole body.  Little crusty bumps with dry flaky black skin.  He has been on baytril or other form of antibiotics, prednisone, chlortrimeton,  and a pill (soloxin) for his thyroid which was slightly elevated.  I also bath him in Malaseb shampoo.
I hate to see him like this and hope that you have seen or heard of cases like his that someone had a solution to.
Thank you for taking my question.
Casey
-----Answer-----
It's called flank alopecia, but can be in other areas on the dog. Here's a link for you to check out.

http://www.hilltopanimalhospital.com/seasonalalopecia.htm

There's other information out there but too detailed to post here. It may also be a side effect of the thyroid condition, or both which may explain why isn't becoming more of an issue.

Stay about from the corticosteroids as much as possible. Prednisone really knocks down the immune system.

Answer
There are a lot of nerve endings in the pads of a dogs foot. I would be worthwhile if you could get your dog to a dermatologist for an evaluation. It may be expensive, but I'm quite sure you've spent a considerable amount already on things that don't work.

Personally, I've never heard of a dogs pads growing beyond it's feet. This is a new one on me.