foot infected?

Question
I gave my MS a chew bone and somehow it got the hair in between the pads of his front right paw matted.  I cut the mat out and now his paw is swollen and appears to be infected.  Have you ever had this to happen and if so what did you do?

Answer
The hair between the pads will mat very easily on a schnauzer if it isn't kept scissored or clipped out. It seems unlikely that this was caused by his chewing on a bone. My guess is that he probaby stepped on something causing an infection, and the draining and his licking at it caused the matting.

This should be seen by a veterinarian as it could be a foxtail or something in there, and he most likely needs to be on antibiotics. I would also keep him crated so that he isn't using his foot at all. If he worries at it, I would put a bootie on his foot to keep him from it.