I was awaken last night by the most frightening sound! It was similar to a freight train running off the track or as forbid the thought a 737 landing on top of our house! ( We unfortunately live next to several major airports! ) " Wait a minute!" as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes......I could see that it was coming from Ozzie! He was licking his paw with great intensity making horrid snorting, gagging noises as he continued his business! "Ozzie stop that!" I cried. He went on like he was in some kind of canine trance! My husband woke up to the melee and said "What the heck is that noise!" "It's Ozzie!" I said. " Make him stop!" Mark walked around and stood over Ozzie and in a sharp commanding alpha male voice said "Ozzie cut that out now!" Ozzie stared up at Mark like he was just in some other doggie dimension! He thankfully stopped and at 4:00 AM we managed to get back to sleep. Needless to say this morning I can't get enough coffee in me and hubby is a little bit groggy for the events of the night! I set out to research this problem. I found an article written by veterinarian Dr Janet Tobiassen-Crosby concerning the subject. She indicated that it could be from inhalant allergies causing general itchiness, arthritis or other painful "interior" conditions casing pain in that area without any visible infection. ( He does not have Inter-digital cysts which Bullies are prone to, and he is probably too young for arthritis?!! ) She goes on to say that it may simply be a habit! A behavior seen when the dog is relaxing or stressed or bored. Well he shouldn't be any of those things 4:00 AM in the morning! I have seen him do this paw licking stunt during the day. If it lasted too long I would distract him with a toy to snap him out of it, but this nocturnal lick-a-thon has to stop! Short of putting some topical brew of bitter or hot on his paws I am stumped on what to do. I will continue to search the dog information forums and with our next vet visit it will be the first topic to bring up! In the meanwhile Ozzie is snoozing peacefully here on the rug while we are victims of sleep deprivation! Enjoy your morning nap buddy while I make another pot of coffee!
When Bullet first started licking his paws, we were concerned, too. At the next trip to the vet, we asked if there could be any problem. The vet simply said, "Bulldogs do that." And so he did until his dying day. He even got to the point that it was in the same place and at the same time: 5:30 in the afternoon while lying behind my chair. All you had to do was ask him to stop (although you had to say "Please") and he would.
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