Dog licking grass seed wound

[kid]

My dog's paw was swollen and he wasn't bearing any weight on it on Saturday and the lady who was looking after him for me (2 week holiday) noticed he had a grass seed stuck.

She was able to remove it and cleaned the area with some sort of alcohol. I got him back yesterday and he is walking completely normally and let's me touch the whole area but he is licking it quite often. Last night when I went to bed, I could hear him licking it for about 20 minutes.

Do I need to stop him? If yes, how?!
(there is a small hole where the seed was)

It's great that the seed was removed and cleaned, and that will help it to heal.

I think you should stop him licking it. I say this because my dog recently had a similar problem, started by a mosquito bite that he kept licking, and licking. I was shocked by how much worse it got within a few hours. Mine is a type of dog that is prone to hot spots like this, and his fur all started coming out and the skin was cracked and bleeding. Of course this happened on a weekend.

You can get elizabethan collars (those plastic cones) from pet shops and it will stop him from being able to lick it.

We did this for ours and then we took him to the vet on the Monday, who shaved the area and gave him antibiotics and antihistamines. Once the antihistamines kicked in, he didn't need to wear the e-collar any more because they stopped it from itching. It sounds like your dog is healing up nicely and might not need the vet, but if you can stop him licking it that will prevent it from getting worse again.

Thanks for replying.
The wound definitely seems a lot better, the hole is much smaller already so I am sure its healing well.
He keeps licking the pads of that paw but I have inspected it and can't find anything wrong other than wet from the licking and a bit on the pink side. It appears to be really itchy for him though as when I am touching it, his back leg goes like he is scratching

When I bathe his foot in salt water, he seems to like the water and practically sucks his foot which I prevent him from doing.
I gave him 2.5ml of piriton last night and he slept very well! I was a bit scared to give him it even though I was reassured its fine to give that dosage twice a day if necessary.

I'll continue to keep a close eye on him and will take him vets if need be.

That's really good. Hopefully it will be fully better soon.

It's funny, isn't it, that dogs can have some of the same medicines as us. I was quite amused when the dog and I were both on antihistamins following mossie bites!

It sounds like you're doing the right thing, but if it gets worse I second the idea of an Elizabethan collar. One of my cockers had a similar thing last year - grass seed in the paw, it swelled up like a balloon and then he licked it red raw. The vet told us to bathe it in salt water, gave him some antibiotics and said he had to wear the plastic lampshade.

I did look at the elizabethan collars today but I don't see how they would stop him licking his front paw as he has very long legs (even the vet commented on them!)
He hasn't licked it much today, if someone touches his feet, that usually causes him to start licking so I've warned DC to leave him alone.

I'm gutted that he got a sore foot but I guess these things happen, especially to hairy spaniels