HELP how do I stop her licking it?! *PIC*

[slovenlys]

Poor DDog has developed a strange bald spot on her paw. She wouldn't leave it alone and it ended up red raw so we trotted down to the vets who prescribed some steroid cream and a buster collar.

However, dastardly dog is not daft and realised that if she angled the cone just right then it would scratch (read: cut to shreds) the sore for her. Cue blood covered collar and me flapping around!

Have had to remove collar, tried to cover the sore but really it needs air to heal and now am following her round "NO"ing every time she goes to lick it. Also, can't put cream on now as Vet said dangerous if licked off.

Howwwww do I stop her?! Ughhh. Have tried baby sock tied on leg with strapping but she just licked it til it was all wet n soggy.

Also, any ideas what this random patch might be? Vet wasn't particularly concerned

Have attached photo of daft darling dog and sore

I would cream it , put a dressing on and bandage it before she makes it worse . Use vetwrap as they are harder to get off .

Would an inflatable collar work? It wouldn't be able to damage the wound but might stop licking.

I usually dab some lavender essential oil on to make it smell horrible to the dog and not taste great. And a bit of wound powder. I tried bitter apple spray in the past but didn’t deter really.

Ive not heard of an inflatable collar, will look it up - thanks!

You can get soft collars, they get in the way but won’t scratch.

Wondering whether you could cone the foot instead somehow?!

Would the lavender oil not burn the open wound? (I know very little about essential
Oils)

Acral lick dermatitis? If so, it's part behavioural and pretty tricky to fix, usually it's stress related so you need to look at what the dog might be finding stressful. There are other possible causes as well, though.

Something like this might work, short term: fetch.co.uk/buster-inflatable-pet-collar-blue-294452011

@missbattenburg :( that sounds about right. She had to go to the kennels for the first time and wasn't happy. That must have been it, the stress.

Oh the guilt!

A gigantic buster style collar but one the versions with the soft fabric edges?

My cocker had his tail amputated and ended up in a huge cone (3sizes bigger than would normally be used on a cocker) because the little monkey could contort at amazing angles to bypass the normally sized cones (used to wedge the edge of the cone against his hip then bend like a yoga dog to get to his stump)! I did have to remove the gigantic buster collar for him to eat and drink though, so no good if you need to leave dog alone much.

How long has she had it? (sorry if I missed that) If it's only developed in the past couple of days, be aware of Alabama rot.

Cones and inflatable collars often don't stop dogs being able to get to their paws, unfortunately. I would try a protective paw cpver or long leg sleeve, stitched up.