Chewing paws -advice needed please

[WisestIsShe]

Ddog is an almost 3 year old Labrador cross. He has recently started to chew one of his paws. The first couple of times the vet expressed his anal glands (although he didn't show any other signs, no scooting, no bad smell etc) but I'm not really happy that that is the cause. On his most recent visit the vet said it would be due to the snow. DH asked about allergies at this appointment but was told they don't really test for them and you have to manage it through diet, does that sound right? How can you manage it if it hasn't been diagnosed? I feel a bit like they are just giving me the easiest answer but it might not be the correct one?

Google suggests boredom or possibly an allergy? I work from home so he's always got someone to play with etc and has two walks a day. He's definitely one to let me know if he wants to play.
As for food he's always eaten everything, his food, my food, sticks, hankies- you name it he eats it. Obviously we try and discourage this but if it was an allergy wouldn't it have shown itself before now?

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Our Labrador started chewing her paws around 2-3 years old. The vet actually anaesthetised her and did a biopsy -of the wrong paw! We didn’t want to put her through that again. Allergies were suggested so we just changed her to a hypoallergenic dried food, never fed her human food, and it stopped and never happened again.

Could be an allergy which has emerged with repeated exposure. Could be salt or grit on the streets. Could be pain ?
My lab does the same, I had him checked for pain but nothing showed. We checked for fungal infection but scrapings were clear.Vet thought it might be him cleaning them - enjoying the taste Now I spend more time washing his feet w after he has been out. I use a tiny amount of dog or baby shampoo in warm water after every walk. It seems to do the trick.

“but if it was an allergy wouldn't it have shown itself before now?“

Not necessarily no, allergies do sometimes just show up at 2 or 3...

It could be salt on the roads, it could be an allergy, it could be pain, from paws or referred from elsewhere... could be lots of stuff tbh, lol

“told they don't really test for them and you have to manage it through diet, does that sound right?“

That sounds a bit... rubbish tbh, my vet doesn’t test themselves for allergies, but they’ll refer on to a dermatologist to do things like that and tell you how to change diets to see if it is a food allergy - but it could be an allergy to something else, how are you supposed to manage that with diet? I mean, it’s a common one so fair enough cutting things out to see, but... yeah, I’d not be impressed with your vet really.

My lab has done this from time to time. Our vet gave us piriton for her - I’m not sure the strength so don’t use otc version.

It really helped.

My terrier has 9 food allergies, was 6 years old before they showed and had a blood test which showed exactly what he is allergic to so we can eliminate his triggers. He gets ear infections and flaps his head and tries to get his paw down his ear, and licks his paws constantly when they're triggered.

It took us 12 years to find out our lab is allergic to chicken!

Could well be salt on the roads with the recent snow. We went through about 6 months of hell with it with our greyhound chewing all her paws to shreds - vet couldn't get to the bottom of it at all and she spent all her time with toddler socks taped around her ankles at home to try to heal them. In the end she really did just stop almost overnight.

Putting the pieces of the puzzle together we think it was stress from the loss of our other dog (the most epic, most lacking in intelligence, most overenthusiastic but completely useless squirrel chaser ever) whom she only ever told off and was completely indifferent to the rest of the time - but she obviously missed having her minion around to bully.

We did get some decent results from using the biteback dog creams. www.bitebackproducts.co.uk/horse/biteback-sweet-relief-dog-cream was the stuff we used and it ponged a lot less than anything else.

This is all really helpful, thank you.
Since the first time it happened we always wash his paws when we come home from a walk.
@Sforsh49 so a simple blood test can determine what if anything he's allergic to? Why wouldn't the vet say that? Even if pet plan didn't cover it.
@tabulahrasa that's exactly how I feel. I'm wondering about looking for a new vet.
Obviously he's the best and most wonderful boy in the world and the fact that something is causing him distress and the very is dismissive really made me cross.

Thanks for the link @CoffeewithCheese but my feeling is that there's an underlying cause which needs to be identified.

@WisestIsShe yep, they took it from his neck, I had to bear hug grip him but they didn't put him out or anything, but like taking a blood sample from humans, same kind of idea. Got sent off and drilled down to specifics, for us it's Turkey, Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Peas, Rice, Wheat, Corn and Soy along with two types of household mite. Our insurance (M&S/MoreThan) paid for it.