# Sore Paw



## Roxy (Jan 19, 2011)

My dog is lifting one of her front paws. 
She is 8 months old and had about 4 hours of exercise yesterday (walking and running) on pavement. She seemed fine last night and was fine in the yard for most most of this morning and then then just sat down and lifted her paw. She seems to have a sore pad (she flinches when I touch it) but I can't see anything stuck it is, it's a little dry but not cracked. She's also walking with her toes almost curled under her paw instead of stretched out normally.

Any ideas what this could be? Could it be a problem with a ligament for her toes to be curled like that when she puts weight on it? Could it just be sore from the impact on the pavement yesterday?
Thanks

Also, she doesn't scream or flinch if I touch anywhere else along her leg/ shoulder


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Check her paws very well, My moms BF ran her jack Russel on pavement once and it destroyed her poor little pads because she would skid to a stop on it  Check between her toes for sores, just do a very thorough exam of her feet.


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## Roxy (Jan 19, 2011)

I checked her paw up and down, between her pads, on her pads, around her nails... the only part that is sensitive is the bigger pad. 
I'm hoping it's just the pavement, normally when we run it's in the forest but because she's a very skittish dog I've been trying to take her to more public areas to hopefully de-sensitize her a bit. Could it be bruising?


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I honestly don't think it would be bruising as much as it would be a blister, i've seen dogs with blisters the entire size of their pads, as if the large calloused pad just blistered up from the skin below.. imo i would just give it time to heal keep walks nice and short now running/stopping quickly until it starts to heal up and keep her off the pavement for rigorous exercise.


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## Roxy (Jan 19, 2011)

I'll try that, Thanks 
Should I put bag balm or something on it then cover it?
Also, while she's limping she isn't avoiding walking around, should I let her or should I try to keep her as calm as possible?


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I would just keep her relaxed no long walks stuff like that, it will heal with a week or two of just short walks and some kicked back time. it took my moms which is the worst i've ever seen in my life about a week for her to stop gimping around... 

I wouldn't put anything on it, there is really no reason to do it as softening up the pad will just create a whole other problem


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## Roxy (Jan 19, 2011)

You're right, it is blistered. It's more apparent now then it was this morning.
I guess she'll be taking it VERY for the next little while. It's going to be hard because the reason that we exercise her so much is because she has VERY bad anxiety and only mellows when she is completely exhausted. We'll pick back up in hopefully not too long  thanks so much for all your great advice!!


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