# Does anyone else's dog have sores on only their hind legs???



## pancake (Oct 2, 2012)

I've been trying to figure out what this is. My german shepherd has been having sores and scabbing on her hind legs. It's where her heel is (back feet, bottom area) particularly where there is very little hair. There's hair missing there and she is ALWAYS licking that area. It is red and sore. It's not bleeding but it has been like this for a few weeks now. 
I tried flea medication because I had a dog that was allergic to fleas but it didn't help. I changed her diet to a different brand (hypo allergenic, grain free) and it didn't help so I tried changing back to her normal blue buffalo wilderness. Been a month since I changed back and no change. 

I washed her sheets and the padding that she rides in when I take her in my car also and gave her a bath. 

I looked it up and have had a dog in the past with hot spot issues. It doesnt seem to be allergies or fleas or hygiene. It's ONLY on her hind legs and actually her crotch area is also red and swollen, missing hair. There's no missing hair anywhere else (tail, front legs, inner legs, back, etc.) and she doesn't scratch anywhere else. Only licking her legs.

For sure I thought it was because the car hammock was filthy because based on the location of her sores, it is coming from her sitting position (hind legs and crotch). Can't think of any other scenarios. 

Any suggestions?


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

It could be grass. Does she show irritation between her toes?


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## Malachi'sMama (Jun 10, 2013)

Generally leg and paw licking an itching indicates an allergy of some sort. Animals can be allergic to some very strange things-just like people. Sounds like you've tried all the things I would have suggested to change first. It may be worthwhile to have him allergy tested to pinpoint exactly what it is that's irritating him. 

It could be something as strange and simple (simple but obnoxious) as a grass allergy like David suggested. 

I would start out taking him to a vet and let him/her take a look.


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## d4mmo (Mar 27, 2013)

Post some photos. Loosing hair on hind legs. Irritated belly, could be grass but could also be mange. My boy had similar side effects when he had mange. 1 dose of revolution and it was clear in a few days


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

OP, the first thing that crossed my mind when reading your post was, "Where is the spot with very little hair?" There should be hair on their legs, everywhere except on the actual skin of the toes. So my immediate thought was that perhaps your dog is running on hard surfaces, and because of her conformation, she's rubbing those spots bald? And now they're getting raw, from too much of that? I could be all wrong.


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## Waldi (Jun 14, 2013)

My had the same issie when we have played a ball for her on ashfalt pathway, she would run and stop abruptly causing scraping of bottom of her feet. Had to put crazy glue to help to heal and stopped her from playing on the pathway.


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## FelixTheGSD (Apr 29, 2014)

Pictures? My pup has a similar problem. One sore on a hind leg near his paw, and two on the other side near his hock. I'm thinking it's something allergy related


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## EJBB8790 (Apr 10, 2012)

My dog has a scabby area sounding similar to what you are describing...hers is on her left front leg, right at the elbow. I think that hers may be from a grain allergy because she itches often and has had yeast infections in her ears often. I recently switched her food and she already seems so much better.


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## pancake (Oct 2, 2012)

Here are some pictures for clarification. I dont let her run around on hard surfaces and we have carpet and hardwood mixture so I dont think they're pressure points.
I thought about mange but wouldn't mange be in random places and spreading, not just her legs? 

I looked between her toes and it looks normal to me. 
Her right foot (inner hind heel)









Same foot









Left Foot (outside edge)









Her crotch area. The skin between her private area and her anus seems swollen but I'm not entirely sure. Its definitely more noticeable than before but I dont know if that's because she's growing. It's not really red but I do see what appears like acne sometimes (little red bump) every now and then. 










It's her birthday today


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

Happy Birthday, what a cutie! 
Nope, that's not what I was thinking of. Probably your vet would be the best bet - good luck with your sweet girl.


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## FirefighterGSD (Jan 20, 2014)

Went through the same thing last month with Arson. What Flea/Tick are you using? His ended up being a flea allergy as I was using a not so great one and he ended up getting a few. Switched to First Shield Trio and 100mg benadryl twice a day (per vet) and he's fine now.


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## Mesonoxian (Apr 5, 2012)

Those spots look just like what my dog Lena used to have. After visiting the vet, I was told that the sores were from pressure points caused by laying down, and would likely never go away (She was obsessed with licking/chewing them, and the spots always looked really irritated). Lena also had redness and a pinkish rash in her crotch area (as well as those occasional red acne-ish bumps); which was diagnosed by our vet as a symptom of seasonal allergies. 

For a couple of years, we managed her rash with allergy medication. Over time, her allergies grew more severe, and her "pressure sores" never got better. After more vet visits, we began to suspect that food allergies were developing, and we tried some different foods (none of which helped, she seemed to manage the best on Orijen). But I still wasn't satisfied. 

After a TON of research, and talking with my vet, I decided to switch Lena to a raw diet. Within 3 (read: THREE) days, her rash and underside redness were completely gone. Within a week, her "pressure sores" were starting to grow hair, and after a month, you could hardly tell they were ever a problem.

I'm not saying raw is necessarily the answer for you, but definitely see what your vet says, and don't be afraid to ask LOTS of questions. Some trial and error with treatment/management of the issues may be in your future, depending on what you find out. 

I hope your cutie pie finds some relief! (keep us posted!)


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## pancake (Oct 2, 2012)

Thanks everyone, I'm going to wrap the legs at night with some antibacterial so she doesn't lick it while I'm sleeping. and then keep an eye on it during the day time. 

I have thought about raw diet. I actually fed my previous dog (died last year) raw diet as a way to combat her hot spot issue also. Maybe I'll go that route again but I remember it was very hard to keep up when I had a busy schedule. 

Okay at this point I'm not sure if her sores are due to a microorganism or now just being prolonged due to the licking. Or it could be the pressure sores ..
I'm also going to look into a trial week of feeding her raw. With her I would have to feed her outside, she has a habit of taking a mouthful of food from her bowl and going into the corner of the room and eating it all over the floor. Ok with kibble but with raw chicken that'd be a health concern haha


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## pancake (Oct 2, 2012)

Ive been monitoring and she now has a red sore/blister between one of her toes. I dont understand it. I'm fairly certain it gets worse when she licks it and it is not healing because of it. It was ok and scabbing for a while and just right now I noticed that her feet were wet from her licking and it is bright red again. 

I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow, maybe they'll prescribe some ointment. I'm hoping it's not mange or anything but we'll see. I'm going to guess though that they'll probably give her some antibacterial ointment and recommend that I put an e-collar on her or use vet wraps. But better safe than sorry.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

An ecollar, or do you mean a cone? I hope you mean a cone

Good idea to visit the vet and get a diagnosis.


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

E-collar can mean Elizabethton collar as well.


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## HOBY (Aug 12, 2013)

Does your pup ever urinate on a hard surface? Pups are so low to the ground and have such sensitive skin that it could be urine splashing back and irritating the skin? Just a thought?


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## pancake (Oct 2, 2012)

Oh yeah I meant elizabeth collar, not a shock collar. That would be misuse and abuse to say the least 

I took her to the vet and the vet suggested that it is possibly an allergy to the grass or carpet or something surface related. I agree. It is ONLY on her underside where her heel is, her hind toes and her crotch area. Basically the area that makes contact when she is sitting on something. 

He suggested a cortisol shot but i wanted to give it a week to try to find and eliminate the source first. He was ok with this. He also suggested that everytime I go out in the grass with her I use wipes to wipe down her paws and her crotch area. I think the rest of her body is fine because the grass doesn't poke and irritate where there is a lot of fur. Her crotch and heels have very little hair and protection to begin with. 

Second hypothesis is that it could be my room's carpet. We have hardwood everywhere but the rooms. She's always lying down or doing something near my feet and my carpet is kind of rough. I laid down a soft Egyptian cotton bed sheet all over my floor so we'll see if any of this makes a difference. 

I also ordered vet wraps to stop her from licking. As far as I can tell, it's not getting worse and may be a little better. She has 1 wound between her toe that I'm cleaning and trying to get to scab but she keeps licking it when I'm not around so I'm waiting on those wraps.

I'm also considering getting her dog booties despite how ridiculous it looks for when we go outside. We have a major drought here in CA and the fields are not watered anymore to cut down on water use and a lot of the grass is dry and sharp now. 

Working this on multiple angles, I'll update soon.


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## pancake (Oct 2, 2012)

Just want to update.. it was the food. Took a while (a few weeks) for it to subside after changing back to the blue buffalo that I used to give her. It also took some active effort to make sure she doesn't continue to lick to make sure. 
Guess it's been a month now, she doesn't have any more redness or sores. I'm going to throw the bag of food out, which is waste it was a big 30lbs bag. Nature's Recipe grain free. I dont know if this particular bag is bad or if she's allergic to something specific such as the actual protein (it was duck) so I'm just going to be safe and avoid duck in the future also. She's had nature's recipe before (chicken) no problem. 

Also she doesn't lick herself anymore even to groom because i stopped her from doing that when she's bored. Probably a good practice


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