anyone got any remedies to stop one of our goldens sucking her back feet which causes dark staining.i have tried clear vinegar which worked for a while.there must be something to get rid of this problen .any suggestions most welcome...........thanks

A stuffed kong, to give her an alternative?

i have tried them but she still does it

If the skin has turned red as well as the fur, there may now be a yeast infection caused by the sucking -I am currently dealing with exactly the same in one of my Papillons. So that will itch, making the problem worse and the infection will need clearing before the habit can be broken.

I have a foot sucker too, done it since he was a pup and nothing will stop him and he is now 12. Have asked the vet to check and even do a scrape but no infection and no mite but I am still not sure it is not demodex mite because it seems to come and go but it never seems to spread beyond the one foot and only one toe has lost hair. We have also checked to see if it is nail bed problems but there is no sign of that either.

Absolutely no  help to you I know but at least you are not alone.

Have to just add it is not licking the foot it is whole foot in mouth - mind you given his temperament it seems an appropriate action.

we have had it checked no problem there.the vinegar helps and there are signs of improvement.we shall see......thanks for the imput

Has she been checked elsewhere?  Soli used to lick her front paws/wrists when she was in need of chiropractic adjustment, it was misalignment elsewhere causing referred pain to her feet.  As her arthritis got really, really bad towards the end she did it more too.

Also, Saffi has just started doing it and I think it's arthritis in her case - she has it very badly elsewhere but I think it's starting up in her elbows now and again, it's referred pain in her feet making her lick.

Rumrat - is she licking or sucking her feet, are the feet going into the mouth or is she just running her tongue over her feet?

Licking would be very likely to be pain or discomfort - sticking foot in mouth may be something else, with my boy I think it is either a habit or may be demodex mite, although the scrape did not show any, causing some irritation through secondary infection. You could try a short course of painkillers if they stop it then you know it is pain but you would not know what was causing it.

A friend's dog constantly nibbles his front feet at this time of year and his feet are stained. She finds that soaking his feet in diluted Hibiscrub helps enormously.

Stereotypic behaviour has many causes, a vet check is the first port of call which you have done. Next is to see a beahviourist who will get details of the dog and try to find out why the dog is doing this.

Stress can cause a dog to practice Stereotypic behaviour. The cause need to be addressed.