I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who is devastated by the loss of his young Cocker Spaniel. The dog was from working lines and chocolate/liver coloured. From the age of 6 months the dog appeared to have a condition affecting the feet which appeared to be rotting away. Several trips to the vet, bloodtests and other investigative procedures ( sorry to be vague about these) all of which were normal ,it became clear that the dog was eating his feet. The vet told my friend that this self mutilation is a rare condition in certain breeds and is believed to be hereditary. They tried 'lampshade' collars and booties but the dog continued to tear away the flesh on his feet until the bone was visible. He was PTS yesteray at the age of 11 months.

Has anyone ever heard of such a condition and have advice to offer ?

Far be it from me to question the vet but I wonder if there was some underlying problem with his feet. I have never heard of self mutilation like this and feel it was done as his feet hurt him. So sorry for your friend she must be heatbroken.
I am not suggesting for one moment that she did not give him lots of love and attention but as you know Springers are all bounce and energy and he could possibley have been bored. Did he have lots of mental stimulation? and a chance to work his mind?
How sad.
Aileen

self-mutilation can be a sign of boredom, and attention seeking, if the dog gets attention for doing it he will do it again. It sometimes starts with a injury or mild irritation which the dog licks the owner investigates which the dog likes and you have attention seeking.

Bordom is very common with working breeds kept as pets although it doe'nt have to be like that.
Stress due to boredom or other reasons can be relived by licking and chewing. They will start by licking untill the flesh breaks down then lick and chew the wound making it worse. Chewing is a great stress reliver.

Of course no one can say this is the case for certain it could of been a skin condition which was very irritating for the puppy.

It is very sad and I don't think showing your friend any of these posts will be helpful at this time. Your friend did his best for the puppy.

> self mutilation is a rare condition in certain breeds and is believed to be hereditary

I have heard of something like this but I think it's very uncommon. I have found a link for you, hope that helps.

http://www.upei.ca/cidd/Diseases/dermatology/acral%20mutilation%20syndrome.htm

So sorry for your friend. I'm sure he did all he could.

Thank you Esme. This extremely helpful. I have no doubt that this is the condition that this poor dog suffered from. I asked my friend whether he had informed the breeder and he has but sadly the mating has been repeated.

Some replies suggested boredom but I can assure you all that this was not the case. The dog was doing really well in gundog training and was participating in field activities.

very sad...never heard of it .... thank you for bringing it to light..

How awful for for your friend. By the sounds of it the vet was right and there was little that could be done to halt the progress of such an awful illness.

I would suggest that it might be worth printing off and sending information on this condition to the breeder. He/she may not be aware of or believe the nature of the condition. I hate to think of some other poor person purchasing a pup and having to go through this.

As an autosomal recessive, it means that both the sire and dam are carriers of the condition (if indeed it is the same condition as suggested) and some of the littermates will also be carriers. Plus some of the siblings might also go on to develop it.

It's a shame the breeder has repeated the mating, however if any more puppies develop it, then it would confirm this diagnosis. And it would be extremely irresponsible for the breeder to carry on with the line if so - both sire & dam would need to be withdrawn from breeding, and breeding from any offspring should be done with extreme caution or preferably not at all, as recessives can spread unchecked throught a gene pool to resurface at any given moment.

Thank you, I've explained this to my  friend . I had forgotten that I was told that a litter brother has exhibited the same symptoms. Absolutely agree that this mating should not have been repeated but to be fair, the breeder may not have been aware of the problems at the time of the mating. I do not know the breeder but there is a strong case for a termination here. As you rightly say, there will be carriers as well as affected puppies from the mating.  It is such a distressing condition there can no justification in allowing this line to continue.

what a terrible illness and how shocking for your friend to have to cope with this devastating condition. Thanks very much to Esme fopr posting the description, I for one have never heard of this.

Thinking about the breeder, if the mating has been repeated already and this pup from the last litter was only 11 months old, he doesn't sound like the sort of person who would put his dogs' welfare above their earning capacity. Is there any way to get in touch to make sure the progeny are sold or otherwise transferred to new owners with a neutering clause in the contract?

The only dog I ever came across with this had a tick borne disease, and that was a young dog of around a year to 18 months. She chewed the flesh from her feet and legs, we suspect the flesh had started to go bad due to the tick disease and she lost the feeling hence simply ate her own feet.

Thank  you Polly.This is worth considering as a differential diagnosis but given the age of onset of the symtoms and the fact that a sibling has the same condition ,we have to conclude that Acral Mutilation Syndrome is the cause of this poor dog's suffering. I've spent a bit of time trawling the internet and AMS is not described in Cockers- Pointers and French Spaniels  (?) are said to suffer from it but ,perhaps as a hidden autosomal recessive gene ,it has just been ticking along beneath the radar in the breed.

I'm so grateful to everyone for their response to this topic. Every post has been helpful .

Just to say I am so sorry for your friend having watch his dog so ill and not to be able to find a cure
RIP little one x

I am so sorry for your friend what an awful way to loose your pet. poor wee mite.

I have DDBs and this condition is mentioned in one of my breed specific books but looking on the internet they are not mentioned anywhere as possible sufferers.

I've never had any experience of this but wanted to pass my wishes onto your friend - it must have been an awful few months for her.