How to Nurse Injured Dog Paw Pads Back to Health

Have you ever wondered how dogs manage to just walk anywhere they want and their soft paw pads give them great service all through? As tough as dog paw pads are, they still do have their limits – just the way human feet to do.

Dogs can hurt their paw pads. And they can become dry and cracked, just the way human feet can. There are a number of things that can do this to a dog's paw pads. Allergies, poor nutrition, rough weather – all the things that can affect human paw pads .. er .. feet – can affect paws as well.

As with human feet, dog paw pads that are cracked or that are otherwise in poor shape, can be treated and healed. Since those pads happen to be softer than feet, leaving them cracked or injured and not treating them, could be a bad idea. Paw pads that are not in the best shape can easily get infected.

The first thing that you need to do is to take a closer look at  the undersides of your dog's paws. You can probably take a clue to which paw pads are affected by the way your dog walks. If your dog seems to tread lightly on a paw or if he seems to keep licking a paw often to try to make it better, that's your sign right there.

If you happen to be out walking with your dog when this happens, or if you happen to be on a hike, you really need to turn back the moment you notice a paw injury. Cracked paw pads can be really painful. In fact, it should always be a good idea to check your dog's paws each time you return from time outside with your dog.

Injured paws could be more than just simple cracks, sometimes. There could actually be a cut or puncture from a thorn or splinter. You need to check to see if something still remains in there. It doesn't even necessarily have to be the paw pads. Why, there could be little stones stuck between the toes, or there could be dried bits of rough grass. You need to look closely to find out what goes on.


If you do find signs of actual injury, you may either take your dog down to the vet, or you could administer the same kind of treatment as the vet would, at home. When there is a paw injury, the vet will usually use povidone-iodine to clean it up. And then, the vet will try to make sure that your dog doesn't worry his injured paw, by fitting some kind of protective device there.

You could conceivably do the same thing yourself and save yourself little bit of money. Any dressing that you put on the paws needs to be changed frequently. Dogs sweat through their paws, and bandages can get damp pretty soon.