It could well be an undiagnosed medical problem - for instance, my guy started doing something similar before his HD and arthritis was diagnosed (no other symptoms at the time) and does now when his 'aches' flare up.

Commonly, as previously said, anal glands are the culprit, or allergy.

Vet check first and if medical issues are ruled out, then look at the amount of exercise and mental stimulation he is getting. Sometimes dogs can deflect onto licking and chewing when they are bored.

Hi Esme

This is exactly the same as Henry was, just after he was attacked it started, so we assumed it was an allergice reaction to the bandages, as he had an ear infection too, and very often itchy feet and itchy ears go together.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, our vet suggested blood tests before any treatment to get to the root of the problem..the tests came back that he is allergic to hazel and some grasses...dreadful news as we walk him over the fields and through the woods every day. They made up a serum, (fortunately his insurance covered all this as its about £700 for everything), he has just had his third immunotherapy jab but he had stopped chewing after his 2nd, which is good news. They have this course of gradually increasing the amount of serum, but the time is spaced out more and more between jabs, his first 3 were 2 weeks apart, and now his next one will be three weeks apart, eventually going to one month and then 6 months.

When the vet first suggested it I thought it was just another way of extracting money from us, but I am so pleased that I had it done, it means Hen is no longer frantically chewing his feet and we can enjoy his walks without feeling guilty about where we take him.

Apparently allergies can start from when a dog is 18 months old, they don't have to show any signs as a pup.

I'm not sure if this is any help but thought i'd mention it anyway, my MIL's boxer was exactly the same but also the ears started, they did loads of tests at the vets and nothing came back, in the end she started investigating herself, she read about grass and grit allergies, 1st of all she gave him some anti-histamine for a week but also bought him some doggy boots to wear when they went out, she has now worked out that he was allergic to grass what was happening is he would scratch his ears with his paws which would then cause the ears to itch so when he goes out on the grass now he has to wear boots not had a problem since

Its allergy related; *quite a few Boxers do it including our Katie - as its the feet & "under" him, *it will be contact allergy. Ours are allergic to grass & it gets worse in the "growing" months, ie when the grass is growing. As above poster says your vet can carry out tests to determine exactly what hes allergic to. Unfortunately you cant always elimate everything from day to day living but the vet can help with desentitising medication if required

Bathing affected areas in Saline & letting dry naturally or in weak solution of Malaseb (vets) shampoo - dont rinse off & let dry naturally, can give temporary relief

Pirition will help - vet will give you exact doseage but at this time of year one tablet three times a day should be enough in a dog 23 kilos or over.

Caneasten cream from your chemist can give temporary relief but then you have the problem of stopping them*Licking it
off.*

Keep an eye on his ears as they can start as well, itch, scratch, sore ears.*

Stronghold is quite good, all the parasite controllers have an anti itch component in them. A lot of vets will use them as they help with the itch/scratch circle.
Doesnt mean the dog has fleas!! Again your vet can advise

Things like grass are starting to grow again, trees budding etc. Katie was biting her feet earlier. Until you can get to vets try keepinG him off grass / away from flower beds, trees, bushes etc as much as much as possible

**Please note this is an old thread,
thank you.
Hi D Clowes Thank you for the reminder. I am sure in any quantity Tee Tree oil is toxic , the poster above mentions using 'wipes' which contain only a small amount as do many Tee Tree based dog preparations in this country. I use Tee Tree dog shampoo and find it very good . I also use the oil as a flea preventative instead of harsh spot treatments (just one spot on a tissue )and I never have a flea problem .

My dog with white paws had brown feet and beard as a puppy when fed on compete food (the breeders choice ), when switched to a diet containing mainly fresh food with a small amount of good quality manufactured food (Fish 4 dogs) the brown staining went. So if your dog is chewing its feet I would look at what it has been eating..

Alot of Tobys atopy comes out as foot chewing. You can put a variety of things on it to help it heal/stop itching (malaseb, aloe vera, calendula etc) and at one point we also used some ear drops we had left (vets advice).

As mentioned, alot of it is self inflicted and you end up in a vicious circle. So its definately worth keeping a buster collar to hand, just to slip on when the itching is bad. Then you can put the cream or whatever on and it gets chance to work without being licked off. Everyone knows what its like to have an itch you can't scratch but I think it really is better to stop them if possible, even though they won't like it, or they'll just keep making it worse

Its a nasty circle at times, we use distraction methods. I personally wouldn't use a Buster collar - however its up to the individual owner Boxers are sensitive souls & i know a collar would make ours thoroughly miserable.

We only used it when it was at its worst. We would stick it on, put a bit of something on to soothe the itch and he would usually settle then. As soon as he'd calmed and wasn't so frantic with itchiness we'd take it off again.

If your worried about buster collar theres a new collar out that inflate, they are called "comfy collars" i've just ordered one, they are meant to be alot better and comfier

I saw this but alot of reviews I saw said they weren't very good at stopping dogs getting to their feet? Particularly flexible dogs like mine!