How Long Does It Take For A Dog’s Paw Pad To Heal? [Expert Advice]

There are specific injuries like lacerations, which sometimes can be dangerous if the cut is too deep in the tissues of paw pads. In such a case, it could take months to heal properly from this injury.

How Long Does It Take For A Dog’s Paw Pad To Heal? Depending upon the injury, it can take weeks to months to heal the dog’s paw pad. It takes a long time to heal the dog’s paw pad as they are soft and bear the whole body’s weight. 

Meanwhile, the owner has to take care of his dog well and should make him rest. 

They should also take care of their diet as healing the body requires extra nutrition and supplements other than regular ones. 

The dogs’ paw pads are responsible for the body’s whole movement and thus carry more stress regularly. 

While recovering from the injury, it is advised for the dogs to restrict the roaming and walking for a few days to make the injuries heal quickly. So it is challenging to take care of dogs, and that too when they suffer from any injury or illness. 

Table of Contents

• Will A Dog’s Paw Pad Heal On Its Own?
• How Do You Treat A Torn Dog Pad?
• Do Dogs Paw Pads Grow Back?
• Should I Let My Dog Lick His Cut Paw?  
• How To Stop Your Dog From Licking The Wound?

Will A Dog’s Paw Pad Heal On Its Own?

It depends upon the type of injuries your dog has, such as abrasion, laceration, a cut, etc., and many more. So if there is a light injury like abrasion in which he gets slightly injured during playing or running, the paws will only heal themselves. 

All you need to take care of is the paw’s cleaning and drying. As dogs do not understand the importance of the cleanliness of the body to heal the injury, they often avoid cleaning or bathing. But you should clean the paw pads regularly and keep them dry to heal faster. 

But if your dog has a deep cut in his paw pads. This injury hurts them a lot and requires immediate first aid. If you have the knowledge to deal with injuries, you should only proceed with giving first aid. 

Otherwise, it would be best to take him to the vet, where he will properly dress the injury with the required medicines. 

Thus, the type of injury on the dogs’ paw pads will decide whether it will heal themselves or require the assistance of a vet and medicines. 

Thus if you see that the injury is severe, you should not waste any time taking your dog to an experienced vet to comfort him from the pain. 

How Do You Treat A Torn Dog Pad?

A torn pad can irritate your dog, so treating it as quickly as possible is essential.

You can give first aid to your dog to relieve the pain, and then if the pain continues, you can take him to the vet for a checkup. Experienced vets describe specific steps on how to give first aid to dogs. 

1. It would be best to clean the dog’s whole wound to start the first aid steps. If you see any debris or the metal or glass piece inside the injury of the pads, then you should smoothly and slowly remove it. Then, you can use tweezers and cotton pieces to clean the wound properly. 

2. Then next comes up the step to control bleeding to avoid too much blood loss from the body. To control blood leakages apply pressure at the place of injury; this helps in stopping blood loss. You can take the help of a clean cloth to tie up the wound to put continuous pressure on the wound. 

3. The third step is to apply bandages. After cleaning and washing wounds, you should use a bandage to cover and seal the wound to heal. It is essential to cover the whole injury adequately and cover the paw, including the ankle, for their comfort. 

These are the three easy steps in which you can apply the bandages to your dog to provide him relief from the pain. However, the healing also depends on how often you change the bandages. 

In general, the bandage gets destroyed by the continuous walking and licking of the dog. Thus one should not forget to change the bandages regularly after some time. 

Also, there are chances when the bandage can start leaking, which has the chance of infection. This is why it is crucial to check the bandages off your dog to keep healing its wound. 

Why does my dog only have four toes on all its feet?

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Do Dogs Paw Pads Grow Back?

If the infection or injury is limited to the outer skin of the dogs’ paw pads, then yes, the paw pads will grow back. But if the injury or the cut is deep into the skin’s inner lining, it is challenging for the owner to keep the paw pads safe. 

Because in such cases, if you leave a slight chance of risk exposure of the injury to infection or dust, the paws will not grow back. 

To help the dogs in growing back their pads of paws, the owner or an individual can take care of their nails and the cleanliness of their feet. 

They can maintain their nails by trimming them short at regular intervals. These small things will help the dog grow back their pads of paws easily and quickly.

Should I Let My Dog Lick His Cut Paw?

Although licking is a natural process for dogs to keep themselves clean, licking can harm injuries as it will not let the wound dry, which can affect the healing of the injuries you should not want with your dog. 

So you should not let them lick their cut paw if you wish to heal their wound quickly. 

Most people don’t give cut or open wounds much thought until something goes wrong, but the fact is that these injuries can easily get infected if not taken care of immediately. 

If your pup licks at his paw during play or when he’s done another activity, he should be able to keep that cut clean and dry by rubbing it against a towel or blanket. 

For more sensitive areas near the knuckle, applying topical antiseptics can help keep it dry. 

The most common type of paw licking is cutting or nibbling, resulting from an instinctual urge to clean and disinfect the wound after damage. Vets have estimated that approximately one in three dogs lick their paws after they’ve been injured.

Although there’s no harm in letting your dog clean his paw, you should watch it to ensure that he doesn’t overdo it. If you notice that your pup is licking the paw excessively or if the cut is particularly nasty looking, take him to the vet for a proper evaluation. 

A dog’s paw contains many nerve endings and blood vessels that can quickly become infected if exposed. Moreover, licking can cause dead skin cells to clog the wound, inhibiting healing. 

The best way to prevent this is by keeping the injury clean and dry as it heals, and this will also stop any pain associated with drying out of the wound itself. 

How To Stop Your Dog From Licking The Wound?

You can try on your dog in many ways to prevent them from licking the wound. You can use different products to let the wound dry and heal it properly. 

• Bandages Or Boots 

You will get enough boots in the market for your dog to protect the wound. There are varieties of styles and kinds of dog boots made to give them comfort while recovering from injury, and also they are pretty fashionable according to the current trend. 

Another option for you is to use the bandage to seal the wound to protect it from infection. 

• Distraction 

You can try to distract your dog by commanding them to perform specific tasks or making them run and fetch anything from the house. You can play with them to reduce their habit of licking the paws and the wounds. 

You can use another tactic, such as giving them the food in pieces, which takes time. Try not to provide them with the whole food at once, as they will finish it quickly and return to the old habit of licking and cleaning their wound. 

So try to teach them to prevent licking, and as the dog owner, you have to take good care of them and their health. 

If you want a quick recovery from your dog’s paws injury, you should give him a healthy and balanced diet, which will provide him with enough nutrition required by their body to heal the wound better and faster.