Kennel sores

[Boo439]

Toda has a serious destruction problem. That I can deal with. What I can't is that he eats everything he destroys. Working as a vet tech for a couple of years I saw alot of problems arise out of the ingestion of things like towels, rugs, beds, etc. For that very reason, Toda sleeps in a kennel at night. I cannot leave ANYTHING in there for him to sleep on it, or he will eat it. This has been a problem ever since we've had him. The result is the following:






We have tried everything to keep him from eating bedding, towels, blankets and the most time he has waited before eating it is 1 night. It's even worse the more attention we pay to him during the day. It is absolutely not an option to leave him out at night or while we are not home. I was wondering if anyone else has this problem or knows how to make the sores go away. They look permanent to me. Thanks in advance!

[pocketpit]

Does he bother the sores at all? My dobe used to get stuff like that from riding in his crate to training. He'd get upset at people going by the crate and spin while barking. He bothered them and then they wouldn't heal. Liquid bandage worked really well. If Toda doesn't bother them, maybe a change in type of crate would help. Is he in a vari kennel type crate? Would a wire one hold him? There's less area for the dogs to rub body parts on in a wire crate, but if he's overly active in one I don't think it would be a good choice.

[Boo439]

Here's a pic of his crate. He used to have one of those grey colored ones with the ventilation holes in the sides and the metal wire door, but it got real stinky real fast. This one is nice and airy. Toda even eats the plastic tray. Don't ask me how he does it, but there are shavings every morning where he ate at it. Toda occasionally licks at the sores that he can reach. He can't reach his elbows. He doesn't irritate them from what I can tell. I think the sores are just permanent rough spots.

[pocketpit]

Hmmm,
I'm at a loss as to any more suggestions. I've had blanket eaters too so I know how frustrating that is trying to provide comfort yet avoiding that foreign body surgery!

[Boo439]

Thanks for your help, anyway. Hopefully someone else will stumble across this thread!

[BabyReba]

My boy Will had kennel sores and callouses when I got him. He had been living in a shelter for months, and he was a mess. Some of the spots were raw and would bleed, others were just callouses--dry, hard skin patches that didn't cause him any discomfort.

The sores cleared up after living with me for a couple of weeks, the callouses are shrinking but still there.

Like Toda, he's also a towel eater/blanket eater, and I must keep him crated when he's not supervised. I have a "dog room" where he can have some freedom but if I leave him loose in it he gets anxious and shreds bedding, blankets, basically anything he can find! Fortunately, he doesn't mind being in his crate at all, and he settles into it nicely, so I don't have to feel too bad about crating him. All I can recommend is that maybe you try to find a superdurable "crate pad." I think they make rubber ones that you can line the bottom of the crate with. He will probably still try to rip it up, but it might be a little tougher for him to really dig into. And it will give him some cushioning to ease the callousing and sore spots.

[TB]

Maybe you could buy a stall mat, made for putting in a horse's stall and cut it up. They're pretty big and thick, but they should be pretty durable to withstand a horse's weight. They're made out of some sort of rubber and are about half to an inch thick. I've never tried it, but maybe...? Just a thought that came to me when I read BabyReba's post.

[Boo439]

Cool, thanks for the suggestions, guys! I will probably go to the feed store in the next couple of days and see if they have that rubber stuff or can get it for me...