Hi Darlene,
Paw licking in dogs usually means they either have allergies or a yeast infection on the paws themselves. You need to get your vet to do a thorough skin scraping and tape prep. It’s not an expensive test and it will determine between those two things.
Sounds like there may be some arthritis. I would strongly recommend reducing the tremendous amount of exercise. Throw the ball once or twice and then put him on the leash. I’m sure that will help. Next time, have your husband chase the ball as much as the dog does and see how he feels in the morning. At some point, we have to take it easy on our dogs. I encourage you to take a look at our video about the signs of arthritis in dogs for more information on this topic.
I hope this helps.
Dr. Clayton Greenway
