I have a problem with my otherwise lovely dog. He is a rescue dog,
about 1 year old with a very nice temperament. I have had him at home
for the past 3 weeks and prior to that walked him daily for a month or
so. In all that time he has had an unhealthy obsession with his back
leg, growling at it and biting it. This obsession has come and gone,
but he is now back to biting it, so much so that it is bleeding. This
is something of a vicious circle as his foot is obviously in pain, so
it bothers him, so he ends up biting it again.

The root of the problem seems to be related to food. When he is being
fed, he will sometimes stop eating from his bowl and start growling,
as if another dog is there ready to steal from him. If I don’t break
his concentration in time he will start barking and will also snap at
his back legs. If left unchecked he will start spinning, chasing his
foot, barking, biting and yelping. This also can happen when he is
bored and seems to remember that he has a grudge against his foot.

The vet has checked his foot and thinks it is fine, so it seems likely
it is a psychological problem. I have tried reassuring him when he is
eating, tried giving him plenty of food, tried distracting him etc,
but he can’t seem to get over this idea that he will lose his food if
he is not aggressive and he ends up taking it out on his foot.

At all other times he is a very affectionate dog and is only a danger
to himself, so any suggestions welcome please as I am running out of
ideas of how to help him.