Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / December 2006

So now that I'm down to one dog, we're noticing just how much *he's*
having problems. He's always salivated heavily at the smell or thought
of food (he's a real pig-dog!), but lately he's been doing it all the
time. I can't see any obvious sign of injury in his mouth, and it
doesn't seem to concern him at all, but he's beginning to develop a sore
in the corner of his mouth. What might cause this problem? He's a 12
year old shepherd/Doberman, is it possibly just a normal age related
thing? Is there any kind of ointment or anything that would be safe to
put there to help the sore heal?

Also, his pads are split/cracked on three of his paws. We recently had
an unusual freezing spell with a big dump of snow. I'm hoping that's
what caused it and it'll heal, but could I be way off base? What else
might cause this to happen? I've been putting Vaseline on the cuts and
wrapping them, is that okay to do? He's having a lot of trouble walking,
so I want to do whatever I can to speed up the healing process.

Any help/advice/suggestions will be muchly appreciated.

Scott