YEAST
My first Boxer a now 6 year old male licked his feet constantly as well as around his manhood from the time he was about a year old untill hew saw a new vet about 3 years ago. He licked the front of his toes and in between them untill fur was gone and sometimes raw. His white feet were also turning a rusty red color. Another effect this licking had around his crotch was his testicles seemed too large to me but again before him I'd never seen a set. These periods of licking seemed to come and go which led me to think allergies. So I asked other people with other dogs and Boxers and read all the books along with asking the vet and got a lot of different answers. Most common were "Boxers are very clean dogs and lick like a cat" "All dogs lick that way" "Lets test him for allergies" "It's your first dog don't worry so much about every little thing" and the most common was "Why are you studying your dogs "anatomy" so closely?" Finally he was having a flareup about the same time he was do at the vet for his annual and just after I moved out of state and had to use a new vet. By now he was almost three and was also showing an unrelated symtom, bumps/lumps and I was wanting to have him neutered as well. I explained the licking she looked at his feet then swabbed between his toes with what looked like a Q-tip and said I'll be back in a few minutes. She came back and said he had the highest yeast count/level/? whatever the term she used was, that she had ever seen on/in a dog. She explained (the best I can remember) that all dogs have/produce a certain amount of yeast, some more than others. The change of color on his white feet was saliva stains from the licking. His testicles as it turns out were very swollen from the licking (slightly raw and scabbed in the fold of his inner/upper thigh) which also caused a mild infection which contributed to the swelling. So much so that I had to wait for this outbreak to be cured along with the infection before she could consider the neuter. The cure was IVD brand Potato and Duck formula dog food AND NOTHING ELSE. NO treats, cookies, popcorn, cheese, eggs, nothing but that food and water can go in his stomach or the problem comes back. This also cured the "green onion farts" I also use special shampoo and a leave in conditioner on his coat for his quarterly bath. On the rare occasions I see very subtle signs of an out break (usually after a french fry or piece of popcorn or a strip of bacon) I have a topical spray that knocks it out. That is untill recently when he developed what I thought started as a nip to the tip of his ear that wouldn't heal and also turned out to be yeast related. If you have a dog that shows these symptoms I would recommend you have a vet check for a yeast problem. Also if a specific diet cures a problem with your dog resist those sad eyes and don't stray from the diet; this is a lesson we learned the hard way as the ears take a very long time to heal.