My French Bulldog has Started To Drag and Knuckle Their Back Paws. What Should I Do?

Your French Bulldog might have started dragging one or both back paws along the ground. This might have started suddenly or over a longer period of time, but you will notice their nails getting shorter and often their paw skin starts to bleed as they damage the skin and it becomes damaged.

It doesn’t look nice, and it can be painful for your dog. Importantly, dragging can increase the risk of infection in your dog's paw, as dirt and debris often gets inside the cuts or scratches, for this reasons it is important that you keep your dog's the paw clean and protected!

Your French Bulldog is likely to have a medical condition called Paw Knuckling.

Does your French Bulldog Paw Knuckle?

It's important to get your dog checked out by your vet so you have a firm diagnosis. Once you know the medical condition your dog has, you can then make sure that you have the right treatment plan for your French Bulldog.

If you think your Frenchie is paw knuckling, read more here:

Paw Knuckling: The Causes, Prevention and Treatments

Commonly paw knuckling is a sign of an underlying medical condition, very often for Frenchies this medical condition is Degenerative Myelopathy. It could however be a different medical condition, so it's importnat you get your dog checked out by your vet. 

Degenerative Myelopathy

We see a lot of French Bulldogs who start showing signs of Paw Knuckling and have an underlying neurological condition called Degenerative Myelopathy. 

Degenerative Myelopathy is a progressive, and very sadly, fatal neurological disease. Degenerative Myelopathy typically begins in the hind legs making your dog wobbly or unbalanced. This means that sometimes dogs are misdiagnosed with arthritis or other age related medical conditions.

Read more here:

Degenerative Myelopathy: Causes, Prevention and How to Help

Dog boots for paw knuckling

It's a good idea to get your Frenchie some protective boots to stop the skin from being damaged further.

Find the best protective boots here

Dog wheelchairs

We help many owner's with French Bulldog's who have severe knuckling due to Degenerative Myelopathy get thier dogs into a dog wheelchair. A dog wheelchair can seem a big step, but if you're open-minded, it can really transform your dog's daily life.

Importantly, dog wheelchairs allow your dog to exercise independently again. The wheelchair helps to support and takes the weight off your dog’s back legs, this means that they can exercise independently once again. This has a range of benefits from massively boosting their mood to helping them loose any extra weight which they have put and re-developing muscles which they have lost on due to inactivity.

If you'd like to learn more about owners who went ahead and got their Frenchie a dog wheelchair, read more here.