Pawing at face/mouth?

I have an eight and a half month old Cardigan male who has begun pawing at the sides of his face and mouth recently. I don't know if it is cause for concern, but I am hoping some knowledgeable person on these forums will be able to help. It is possible that he is still experiencing pain from teething at his age? His adult teeth appear to be all the way in. Most of the time he will put his nose to the ground and run the pads of his paws aggressively down the sides of it. But I have seen him get a nail hooked inside his lip like he is trying to get at his gums. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on February 15, 2011 at 1:57pm

Is it always the same side? He is likely not teething but could have a broken or cracked tooth, something caught in the gums, or a cut in the inside of his mouth. This is cause for concern and if he has been doing it for a day or two you should take him in to the vet so they can fix whatever is causing the irritation.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on February 15, 2011 at 2:07pm

Hi Brandon, get a headlamp / flash light and carefully open his mouth, check every teeth / gap / gum, loos tooth, fracture, swollen...etc. If you didn't find a loose tooth / insect bite, he might have bit into something that cause an allergic reaction, does he only paw at the mouth? Does he perform face dive / ears?

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on February 15, 2011 at 2:45pm

Could be teeth but also could be allergies. Have you made changes to his food?

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Permalink Reply by Jen on February 15, 2011 at 3:45pm

Our non-corgi lab/terrier mix does that too. When she first started doing it we freaked out and checked her mouth constantly, but never found anything. We've noticed that she does it all the time except in the summer. As near as the vet can tell in the spring and fall it's allergies, because she sneezes a lot too, and during the winter it's dry skin.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on February 15, 2011 at 5:52pm

Is there any way that it could be his ears??? I have a rescue with frequent ear problems and she does this. Just a thought. Good Luck!

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Permalink Reply by JACLYN and ENZO on February 15, 2011 at 9:01pm

My pup used to do this too and I read online that it was possibly food allergies. So I switched his food and now no more pawing at the face/mouth :) But I am in no way an expert so I would listen to some of the vets on here.