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mts4602
03-21-2008, 20:56
So I'm thinking of getting dog boots for my austrailian shepherd b/c today we had her on a tennis court chasing balls. We do this all the time but today we noticed her limping and her paws had rubbed off the skin in a couple places. We're getting her fixed up but needless to say I feel pretty bad.

I'd like to get some of the boots for her but I'm not sure she'd like to wear them. I think she'll just try and pull them off. How did you all get your dogs to wear the boots?

I'll probably just get them and see what happens but I thought I'd see if you guys had any advice.

Thanks,

Matt

PJ 2005
03-22-2008, 00:00
The good ones (Ruffwear) have velcro that will keep them on the paws. Pilot (my dog) didn't appreciate them at all, but it was hilarious watching him flop around in them for a while. Eventually he accepted them and is better off for it.

Vibram soles for a dog... who would have thought?

kiwi
03-23-2008, 23:23
ruffwear are pretty good. i have an aussie/australian cattledog mix. she has the tiniest feet and i think the guide said MEDIUM for her but ended up returning them for SMALL. FYI.

that aside, remember aussie's are way too smart for our own good :) it took our lab a few tries to get theboogs off. chewbacca (aussie/ACD mix) had them off in about 30 seconds. i had to convince her that she would like her boots with lots of treats and just outsmarting her. small amounts of time. made a game out of it. put the boot on and gave her a treat. took the boot off and gave her a treat. repeat. repeat. repeat. did this too when i took her on sidewalk walks and trail walks. lost of time. also, i did user her intelligence against her, if you will. she remembers where we've been. i'd walk her over a rough spot and then on the way back, boots were on. she remembered and wore the boots with no problem.

kiwi
03-23-2008, 23:24
i should note, she's still not a huge fan. as soon as we are over the tough spot...she wants those things OFF

Jaybird62
03-23-2008, 23:32
I bought a pair of the ruffwear boots for my dog. They are very well made, and stay on my beagles paws just fine. She is not too fond of them, but I only put them on her when there is snow and ice, as I have found that this is really the only time she seems to need them. Really cold paw pads and sharp ice on the ground leads to a very unhappy friend, and rightfully so......

NorthCountryWoods
04-01-2008, 10:15
I bought a pair of the ruffwear boots for my dog. They are very well made, and stay on my beagles paws just fine. She is not too fond of them, but I only put them on her when there is snow and ice, as I have found that this is really the only time she seems to need them. Really cold paw pads and sharp ice on the ground leads to a very unhappy friend, and rightfully so......

x2. My dog is short haired and has a tough time with the cold, but once he gets used to the cold and unless it's really icy, I use them less frequently.

Multiple vets have told me that your dogs pads need to build up callouses and the boots and even the pad conditioners used to often can hamper that progress and do more long term harm than good.

Tennis courts, asphalt and concrete combined with a dogs quick starts and stops (chasing a ball/toy) and it's only a matter of time before they will have a pad injury.

superman
04-01-2008, 10:48
Tennis courts, asphalt and concrete combined with a dogs quick starts and stops (chasing a ball/toy) and it's only a matter of time before they will have a pad injury.

It would be better for your dog to do that activity on a lawn of some sort. The man went to his doctor and said "doc, it hurts when I lift my arm like this." ...The doctor said "don't lift your arm like that."

Nomad94
04-01-2008, 11:02
Superman- Did you use boots w/Winter?

I use leather open-sided boots that lace 3-4" up the leg w/my pup. They have moulded & stiffened to her feet well.

The gravel on some of the trails we use can nick up her feet pretty good. She hangs her head & walks slowly w/o them. This is a dog w/very tough, thick pads- she raced for better than 4 yrs.

superman
04-01-2008, 14:50
Superman- Did you use boots w/Winter?

I use leather open-sided boots that lace 3-4" up the leg w/my pup. They have moulded & stiffened to her feet well.

The gravel on some of the trails we use can nick up her feet pretty good. She hangs her head & walks slowly w/o them. This is a dog w/very tough, thick pads- she raced for better than 4 yrs.

I carried Neosporin and superglue for Winter and I. Winter never needed either of them on the AT. I used the Neosporin on chafing until I got a powder system down. The superglue broke and stuck all sorts of stuff together in my ditty bag. Winter's feet were fine on the AT, LT and FT but she had to wear boots on the PCT section. We went as far as Mojave. Winter and I were struggling in the heat. Winter needed the boots for protection from something sharp in the stones. She walked slowly with her head down. The stones didn't look that different to me but they were not good on paws. Since dogs get most of there heat transfer through their paws it was hard to keep the boots on and stay cool enough. One of the hikers committed suicide in the motel when we were staying there. That made me realize that we'd had enough fun on the PCT. I bought an SUV and we turned the trip into a vacation, drove up 101 in CA and drank some wine, stopped at many tourist sites on our way home.