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Protecting my dogs feet

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quanah labs

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
Last week while dove hunting with my 5 month old YLF she punctured her paw on something. The puncture wound was between the pads right in the center of the paw. I did not even notice it untill the next morning when I went out to feed her and I noticed her paw was swollen. I treated it and kept her off it for a couple of days and she healed up nice, but it got me thinking of the best way to proctect her paws.

I am planning a pheasant hunt in a couple of months in Kansas and she is the only dog I am taking so I'm worried that a similiar injury up in Kansas would absolutely ruin our hunt. So my question is what should I do to protect her wheels?

Should I get her boots, or will the boots never allow her paws to toughen up on there own, and are they hard for a young dog to get used to?

I have heard of some sprays that supposedly create a layer of protection, but I don't know if they work?

I read on a thread from a few days ago about giving the dog a zinc supplement that will make the paws tougher but again I have no idea if that works, and even if it did make the pads tougher it would not have helped her last week because what ever stabbed her went in between her pads.

I would really appreciate hearing how you guys go about protecting your dogs paws, Thanks.
 
#2 · (Edited)
There is a pad toughener that you can apply to your dogs feet to help ... not really sure if this helps other than maybe making you feel better about your dogs feet.

Some people use dog boots (there are several different types ... mostly made of neoprene). Personally, we have not had a lot of success in keeping the boots on the dogs feet ... but that was probably due to the boot design we bought. If you are going to try the boots, get them ahead of time to allow your dog to get used to them before you get to Kansas.
 
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#3 ·
Nothing really works. Tried them all except boots.
 
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#5 ·
I'd go with the cordura type boots. Even if you don't use them hunting, should the dog be injured then they will protect the injured foot if you still want to keep hunting her. Have wear them a few times around the house and such. In my experience it doesn't take long at all for them to get used to them. She could eventually associate them with going hunting and like wearing them because she knows what's coming!
 
#7 ·
In the past prior to the season I brushed my dog's pads with brine. I started this a couple of weeks before the season started. I then would use Tuf Foot every day. Did it help toughen the pads? Not sure but I felt better about it.
 
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#8 ·
Dogbooties dot com
Ive used them with some success. Theres different thicknesses for different terrain. Use some vet wrap under them and then duct tape the booties to the vet wrap. Get the blaze orange ones so you will notice when they come off. Get them now and get your dog used to them at a young age. Even if you dont need them now, get used to them
 
#9 ·
the trick is to apply tape (waterproof adhesive or duct tape, not too tight just lay it on) to the hair then tape the boot to tape, pretreat the tape with starting fluid, makes the tape stick better
 
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timn
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