help from my doggie friends?

so we got home from our walk yesterday (me a few minutes before Kenya), and there were bloody paw prints in the snow.  not a lot of blood, just a little.

me: "Aw, bubby has a sore foot."

so i brought her in and settled her down and looked at her feet, and not one but three were bleeding.  one pad is cracked and healing, but mostly it's just that the points of her pads, right on her toes, are raw from the snow.  it's almost like road rash.  this didn't happen last winter.  is there anything i can do?  like, vaseline or something?  because i know she's not going to slow down and let them heal.  i can keep her on the leash for a few days, i guess.

and will they toughen up?  like, will she develop callouses?

poor dog. 

I wish I could help with a remedy but I don't know of one. But I will offer another suggestion....have you tried putting doggie boots on her?

I used to have a Golden Retriever that was really well trained when I got him. His parents were show dogs so the owners trained him the basics. However, he wouldn't let me put the boots on him. So, we just went out for our walks with him barefoot, but I didn't walk him as much in the winter and if I remember correctly, you go on hikes. Well, not much hiking in Detroit.

So, anyway, you can find those at pet stores or on ebay. They have a hard-ish but flexible bottom.

haha you call your dog Bubby too? maybe i'm not such a weirdo!

anyway, Murph's daycare carries Mushers Secret

i've never tried it, because Murph lasts two excited laps around the yard when we get snow before he starts shivering and wants to come in, but the reviews look promising!

thanks, trend.  i've been thinking about booties, but the way she loses collars, tags, and bear bells, i doubt they'd last ten minutes.  she's very active, charging through the trees at full bore; it's actually pretty rare for her not to draw blood when she's off leash.

i'll shop around, though.  if i can find something that will stay on her feet, and if the sole isn't going to be too slippery...it could be funny ;)

thanks, jules!  i'll look for some musher's secret.  considering that i'm in the north and huskies are the dog of choice around here, it should be easy to find!

and yes, i call her bubby.  i don't know why ;)

have you looked into dog boots like the ones the survivor sniffers wear?

Loma has that problem too. I tried a few kinds of boots- most either fall off or develop holes. You'll need to invest about $30-50 to get a decent pair.  Even the good ones fall off sometimes, so make sure you get a pair in blaze orange or some other bright color. I got mine from Cabela's website. They don't seem to have the ones I bought anymore, but they have a page of other boots and pad treatments that may be helpful. You could probably find decent boots at any hunting supply store, but beware of the ones at Petco and other such stores....they're not made for the dogs that are active enough to have bloody paws. 

If Bubby is like Loma, you're in for a treat when you put the boots on...she walked around doing the most ridiculous highstep thing I've ever seen for about 20 minutes. I almost died laughing.

Also, I've found that the higher boots tend to stay on better, and they need to have some kind of velcro wrap apparatus so you can wrap them tightly against their legs. Not the most comfortable thing for a dog, I'm sure.

Ugh already answered! 

Although I have to ask what was she doing in the snow? running, digging etc?

and what kind of snow Soft or crisp? I'm guessing crisp when it cut her paws!

thanks, emily.  if i get booties, i'll be ready to record ;)

iggy, that's a good idea.  maybe i'll contact S & R. 

andie, i haven't seen her dig, but as you know, she's not always in my eyeline ;)  she's definitely running, changing directions fast, climbing, jumping - she's pretty manic out there.

the snow is very crisp right now, because it's still thawing and refreezing.  that's probably why we didn't have this problem last year; i didn't get her until the end of feb, and there was definitely no thawing then.  by spring when that was a problem, maybe her pads had toughened up.

Awe that's good, yeah I would go with boots until the scratches heal over and the stuff jules recommended.

Just a suggestion but when the tarmac roads are clear of snow I would do some quite intensive road work with her (obviously when her feet are ok) like running along side the bike or something. Tarmac is great for toughening their feet.

here's a couple of links I found

bark n' boots

paw mitts

dog boots

Hee hee I so wish I could see her when they are first put on I like the first ones my self.

thanks, ig!  i like the first ones, too.  they have grippy soles.

i'd have thought she'd have pretty tough feet.  she runs with me on the road as well as on the trails, and when she's off leash she probably covers five kilometers for every one that i do! 

hmmm.

thanks everyone! 

okay, who can solve this one for me?  to measure her foot, i'm supposed to get her to stand on a piece of paper while i lift her opposite foot and trace the widest part of her foot.  but when i try to do that, she flops down for a belly rub.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

okay, who can solve this one for me?  to measure her foot, i'm supposed to get her to stand on a piece of paper while i lift her opposite foot and trace the widest part of her foot.  but when i try to do that, she flops down for a belly rub.

 Awww...maybe hold her foot up in the air against a piece of paper? Might take 2 people.

Also, if your roads are salted, beware of that...especially with cuts, it's really hard on dog paws.

Ha ha ha! when I measured mine for them I traced round her foot roughly then just measured above joint. 

Failing that draw a ruler onto the card and measure the size of paw that way the measurement around the leg  is usually ok even if they aren't standing just once you put the tape around push her paw back like it would be when standing and it'll give you a good enough fit.

Looking at those three links posted before, the first would probably be best- the other two don't look durable enough. Think about how hard of a beating they'll take on the soles, and then use that to help you decide.

Original Post by emilyd22222:

Original Post by pgeorgian:

okay, who can solve this one for me?  to measure her foot, i'm supposed to get her to stand on a piece of paper while i lift her opposite foot and trace the widest part of her foot.  but when i try to do that, she flops down for a belly rub.

 Awww...maybe hold her foot up in the air against a piece of paper? Might take 2 people.

Also, if your roads are salted, beware of that...especially with cuts, it's really hard on dog paws.

 meaure her foot prints in the snow?

Original Post by pgeorgian:

okay, who can solve this one for me?  to measure her foot, i'm supposed to get her to stand on a piece of paper while i lift her opposite foot and trace the widest part of her foot.  but when i try to do that, she flops down for a belly rub.

she's got you trained. :)