Does anyone use dog boots to protect your retreivers feet?

John L

John L

Well-known member
I have never use any kind of protection on my labs feet but have been thinking about it. This is the second time this year my lab has had a nice cut on one of her pads. She is a working retriever and I want to give here the best protection possible.
The areas we hunt are mostly salt marsh and the islands have a lot of sharp shells and live mussels growing everywhere, not to mention all the reeds. I'm concerned that with any type of boot on her feet she will not be able to climb back up onto the islands or boat with out the use of her nails to grab hold.
Any thought would be appreciated.
 
i don't use them on my dog during duck season, but i use them for upland. I think the problem you'll run into with trying to use them in salt marsh is that most of the commerically available boots will slide off with the suction of the mud. You can make boots out of a bike inner tube and tape them on really tight with vet tape and they only cost a dollar if you loose them.
 
I don't think you will find a boot that will allow them to swim very well. They need to be able to open the toes to get use of the webs. There is something you can put on the pads to toughen them.... just can't recall what it is called.

Dave
 
Kris,

Thanks for the reply. I have more concerns about using boots than the protection they may provide. At this point I don't feel that the pros out weigh the cons but I am open to suggestions.
My wife is pushing me to get our dog some kind of foot wear. Mocha came back from yesterdays hunt and left bloody tracks all over the house. I told her that this is going to happen from time to time. The response I got was " let's send you out on the marsh bare foot to retrieve birds and see how you like it". I didn't have a good come back for that one so I said I'll look into it. She pointed out that they use them for sled dogs so it sholud be fine for our lab. I pointed out that they don't have to swim and climb up into boats.
 
Dave,

An on line search yielded some products that I have never heard of or know anyone that has tried them. There is some pretty ridiculous looking foot wear out there that I actually got a good laugh from viewing.
I think the products your refering to may be TUF-FOOT or Musher's Secret Dog Paw Wax. I was going to try something like this just to give her some added theropy but it's not going to prevent cuts.
 
Kris,

Thanks for the reply. I have more concerns about using boots than the protection they may provide. At this point I don't feel that the pros out weigh the cons but I am open to suggestions.
My wife is pushing me to get our dog some kind of foot wear. Mocha came back from yesterdays hunt and left bloody tracks all over the house. I told her that this is going to happen from time to time. The response I got was " let's send you out on the marsh bare foot to retrieve birds and see how you like it". I didn't have a good come back for that one so I said I'll look into it. She pointed out that they use them for sled dogs so it sholud be fine for our lab. I pointed out that they don't have to swim and climb up into boats.
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You probably remember that Pete had a bad pad cut during late goose season last year. I sent him after a goose and he went all out across a sand/gravel bar after a goose. The outcome was a bunch of staples and the pad took months to heal up right. He has a number of other pad injuries that healed up pretty quickly, even though they bleed a lot too. These injuries are from the same thing you are talking about - I don't know what causes them, but it is shell or glass. I've used boots to manage dogs' feet upland hunting from wear, not injury so much (maybe some cactus protection).

I don't know what I'd try, maybe cordura booties from a place like dogbooties.com, but they will be a pain in the ass with coming off, may constrict the dog's blood vessels to the foot in cold when sedentary, would prevent the dog's toes from spreading out and hamper swiming and may not even offer the puncture resistance you desire. In the end I can't imagine that you would stick with putting them on every day and trying to keep the booties on during the trip, it would be a pita.

What I find truely amazing is how seldom they actually get hurt under those conditions. You can hear them smashing around crushing all kinds of stuff and usually they are fine.
 
Dave,

An on line search yielded some products that I have never heard of or know anyone that has tried them. There is some pretty ridiculous looking foot wear out there that I actually got a good laugh from viewing.
I think the products your refering to may be TUF-FOOT or Musher's Secret Dog Paw Wax. I was going to try something like this just to give her some added theropy but it's not going to prevent cuts.
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The utility of tuf-foot that I can see is that it dries out the pad and promotes pad production (toughens them up by making the pads thicker). It is basically alcohol and does toughen the pad up if used a lot pre season. Then again, the pads really soften up when they get wet and I'm not sure if the tuf-foot benefit is there with a wet foot. As an example, Pete's pads are pretty good and resist prickly pear thorns very well, especally in the official pad area if his feet are dry. However, if his feet are moist on a wet day (or when wearing cordura booties they get moist too) his feet take a ton of pear thorns.

Both Pete and Skeet hate the tuf-foot.
 
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Tod,
I do remember you talking about Pete's injury. I'm not sold on the idea of boots but I did tell my wife I would look into it. I would agree with you that the dogs are better off with out them in the water. Mocha does many more water retreives than land. So, in this case I think the boots are not going to be the best idea. The cut is barely visible. But like all pad injuries, bleeds a lot until closed.
Mocha has a much deservied day off today and tomorrow and if all looks good will be out with us on Friday. I'll just keep he on the water retrieves and fetch the downed birds on the marsh myself.
 
Tod,
I do remember you talking about Pete's injury. I'm not sold on the idea of boots but I did tell my wife I would look into it. I would agree with you that the dogs are better off with out them in the water. Mocha does many more water retreives than land. So, in this case I think the boots are not going to be the best idea. The cut is barely visible. But like all pad injuries, bleeds a lot until closed.
Mocha has a much deservied day off today and tomorrow and if all looks good will be out with us on Friday. I'll just keep he on the water retrieves and fetch the downed birds on the marsh myself.
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Teach her to walk carefully and calmly. :).
 


Teach her to walk carefully and calmly. :).
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She does walk carefully and calmly when we are walking the marsh together but when I send her for a downed bird she leaps out of the boat and charger across the marsh to fetch it up. That's going to take some work to calm her down on the retrieves.
 


Teach her to walk carefully and calmly. :).
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She does walk carefully and calmly when we are walking the marsh together but when I send her for a downed bird she leaps out of the boat and charger across the marsh to fetch it up. That's going to take some work to calm her down on the retrieves.
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I figgured there wasn't a chance in hell on that.
 
You ever try swimming with boots on? I would say those boots are more for upland work. I would try tuf pad first. Those mussels can slice up your boat, I can imagine they are tough on dogs pads
 
You ever try swimming with boots on? I would say those boots are more for upland work. I would try tuf pad first. Those mussels can slice up your boat, I can imagine they are tough on dogs pads
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Charlie,
That was my thought exactly. I can't imagine it being very easy to swim with boots on but had to ask if anyone has tried them with there dogs.
 
John
You might try Aeroplast. It's a spray-on plastic bandage and protective surgical dressing. It's flexible, waterproof, oil resistant and transparent. In sports medicine we used Tuff Skin on our basketball players feet the beginning of the season. Just several suggestions.
wis boz
 
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John,
I have the same problem in some of my areas where the oyster shells just lay in wait to tear up KC's feet. I haven't tried the tuff-pad stuff but would probably go that route before boots.

dc
 
John,
Several good points have been made. You can also toughen skin with daily use of betadine, also a product called skin prep. The tuff-skin may help as well. I worry about reed punctures when down in Nevada. Of course cactus also.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I don't think there is a good fix for the problem. I really did not like the idea of boots from the start but figured I ask anyway to get some feed back. The problem here is that Mocha's feet are always wet and get soft through out the day, so any of the conditioners are not going to be of much help. As for the adheasive backed products, I just don'y see them staying on her feet after the first one or two retrieves. Guess we will just have to hope for the best.
 
http://www.gundogsupply.com/bark-n-boots-polar-trex-.html?source=html-email&publish=1294190292

https://store.petango.com/Paw-Wax-by-Shaws-50-g-P6560.aspx#reviews

Here are some boots you may want to consider. They were recommended to me. I have not tried them. If she isn't swimming but just running the salt marsh they may work or like stated above they may get sucked off bu the mud. I bought boots from England for my huskies. A waste of money. They didn't stay on very well.
I do use Mushers Secret. It's a paste that I put on his feet before and during the season. It tuffens the pads, doesn't stain, non toxic and really help with ths snow balls between the toes along with keeping the hair around the toes short. Just google it, I don't remember where I buy it. I google it when I need it.
 
A retriever usually doesn't do enough "work" to build up a tough pad. Not that a tougher or thicker pad will guarantee no cuts, but if you supplement a dog's diet with Chelated Zinc (50 mg zinc gliconate) once a day their pads will be more resistant to damage.
 
Thanks again for the replies.
No boots it is.
We will just have to try some of the suggested ideas for good measure.
 
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