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I have 2 dogs that I can not get into shape because they keep blowing pads or wearing holes into thier pads. I have a hunt starting next week, what can I do to help improve thier feet so they can a least run a little bit. I have been using Pad heal, tuff foot and pine tar. What have you guys seen that seems to work.
Thanks

Dude, one week is not much time to heal up pads. If I was you I would get some dog boots or give them more time with a soft work out.

What breed of dogs are they and have you been using them all summer?

I run my dogs in the soft sand of the washes or arroyos as we call them. It helps build their muscles and is soft on their pads.

some dogs feet are very poor and no matter how much you try there feet are still weak

The best thing to do is breed for dogs that have good tough feet. Most breeders don't pay enough attention to the feet department

These are 2 new dogs I got. they have been running bear all season. I was told they were in good shape, the first trip out they both had problems, one was worse than the other. The one only had a small tare on his pad. I think they must have a lot shorter races than we have. One is a plott the other is a walker/english looking dog. I know a week is very short time, I have been working easy on them, yesterday I ran them about 1 mile and they both had a problem. Not a big problem but, I can see where the pad is worn with a small hole. So I do not know what to do with them. I really needed these 2 dogs because my other dogs are just over 1 year old.

Man that is bad luck.

Sounds to me you need to keep your bear races under a mile. lol

Dogs that are in shape or ran all summer shouldn't loose pads after a mile of running. What part of the country did the dogs come?

I have used this before, it works good. http://www.aimcountrysupply.com/catalog ... cts_id=393

It not a miracle product though, you are going to have to lay them up or take it easy for awhile until they heal

The race when they lost there pads was a long race but it was about 2 weeks ago, I have been trying to heal them up since and they are getting better. So I took them out and roaded them yesterday, thought I took it real easy on them, but they still had a problem. I live in UT and both dogs came from Idaho.

I have found that it takes about 30 days to heal blown pads. In my opinion nothing really helps but time. Idaho is known for bad soil and rough terrain which is tough on dogs feet. Hopefully the dogs don't just have bad feet and you can get them going again.

Sheba is right on to my way of thinking. Not enough attentions is given to the feet on dogs by breeders. I have three dogs that have feet like iron, I mean once they are in shape you just about can't get them sore even on fast scramble bear races over the malpais. Every one of these dogs came out of a program of dogs that were bred up to hunt the bad rocky country of the southwest. Hagar bred by Terrell Shelly of Cliff New Mexico has as his relatives before him maintained old time Ben Lilly stock dog s that do well in the Gila and Mugeown country. Jiggs bred by Jeff Allen of Kanab , Utah and out of an old line stock of walkers crossed dogs. Anjd Little Blue who is Also some of the Allen stock crossed on some decendants of the dogs of Giles Goswick breeding from Mayer, Arizona. So selective breeding for tuff feet does work.

A lot of walker dogs are known to be white footed and thin footed and sore up pretty quick on the rough stuff pretty quick. Also if they blow ot slip a pad it takes a long time for them tyo heal it seems. My Nance bred dogs seem to have a little better than average feet but they are a pretty old strain and mostly big game and country coon dogs for a long time so if properly conditioned hold up pretty well. I would however not tell anybody they were as tuff footed over all as the old strain dogs. We continue to select the better feet along with other traits that help a successful big game hound.

Some have the idea that little tight cat feet are the answer to tuff feet. Sorry it helps to have a dog that has arched toes because this indicates some pad thickness but I have seen some dogs with big old feet on them that were double tuff footed, and I have seen some of those little cat footed show type footed dogs that would get sore on muddy clay.

The tip I gave about kennel cover with lava rock and rock salt will help some. This toughens the foot and makes the pad harder, and the salt will also help a sore pad heal up quicker. When the bottoms get harder and tougher they can take more abuse. We have all seen those little kids running around on the rocks and gravel just like they had shoes on. Let me tell you when I take of my boots and socks I am a tenderfoot for sure and it would take me ten minutes to work my way out to the mailbox and back. LOL!

Good luck,
ike

Breeding and puppy selection does help. Look for dark feet with no Pink or White pads, all Dark pads toughen up faster and better with less problems.

Conditioning helps feet, road or run on good hard ground.

Hunting helps feet too. Get the dog out more than less, (2-4 days a week) and work his butt off. A dog that is hunted once a week or once every two weeks isnt going to have the feet to do it right.

Keeping the dogs on hard ground dirt or rock definitly helps, andGetting them off concrete, and grass helps.

The produce Tuff Foot can help.

If you cant seem to condition them right, and your always blowing pads you might want to think about, taping them up and booting them that will help too.

Also if you just have a hard charging dog and hes running on hard shalely rock, lova rock, or decomposing granite etc... whether he has tough feet or not if hes running hard theres always a chance to blow pads.

Now I have used Super Glue on bad cracked or cut up feet, and on completely blown pads and its helped.

Thanks,
Mt goat, I did not think keeping them on grass would soften their feet, but when I think about it I can see that it could. I am gong to use tuff foot every day on them and I will get some rock salt for their kennel. I am hoping to use these two dogs at least for turn in dogs if we get a bear on the ground. Some one also told me pine tar helps, has any one used it?

Here is some more reading for ya

viewtopic.php?t=1066&start=0&postdays=0 ... highlight=

http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.ph ... did=219713

I will get some rock salt for their kennel.


might need to heal them first
-- then put them on salt -

i hear ya -they heal slow

- blown pad on one foot and other 3 getting softer while waiting for first one to heal -



product called tuff pads--- seems to speed up healing -

keep them dry and clean as possible-