Gun Dog Forum

Going out west for chukar in a few months and wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions for ways to prevent sore pads. i am gonna try and condition his pads but my DD is a house dog and we don;t have anything like the terrain he will be seeing. i was thinking of getting some boots and getting him conditioned to those just in case before the trip. any suggestions on other techniques or good boots would be appreciated.

BTW, I did already search the forum and looked through a few previous post but they seemed a bit outdated and didn't see a lot of responses so I thought I would throw it back out there. Thanks

I would road him as much as possible on gravel roads or somewhere he can toughen up his padss. I would put him down for an hour or two and then rotate. Dont put him down all day the first day cause he will be done. I have noticed torn pads have more to do with his gait than how hard pads are. IMO

ELk:
Have you used or seen anyone use the rubber boots. They look rugged but not sure how they would work if it were wet or slippery.

I have the cordura ones they are okay for around here but not sure they would hold up on the rocks. I got them cause of snow balling up.

I've seen these used a lot: http://www.gundogsupply.com/-950-.html

but I do agree with Elk on toughening of the feet. There is a breeder in the northwest that has cinder rock around his kennel area so the dogs are working on toughening feet even as pups.

Ruff - have you tried Musher's Secret? http://www.gundogsupply.com/mushers-sec ... ction.html My son had very good luck with this a couple years ago in the snow.

REI truly does have the best dog boots. Get the ones that have 4 stars.

As with any dog boot you need to vet tape the legs to prevent chafing.

You will also need to duck tape the booting on. Even then expect to loose one or two, so get an extra set.

Get the boots now so you and the dogs can practice getting them on and running with them.

You are going a big trip to hunt chukar and there is nothing worse than blown pads the first day out.

I use Musher's Secret twice a day when hunting. A side affect to Musher's is the nice condition your hands will be in.

Conditioning you and your dogs can not be over stated. If you and your dogs are over weight and not conditioned very tuff, you might not last a day or two.

You will need to carry lots of water. Two dogs will go through two quarts each in a couple of hours! You will need a folding dog bowel, because your dog will waste and not get enough water from a squirt bottle. Don't forget water for yourself. I always drink a quart of gator-aid on my way to the hunt before leaving the truck.

Boots for yourself need to be mountineering type with hard stiff soles. The lightest weight 20 ga with modified choke along with two boxes of #6's.

Have the best MT tires on your truck. Cell phones will most likely not work in chukar country.

If you are prepared you will have a GREAT time!

Folks that know me know I hate seeing dogs run in boots (that's purely from a breeding stock/performance evaluation point of view) but if I was going on a "once a year"/"once in a lifetime" few day/week long chukar trip with only one dog and had even an inkling of concern about their feet, I would absolutely boot them from the start. Don't even give him/her a chance to tear themselves up. If you wanna see how his/her feet hold up in the rough country, let 'em go bare in the last hour of your last day.

Now for the real question - why in the world would you wanna go hunt a freakin' chukar??? You thinkin' straight!!??











From the old files:


From the recent files:
https://vimeo.com/34314846

Sheesh, was checkin' out some old chukar hunting photos:
Me on the right, age 15, with 5 years chasing the chuks under my belt no doubt not realizing it was hard:


Age 47, 32 years later, now I know it's hard but still something about it brings up a smile - probably was just glad I survived another day!!:

GDFavor,

Great picture of THREE FINGERS!

My dogs run that country without boots; but they are also conditioned all year around.

I get guys showing up with their unconditioned dogs that blow their feet in a few hours.

My GSP has the same looks as yours.

My other dog is a female Australian Cattle Dog, best flushing and retrieving dog ever. Not a single cripple gets away from that one! She is also heck in a quail patch.

If you see some old 68 year old guy out there with a GSP and a red cattle dog say hello.

Great advice, all of it. One thing I might add....get yourself in shape. You may typically climb 500'-1000' in elevation just to start hunting.

I had a question about the feet problems I road my dogs on gravel with no boots about three times a week for 1/2 hour and I have been having problems with chucks coming off the pads, then they get very sore and have tried boot but the the tops of feet get raw how do I prevent these problems?

Ruffshooter wrote:ELk:
Have you used or seen anyone use the rubber boots. They look rugged but not sure how they would work if it were wet or slippery.

I have the cordura ones they are okay for around here but not sure they would hold up on the rocks. I got them cause of snow balling up.

Ruff I have seen people use them, I have been pretty fortunate to never really have any pad issues. Doug makes some good points, and would probably be some good advice.

If you are roading your dogs an having pad problems then cut the roading time in half. Don't over do it.

Most dog boots are junk and even with the best and with the best fit you will still need to use vet wrap to stop chaffing.

Instead of booties, my friend uses Musher's Pad Wax for dogs. It was originally for dogs to protect them from snow, but it is used for tough terrain, snow/ice and hot clay/pavement. You spread a liberal amount on each pad at the beginning of a run, and then reapply once more later in the day. My friend says it works like a charm, doesn't take "getting used to," and wears off on its own. Maybe a product to think about. Takes a second to put on.

It is on here somewhere where someone made some boots out of bicycle intertubes; had a disscusion about them, if my cordura boot don't work that is what I am going to make for my dogs.

Oh! And no chafing with Mushers Wax, and it's human-grade edible. If you're into wax, hah.