Dog Boots

[Karen]

Looking for dog boots for a small Brittany to protect her pads when running on gravel road.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[DonF]

I had a pair of leather one's but don' have a dog with sensitive feet anymore. Have no idea where they are now. But, I have read several times about guys that use a piece of bicycle inner tube and tape off the top.

[jetjockey]

I swear by the Bark'n boots from Gundogsupply. I use them on my Brit when roading on pavement in our neighborhood off my bike. Easy to put on, they stay on, and have worn well as well.

[Karen]

Thanks jetjockey! That's EXACTLY the info I was looking for! We live on a a private dirt/gravel road with only a few houses on it so if I can find decent boots that stay on, I can road the dogs from ATV on the road. It would really extend my roading area dramatically, and allow me to exercise the dogs most of the winter.

[Quaildawg]

Karen, I hunt chukar and quail in the California desert. The lava rocks will chew up my dogs pads in minutes if I don't use boots on them. Over the years I have tried many type of dog boots including inner tubes, leather and nylon. The only boot I found that worked was the rubber "Lewis dog boot brand." I have used them in Arizona, Nevada and they have never failed. I slip an infant sock onto my dogs paw, secure it with several wraps of coaches athletic tape and I slip the boot on. I fold the exposed sock down over the top of the boot. I use "Johnson & Johnson" waterproof tape and wrap the boot to the tape of the folded sock. This works very well for me. I have also used duct tape, but I found it was very hard to take off at the end of the day. You can buy the boots online at lion country supply. Also make sure you do not wrap the tape too tight. Your dogs feet will swell up if you do. Let me know if this helps.

[Karen]

Thanks! I'm glad there are options out there.

[RayGubernat]

Karen -

For an all day or multi hour hunt, I do not think you can beat the Lewis boots.

However putting them on can be a process, especially for multiple dogs.

I tried a couple different styles of cordura boots and was never really satisfied with any of them.

When I want to road my dogs around the subdivision, on concrete and asphalt, I settled on a couple of turns of Vetwrap or Coflex(sturdier) and then a piece of good quality duct tape down the front of the leg, over the pads and up the back of the leg. Then I would give a quick wrap around the leg with tape to hold everything in place. I could do it very quickly and the "socks" stayed on and did not wear through in an hour, which the longest I ever roaded. I woud cut the whole shebang off with a pair of bandage scissors(one blade has a blunt tip) when I was done. The previous caution about boots not too tight goes double with vetwrap, but you know that I am sure.

RayG

[Karen]

Yeah, I'm talking working up to an hour and 15 minutes 2-3 times a week, not all-day/multi-day hunts. Something that is easy to put on, and doesn't fall off would be ideal.

[gotpointers]

Third for the lewis boots. I hunt the cactus and thorns.

[buckshot1]

After trying just about everything, I now use these booties: https://www.dogbooties.com/shop/1000-de ... E-booties/. They're what the Iditarod folks use. Make sure you get the thickest cordura. I like them because they're cheap ($10 for 4) and easy to put on, so it's not a big deal if the dog loses one or wears it out. You can use duct tape to make them more secure, although the stretch velcro is usually sufficient. If you're hunting on sharp rocks, you can expect them to last a few days of all day hunting. I can get more than a week of all day hunting per set on normal terrain. They'd last a long time if you're just using them on a gravel road for an hour or two and would be easy to get on and off. The problem with expensive booties is that, even if they work, the dog loses them every so often. I'd rather buy cheap ones in bulk and not worry about lost booties.

[41magsnub]

I have been unable to make Lewis dog boots stay on my GWP for longer than 15 minutes. I've done the vet wrap and duct tape method and the inside out duct tape method using a couple of different brands of duct tape.

Part of the problem is my dog has huge feet and really skinny legs.

[Fun dog]

While in the sleddog world I became a bootie connoisseur, though I have to admit I never used any of those high dollar booties. We had too many dogs to afford it and they were too heavy. There are boots for snow, boots for racing, boots for gravel, boots for frozen gravel. I've used Cordura 300, Cordura 1000, fleece (out dated now a days), a vinyl product and leather. Cordura 300 is a nice light boot that is good on snow. The Cordura 1000 will work okay on unfrozen gravel roads. When it freezes or if you're on something like pavement (I don't recommend doing much running on pavement) you need to go with something much stronger and that's when I turned to leather. I had to make them myself, but could get about 100 miles out of a leather boot. They are heavy though so I usually only used them on the back feet with Cordura 1000 on the front. Another type of material that worked well was a padded cordura. That extra cushion seemed to help the boot to last longer. But again you have to make them yourself as no one is marketing boots out of that material. One caution on booties is that they are slick so they're not the best to use on icy roads. Another thing about booties is the speed that you are traveling. I don't know how fast you road your dogs, but the faster you go, the less life you will get out of your booties. We ran a Sprint (speed) team, but we still kept the speed down when we had to boot. We seldom booted for gravel roads, only when the roads froze. Remember too that dogs breath through their feet so the chances of dogs overheating is much greater with boots on.

[gonehuntin']

After trying just about everything, I now use these booties: https://www.dogbooties.com/shop/1000-de ... E-booties/. They're what the Iditarod folks use. Make sure you get the thickest cordura. I like them because they're cheap ($10 for 4) and easy to put on, so it's not a big deal if the dog loses one or wears it out. You can use duct tape to make them more secure, although the stretch velcro is usually sufficient. If you're hunting on sharp rocks, you can expect them to last a few days of all day hunting. I can get more than a week of all day hunting per set on normal terrain. They'd last a long time if you're just using them on a gravel road for an hour or two and would be easy to get on and off. The problem with expensive booties is that, even if they work, the dog loses them every so often. I'd rather buy cheap ones in bulk and not worry about lost booties.

Those are the ones I use as well. Great boots for what you're doing. The 1000 Cordura.