Pad Injuries

[Winchey]

Took the dog out for a run last night, noticed he seemed to be favouring a leg so I check his paw and it is was gruesome, I carried him to the car in my office clothes, (about a 20 minute walk) and walk in the door a looking like I got attacked by wolves. Anyway's got it all cleaned up and bandaged but he is missing a chunk out of 2 pads, about the size of your ring finger nail and quite deep, I don't know how that would heal over, anyone ever experience this, did it heal? not sure if I can get it stitched or not...

[mcbosco]

A trip to the vet might be in order for this but regardless pad injuries need time. Even if they look healed they can reopen really easily. You have to be patient and keep them protected.

[Winchey]

The friggin thing has only been running for a week and a half after hitting a barbed wire fence about a month ago, I am never gonna get this guy back in shape. He is going in to see the vet in a couple hours, I am probably over reacting but I would be pretty upset with myself if he couldn't run correctly or pain free in the future just because I wouldn't take him to the vet.

[Chukar12]

Winchey,

I have found that plain Knox gelatin sprinkled on food helps with pad toughness. Why? I don't know. Perhaps a vet or a resident dessert chef could help should they agree.

Joe

[mcbosco]

Gelatin is a form of pure collagen and collagen is strong and elastic. Some of the sled dog foods have vitamins and other additives to improve pad strength.

This is something Dr. Tim could address.

[displaced_texan]

Buddy of mine has a pointer that rips up his pads bad every year on the annual opening weekend dove hunt. Worse than what you are describing.

He's never been to the vet for it, just gets bandaged up on my tailgate and life goes on.

[Sharon]

I don't go to the vet for that but I'm not saying you shouldn't.

My dog came back today with two nasty pads.

I soak it in epsom salts ; get it very clean. I put on an antibiotic creme and an Elizabethean Collar so the dog can't lick it off. In maybe 10 - 14 days it is healed.

[Winchey]

Took him to the vet back on Thursday. He just cleaned it again and wrapped it back up, told me to re-wrap it when the bandages get gross, said he should be good to go in about 10 days or so. I have never seen pads like that before, guess now I know, and Gus is getting pretty good at getting around on 3 legs. Thanks for the replies.

[birdshot]

i have had pointers which ripped up pads running on pavement. I know of a guy who's Lab tore his pads up on pavement. I believe the heat of the road has some bearing on the injury.

[phermes1]

Heat from the pavement definitely is a factor. I learned the hard way not to take my dogs out for a run until it's cooled down some. I've had my dogs shred their pads up in less than 10 minutes on hot pavement.

Only real treatment is to keep the paws clean and give them time to heal. Bring them back too quickly and you'll just tear them up again and be back at square one.

fwiw, I've started using Musher's Secret for my dogs - it's basically a wax that helps prevent torn pads. I still would NOT run a dog on hot pavement, but it's good stuff and can reduce the risk of injury.

[reba]

I hunt chukar with no pad problems.

Musher's Secret is good stuff.

Use it before you need it.

Does wonders for my hands; which is a side effect of applying it to my dogs.

[cjuve]

Conditioning and the dogs conformation, you can toughen the pads but some dogs are not built to run on rough surfaces. I have a dog that can shred a set of cordura boots in less than a half an hr. Here is a pic of some minor tearing that is far from as bad as I have seen it don't waste your money at the vet.

[bossman]

Do you find Musher's Secret to be more effective than Tuf-Foot? (If you have tried Tuf-Foot)

[quackaddict]

I've used Bag Balm(in the green tin) with some success. Never had to worry about pads until I moved out here to NM. Took my pup out one morning and ran into some bad rock and cactus unexpectedly. Her pads were cracked and cut fairly bad. Put Bag Balm on them for about 10 days and they healed up pretty good.

[RayGubernat]

Do yourself and your dog a favor. Go to your local tractor supply and go to the horse section. Find the 4" vetwrap or CoFlex. CoFlex is a little more substantial and might hold up better as a bootie. Then go over to the tool section and get a rolls of good quality duct tape. Get the expensive, brand name stuff. It is thicker and tougher.

A few wraps of the elastic bandage will protect and cushion the foot. This bandage is both elastic and self adhering. DO NOT wrap it too tightly, as you can actually cut off the circulation. Then put a couple thicknesses of duct tape over the bandage, down the front, over the pad and up the back. A single wrap of duct tape above the ankle will secure the tape in place. If you keep the duct tape on the elastic bandage, you won't pull out any hair when youcut away the bootie.

Done right, this will keep a dog's foot cushioned and protected for an hour or so(sometimes more) in most hunting situations.

A package or two of Vetwrap is a great thing to have in your first aid kit. It can serve a whole host of purposes, from closing a skin tear on a dog's body to wrapping a sprained ankle so you can walk on it.

RayG

[Winchey]

I used polysporin and did what RG advised, took about a month for him to get back to normal. I worked him once or twice during the injury, wrapped it well with the tape and goz and ductaped a muttluck on the foot, worked ok.

[Sharon]

Buddy of mine has a pointer that rips up his pads bad every year on the annual opening weekend dove hunt. Worse than what you are describing.

He's never been to the vet for it, just gets bandaged up on my tailgate and life goes on.

Not saying this is the case above but dogs need to have their pads conditioned. You can't take him out hunting for 4 hours when he has been lying in his kennel for 2 weeks. Those pads have to be toughened up with regular, short runs. Lots of lame dogs appear on Day 1 of a bird season.

[displaced_texan]

Buddy of mine has a pointer that rips up his pads bad every year on the annual opening weekend dove hunt. Worse than what you are describing.

He's never been to the vet for it, just gets bandaged up on my tailgate and life goes on.

Not saying this is the case above but dogs need to have their pads conditioned. You can't take him out hunting for 4 hours when he has been lying in his kennel for 2 weeks. Those pads have to be toughened up with regular, short runs. Lots of lame dogs appear on Day 1 of a bird season.

That is exactly the case.

We don't really hunt the dogs on that trip (They just free run around camp), so he doesn't really condition them much. Compounded by the fact that it's way rougher country out there than the dogs are used to...

[Ruffshooter]

I soak it in epsom salts ; get it very clean. I put on an antibiotic creme and an Elizabethean Collar so the dog can't lick it off. In maybe 10 - 14 days it is healed.

Do you give them a drink and a paper to read too? Just joshing.

How do you get them to sit still with their feet in a foot bath?

[displaced_texan]

I soak it in epsom salts ; get it very clean. I put on an antibiotic creme and an Elizabethean Collar so the dog can't lick it off. In maybe 10 - 14 days it is healed.

Do you give them a drink and a paper to read too? Just joshing.

How do you get them to sit still with their feet in a foot bath?

Hold em with their foot in it. I've done it with the dog in my lap, and their foot in a 32oz cup.

[rschmeider]

Put The epsom mix with warm water in a pet poter/plastic crate...Dog will stand in it... I do this in the garge...It can get a little messy in the livingroom..Make sure you make it strong enough so the dog doesn't drink it....It won't hurt the dog ,just blow #2 threw the kennel It is a Laxative

[rschmeider]

I use tuff foot ,I think i going to try musher's. They change the bottle design it pours out to fast/leaks..Does musher's make the pad harder?

[mcbosco]

I use tuff foot ,I think i going to try musher's. They change the bottle design it pours out to fast/leaks..Does musher's make the pad harder?

I bought Musher's originally to keep snow of my dog's hairy paws and lower legs, then I got to talking to a few NYC K9 cops that use it year round. They said it helped the dogs from wear on the cement and also kept winter salt from irritating the dogs feet. So for $8 it seemed like a good risk.

It works well, awesome actually on snow and my dog's pads are in great shape. It dries hard in the pores of the pad. It also doesn't make a mess in the house because it dries completely.

I also found it makes great gun and boot wax. I use it on the leather tops of my Bean boots.

[Portach Madra]

My 8 month old DD a came back off a hike, no sign of injury, no blood till we got home. Then his back paw was bleeding all over the pace. Fair gash on one of his pads (thick as two quarters and 1/2 " long). I have been kenneling,rinsing it out with antiseptic wash and applying polysporin twice a day for the past week. It is still not healed, though better than it was. I'd like to take him out for a feild training day but I don't know how to apply a bandage properly or if I should wait. Anyone have any demo vids on now to apply a feild bandage properly?