Front feet??

birddude

birddude

Well-known member
Have heard guys say they only put boots on their dog's front feet. Anyone have an opinion? I'm not sure it's worth the risk.
 
My old dog has pretty tough feet, I regularly just boot the front. If your dog is a tenderfoot it’s not worth the experiment in my opinion. Especially when going several days in a row, feet will give out first in sand but country. 😉
 
Most of the time I do not boot my dogs.

90% of the time I boot a dog it is all 4 feet. If I don't have 4 boots I prioritize the front feet.

Tomorrow morning I will boot my males front but not back feet. He has worn his dew pads and I want to protect them while they heal. His back feet look fine. My female will be put down with out boots on the same terrain.
 
chemist said:
Most of the time I do not boot my dogs.

90% of the time I boot a dog it is all 4 feet. If I don't have 4 boots I prioritize the front feet.

Tomorrow morning I will boot my males front but not back feet. He has worn his dew pads and I want to protect them while they heal. His back feet look fine. My female will be put down with out boots on the same terrain.
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Just curious what type of terrain your in causing wear?
 
Uneven hard brittle ground that even you will feel in your joints. After a rain the ground will soften. This has occurred mainly on the prairie.
Abrasions will form on the dogs feet around the pads. Boot before problems. Last time I had to boot my dog was at least ten years ago.
My friends Lab is booted almost every year after the first day. Cactus and sand burrs are another reason to boot. I’m sure you will hear other
examples. 60% of a dogs weight is carried on the front feet.
 
Wind River said:
Uneven hard brittle ground that even you will feel in your joints. After a rain the ground will soften. This has occurred mainly on the prairie.
Abrasions will form on the dogs feet around the pads. Boot before problems. Last time I had to boot my dog was at least ten years ago.
My friends Lab is booted almost every year after the first day. Cactus and sand burrs are another reason to boot. I’m sure you will hear other
examples. 60% of a dogs weight is carried on the front feet.
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I boot 90% of the time, at least on front. Word of caution I just had to set my female out a week for a hot spot caused by the boot, it got wet started slipping and I didn’t catch it in time. It’s always something!
 
Like blisters from your boot, but dog boots are NOT form fitted. One size fits all? It used to take three of us to put boots on my buddy’s Lab, she fought the whole process. She was a PITA.
 
Well she jumped in a cow tank 20 minute in then I did a 8 mile day, she probably made 20. Tape stretched enough the boot road up the leg and rubbed on that pad behind front ankle. I run open toe tire tubes, that’s the one disadvantage is they can ride up the foot
 
Quailnerd said:
Just curious what type of terrain your in causing wear?
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Wind River's answer was pretty much the answer. Hard uneven ground.

The three examples I run into the most:

Wheat fields which are furrowed but the ground is frozen rock solid. The dog struggles to get footing and the foot slides down the furrow causing the sides of the pads to blow out. Admittedly, I am generally chasing huns instead of pheasant in this scenario.

Another example is basalt/lava rock fields. Once again, generally not pheasant but sometimes one will be found along a canal in this environment.

A third example is cattails along the river. Sometimes the cattails form a thin layer of ice, think less than 1/4", in 2" of water. The river level drops and then you have 1/4" sharp ice shards the dogs are breaking through and it can cut up their feet pretty bad. This scenario seems to be particularly hard on the dew pad and carpal pad.

I am sure there are other examples, but these are the three I run across the most.
 
chemist said:
Wind River's answer was pretty much the answer. Hard uneven ground.

The three examples I run into the most:

Wheat fields which are furrowed but the ground is frozen rock solid. The dog struggles to get footing and the foot slides down the furrow causing the sides of the pads to blow out. Admittedly, I am generally chasing huns instead of pheasant in this scenario.

Another example is basalt/lava rock fields. Once again, generally not pheasant but sometimes one will be found along a canal in this environment.

A third example is cattails along the river. Sometimes the cattails form a thin layer of ice, think less than 1/4", in 2" of water. The river level drops and then you have 1/4" sharp ice shards the dogs are breaking through and it can cut up their feet pretty bad. This scenario seems to be particularly hard on the dew pad and carpal pad.

I am sure there are other examples, but these are the three I run across the most.
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I figured it may be for more than sand burs, that’s my nemesis.
 
Maybe a little, on hard pack surface for sure. Sand it’s not noticeable, I’ve run Lewis boots before and they are a nice option out of the box, makes your dog sound like a horse coming down the trail.
 
I bought an inner tube to experiment with that. If I ever decide to boot my dogs I hope I can find it!
 
matto said:
I bought an inner tube to experiment with that. If I ever decide to boot my dogs I hope I can find it!
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If you ever need tube size info for the dogs foot size I’ve tried them all, every dog I’ve owned had a different diameter that fit best…. I’m cutting some up as we speak
 
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