Need Ideas for Snow Protection for my Brit

Birdhunter24

Birdhunter24

New member
This is my 4th season with my Brittany, Toby, and our first time in deep snow. Today we had a great afternoon at a local game bird preserve here in Western PA. We had 12-18 inches of snow and a brisk breeze which gave Toby, a good challenge. I am happy to report that he performed well under less than perfect conditions.

Unfortunately we had to cut the day short due to two problems:
1. He lost one of his hunting boots (which was one of the "Ultimate Hunting Boots" designed not to come off) and
2. He accumulated a ton of heavy frozen ice balls in the fine hair around his belly and genitals. The skin got really red and I decided it was better to be safe than risk injury. I have a skid plate, but it doesn't cover this area.

Any suggestions on good boots or ideas for protecting exposed parts would be really helpful. A friend suggested Vaseline, but I want to check with a vet first. Any additional ideas would be greatly appreciated!
 
There is a product called Paw Wax labeled 8 in 1 Excel Paw Wax Protector. It is designed to protect against gravel, asphalt, ice, snow, salt-treated roads, hot pavement and all hard surfaces. Provides grip on slippery surfaces.

Not an expensive product. I have used it for the no slip feature when showing a dog indoors, and for walking in the winter in the city.
 
I am running into the same problem with my lab. I was told of a product called Mushers Secret. I have seen in my local stores, but I like the idea of the other product with more traction. Any other ideas?
 
I have a chest protector for Tony my Brit. It takes care of your problem and it also takes care of his chest in the fall when the weeds get brittle. They wear the hair off of his chest and give him a long Red Sore. I love the protection and he don't mind it. I have 3 so one is always ready when I want to go they are nylon and do get dirty and wet. So a spare or 2 is not unwise. Here is the link to see them. They are made by Coastal Pet Products for Remington.--- Bob

http://www.remingtonsportingdog.com/item.php?search=R1900
 
Thanks for the great ideas. I have an e-mail into the distributor of Musher's Secret to see if I can use it on areas other than the paws and will check with the 8in1 folks as well. I'll post the response in case anyone else is interested.

Cheers!
 
Get a set of Lewis dog boots--they are the best. My dog ran out of several other boots but has yet to run out of these boots. Also, a neoprene vest is great in really cold weather. Cabelas sells those the Lewis dog boots I got off the internet.
 
Ice Balls

Birdhunter24 said:
This is my 4th season with my Brittany, Toby, and our first time in deep snow. Today we had a great afternoon at a local game bird preserve here in Western PA. We had 12-18 inches of snow and a brisk breeze which gave Toby, a good challenge. I am happy to report that he performed well under less than perfect conditions.

Unfortunately we had to cut the day short due to two problems:
1. He lost one of his hunting boots (which was one of the "Ultimate Hunting Boots" designed not to come off) and
2. He accumulated a ton of heavy frozen ice balls in the fine hair around his belly and genitals. The skin got really red and I decided it was better to be safe than risk injury. I have a skid plate, but it doesn't cover this area.

Any suggestions on good boots or ideas for protecting exposed parts would be really helpful. A friend suggested Vaseline, but I want to check with a vet first. Any additional ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

That fine hair on the belly and around the genitals is quite long. I cut it short at the beginning of the season. I also cut the feathers off the legs and ears. Cutting it short should eliminate the ice balls.
 
I can agree with britchaser, I do about the same whith my springers and hunting in MN is allot of snow hunting, We also trian in it every weekend in the off season. I don't use any of the boots and chest stuff. It just packs up with snow and creates other problems. Just take the dog on short runs and bring them in to the car or truck to warm up and thaw there paws or whatever between spots, That is the best way to keep it at bay.:cheers:
 
Boots will work fine if you know how to keep them from coming off.

Some boot designs just don't stay on as well as others, mostly by design. I had a chance to try some different boots this past season and they turned out to be pretty durable. But the best thing about them was the cost. If you lose one your only out $2.50 a boot. I know what your thinking (how good can they be for that price) but they are 1000 denier cordura and hold up pretty well. I ordered a second set because they were so reasonably priced. This company is located in Duluth and make a lot of stuff for the sled dog people.

Look here under products: http://www.dogbooties.com/index.html

While these boots would probably stay on pretty well by themselves due to the unique strap, I have always used vetrap and athletic tape to ensure they stay on.

Here's how I do it.

You will need in addition to the boots:
- althletic tape
- vetrap - available at most farm stores (Fleetfarm, Tractor supply etc..) It's cheap so get a bunch of them.
- small scissors

I first take some vetrap and pull enough out to go around the base of the ankle just above the foot. I do this as you want to wrap it LIGHTLY as to not cut off circulation. Vetrap constricts once it secured to itself so be careful to not get it too tight. Cut the vetrap and attach it to itself. We are doing this as we don't want to tape directly to the dogs ankle and the vetrap will be used to secure the tape to later.

Next take some athletic tape and cut off a strip long enough to go around the ankle.
You are going to attach/secure this tape around the base of the ankle and over the vetrap in such a way as to have the sticky side out. The purpose being that once the boot is slid on over the sticky tape and secured down by the strap, it will prevent the boot from sliding off.

Ok... slide the boot on and secure w/strap. Once this is done take another piece of athletic tape and go around the top portion of the boot (sticky side down) a couple of times and attach/secure it to itself, covering a portion of the boot and vetrap.

This method takes a little extra time, but if done correctly I have NEVER had a boot come off in a whole day of hunting in all kinds of conditions. When it comes time to take it off I've had the best luck just cutting the tape and vetrap off with a scissors.
 
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Lewis dog boots

birdshooter said:
Boots will work fine if you know how to keep them from coming off.

Some boot designs just don't stay on as well as others, mostly by design. I had a chance to try some different boots this past season and they turned out to be pretty durable. But the best thing about them was the cost. If you lose one your only out $2.50 a boot. I know what your thinking (how good can they be for that price) but they are 1000 denier cordura and hold up pretty well. I ordered a second set because they were so reasonably priced. This company is located in Duluth and make a lot of stuff for the sled dog people.

Look here under products: http://www.dogbooties.com/index.html

While these boots would probably stay on pretty well by themselves due to the unique strap, I have always used vetrap and athletic tape to ensure they stay on.

Here's how I do it.

You will need in addition to the boots:
- althletic tape
- vetrap - available at most farm stores (Fleetfarm, Tractor supply etc..) It's cheap so get a bunch of them.
- small scissors

I first take some vetrap and pull enough out to go around the base of the ankle just above the foot. I do this as you want to wrap it LIGHTLY as to not cut off circulation. Vetrap constricts once it secured to itself so be careful to not get it too tight. Cut the vetrap and attach it to itself. We are doing this as we don't want to tape directly to the dogs ankle and the vetrap will be used to secure the tape to later.

Next take some athletic tape and cut off a strip long enough to go around the ankle.
You are going to attach/secure this tape around the base of the ankle and over the vetrap in such a way as to have the sticky side out. The purpose being that once the boot is slid on over the sticky tape and secured down by the strap, it will prevent the boot from sliding off.

Ok... slide the boot on and secure w/strap. Once this is done take another piece of athletic tape and go around the top portion of the boot (sticky side down) a couple of times and attach/secure it to itself, covering a portion of the boot and vetrap.

This method takes a little extra time, but if done correctly I have NEVER had a boot come off in a whole day of hunting in all kinds of conditions. When it comes time to take it off I've had the best luck just cutting the tape and vetrap off with a scissors.
Click to expand...

Lewis dog boots are the only ones that have ever worked. But they take some work to get right.
 
Brit, That's good to know, maybe I'll give them a try sometime.

The boots I found and linked in my previous post are cheap (cost not construction) @ $2.50 per boot, so even if I were to lose one I'm not out much. But I haven't to date lost any brand boot when their applied the way I described.
 
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