Our young chessie girl (1 year) seems to keep injuring her paws.

Specifically she skins up the top pad (hawk?) very often and she tends to get abrasions between her toes. In some cases it looks like the nail is rubbing on the toe next to it. She also scrapes up right above the pads, what we might consider the inside of our wrist. Sometimes she also scrapes up her pads, but not so much any more.

She exercises hard, but not in particuarly rough terrain. We keep her off cement, and mostly swims on rounded gravel or sand beaches. She does play ball on dirt and I can see that perhaps can contribute to the hawk problem (she skids).

The biggest problem is she gets pretty hard to live with if she doesn't get enough exercise. Typically she gets hard exercise at least ever other day with a swimming and play trip on the weekends. But this tends to make it hard to heal things up.

She recently got a sore on her toe which we didn't notice right away. It got infected and so she ended up on antibotics. We kept it cleaned up and kept her from exercising for about a week and a half (grumpy chessie). It had dried up and looked good so we let her go back to day care (plays with 15-20 dogs all day). That night of course it was opened up again.

It does look like her center nails kind of point together a bit and I wonder if this causes abrasions. Our lab's nails also point together in this way but it seems like her toes are less "plump".

The lab gets the same workout and doesn't get any of these injurries.

It just seems like our chessie has delicate paws.

Thoughts?

-john

Johnn
I to have had this problem. My chessie's pads are quit soft. He is now going to be 2 years old november 8th and has had problems all along.
I was put on to a product by the name of Tuff Foot, by a pro trainer in New York state that has had good success with it. I ordered mine from Lions County Supply but I'm sure you can find it all over. Rileys pads have thickened and toughened up alot, and have not had any problems this season.

Derek Samson
Pro Staff:
SWAT Boats
St. Lawrence Outfitters Inc.
Mad Decoys

I, apparently, also have a "soft-pawed" Chessie. Our 2+ year old has torn pads before after swimming and then running in the field. However, yesterday was the worst I've seen it: she swam with the pup (4 months) for a while and then we went on a little walk (less than 2 miles) in some sagebrush/rimrock country. When we got back to camp, she was limping. She had torn her back (?) pad on three of her paws! No way to keep them clean, or her still, we cut our campout short and came home.

I'm definitely going to buy some Tuff Foot. However, can anyone give some advice on how to care for her pads until I can get that stuff?

Much appreciated.

GregorMac

P.S. The pup's pads were fine...strange.

Another route would be to put some booties on her feet. I've seen them made from cordura, leather, ans rubber. The dogs I've known don't particularly like wearing the booties, so you can't leave them on except when the dog is out and about. A hunter I knew who spent a lot of time in the field in S. Texas used them on his dogs. It might be possible to make something yourself if you're in a bind.

I also wonder whether you dog's toenails might be a little too long? The nails seem to grow more quickly on young than on older dogs. In her younger days, my old bitch needed a minimum of 45 minutes of walking on concrete or cement a day to keep her nails under control. I still had to cut them back occasionally. Running on dirt, grass, and such didn't have much effect on them.

For cleaning out paw injuries in the same crazy bitch, a vet recommended that I soak her injured paw in an Epson Salt solution and follow that with hydrogen peroxide. You may want to muzzle your girl if you try the peroxide rinse.

Best of luck,
Claire

Google this up:

Happy Jack Pad Kote

Elbert

Thanks for the responses. I ordered up some Tuf Foot and EMT Gel (if there's a next time) from Gun Dog Supply. Meanwhile, we are trying to keep them clean with Iodine and some New Skin. She's a good little patient, actually.

I want to see how the Tuf Foot works but, I still might pick up some Lewis Boots.

GregorMac