Dog Boots

[NicoleLJ]

Actually you are wrong there. Some police dogs are now wearing boots. And I have seen quite a few Shepherds wearing them. In fact I have seem many breeds wearing them. So it has nothing to do with tough feet or not. I asked a cop once why his dog was wearing them and he said because he was protecting his dog from running over glass. Well Sheena has had to walk on many a side walk with glass also. So there are many reason to wear the boots. Tough feet has nothing to do with feet sticking to ice in minus 30 below weather and bleeding. Your the one that mentioned that if they had to wear boots then they must be unhealthy. I am the one saying you are wrong. Protecting a dogs feet has nothing to do with it being healthy or not. It is being proactive in it's health. I can't afford for Sheena to be hurt so I will use the boots.

[Nomilynn]

I was watching a news clip recently and some vets/ dog handlers are actually recommending boots for the simple fact that many ice melt products have chemicals in them that can make dogs ill when they clean their feet and lick them off. My parents have boots for their dog, and they said they would use them if they walked her on city sidewalks where ice melts and salts are used, but they try to keep her in alleys that aren't treated with anything. I believe that they have the type of boots in the picture.. they adopted her from a rescue and the boots came with her though so I'm not sure of the brand. What about phoning a pet store and asking to speak to someone on what they recommend? Maybe they could give you some suggestions.

Here is the link to the story I saw:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/pets/coldwxdangers
http://www.ontariospca.ca/press_rele...005_jan18.html

I watched the piece on the Weather Network news program

[caseysmom]

Actually you are wrong there. Some police dogs are now wearing boots. And I have seen quite a few Shepherds wearing them. In fact I have seem many breeds wearing them. So it has nothing to do with tough feet or not. I asked a cop once why his dog was wearing them and he said because he was protecting his dog from running over glass. Well Sheena has had to walk on many a side walk with glass also. So there are many reason to wear the boots. Tough feet has nothing to do with feet sticking to ice in minus 30 below weather and bleeding. Your the one that mentioned that if they had to wear boots then they must be unhealthy. I am the one saying you are wrong. Protecting a dogs feet has nothing to do with it being healthy or not. It is being proactive in it's health. I can't afford for Sheena to be hurt so I will use the boots.

My vet also recommends iams and eukaneuba...don't mean they are right because I sure don't feed that.

[AllAmericanPUP]

I need one bootie for Ozzy's left back leg because it still doesnt work properly so alot of times when he's running and playing, that leg tends to drag and get scraped up....so i think i'll look into these muttlucks cause i need a good boot that can take a beating..

[shepgirl]

Guess I'm lucky to live where we do. None of our police dogs work with boots on and our sidewalks are kept free of broken glass. Our city fathers must be doing a great job for us. I've never been on sidewalks "littered" with glass, maybe the occasional accident that is easy to skirt around.
As for the salt they might pick up I did say I rinsed their feet off or rather wiped them when we came in from walking on such streets, everyone does it, common knowledge.
The boots don't sell well here at all as I was told by one worker at PetSmart. they only carry the tiny ones for toy breeds.
We are probably fortunate to have dogs with tougher feet, but what my vet advises I follow since she's one of the most respected in the area. And no she doesn't advise to feed kibble, she is a raw feeder herself.
No one does shutzhund with boots on either according to a friend in Alberta. And she does extensive work with both her dogs and is in army corps to boot so she is well versed in what the protocol is out there.

[Shelteez2]

Guess I'm lucky to live where we do. None of our police dogs work with boots on and our sidewalks are kept free of broken glass. Our city fathers must be doing a great job for us. I've never been on sidewalks "littered" with glass, maybe the occasional accident that is easy to skirt around.
As for the salt they might pick up I did say I rinsed their feet off or rather wiped them when we came in from walking on such streets, everyone does it, common knowledge.
The boots don't sell well here at all as I was told by one worker at PetSmart. they only carry the tiny ones for toy breeds.
We are probably fortunate to have dogs with tougher feet, but what my vet advises I follow since she's one of the most respected in the area. And no she doesn't advise to feed kibble, she is a raw feeder herself.
No one does shutzhund with boots on either according to a friend in Alberta. And she does extensive work with both her dogs and is in army corps to boot so she is well versed in what the protocol is out there.

One of my shelties has bad reactions to some ice melt stuff, it's not salt it's chemicals. If he even walks on it for a minute he can't put his feet down. So he wears boots in the winter as I can't exactly wipe his feet off mid walk. My other sheltie is fine no matter what. My rottie can't stand really cold temperatures. Every dog is different in what they can tolerate.
I have had to carry my dogs over areas of broken glass while out walking as well...thankfully that was just with the shelties... and I don't consider my city to be dirty.

Nicole -- I have the muttlucks for the shelties and they stay on really well. They only wear them in the very coldest part of the winter, but they've withstood the shelties crazy running for about 5 years now.