Pads

[rlwright]

When I took my dog chukar hunting the pads of her feet really got tore up. I had to pull cactus spines out of them constantly. To make matters worse she kept trying to pull them out with her mouth, so now theres spines on the lips and roof of her mouth.
###How do you protect the pads of the dogs feet? I plan on buying shoes next year when she stops growing. Is there any quick remedies? I would like to go again tomarrow.

[Whoadog]

###You can buy boots for the dog and they make several different types, I prefer the Lion Country Supply cordura boots ($20 a set). ###It takes a few minutes for the dog to get use to them then they forget all about them. ###You can also use that black liquid crap that I don't like but seems to be used quite a bit.

Brian

[THBailey]

I don't hunt cactus country so I can't speak to that, but I put 3/4 inch crushed rock down in my dogs kennel, at least the third of the area near the door. ###It really toughens the pads and keeps them tough. ###The dogs get used to it really quick and it doesn't bother them a bit.

[Irish Lad]

I had good success with Lewis Dog Boots. Like ###Whoadog I also got them from LCS.

[American Patriot]

The "black liquid stuff" is called Tuff Foot and works fairly well. ###It is a good alternative when boots are not practical. ###Are there any houndhunters who put boots on there dogs out there?

[docramo]

Have tried multiple types of boots for our dog ,Mako. The Lewis boots are probably the most durable for the season but they are the hardest to put on and will cause sores on the dogs feet. To solve the sores we have used infant sized socks inside the boots. Imagine yourself climbing chuckar hills with bare feet inside pure rubber boots! We use a single wrap of duct tape with the sticky side out... pull the sock 1/2 way up ###then the boot...then wrap one more layer of tape.
Other boots we like better are Walkabout and Avery. They are easier to apply as above and the dog tolerates them better. They also 'breathe' to allow some cooling . The Lewis boots really over heat the dog on a hot day. When the boots tend to get cut or frayed ...a layer of duct tape will repair most.
No one boot is the perfect solution yet.

[Irish Lad]

Here is a website about Lewis boots. I followed ###these directions and had no problems with sores, cactus(cholla), rocks or coming off.
http://home.att.net/~wildmandl/lew.htm