Sorry to stray off topic but...

I need to find a set of foot coverings for a big dog with furry feet. When it is snowy, she comes in with dime to quarter sized balls of ice clinging to her feet. When it is muddy, it seems her feet are like sponges and hold an enormous amount of grime.

I tried the square booties from Midwest mountaineering but they won't stay on plus, those are very comfortable on the dog.

Anyone have a dog boot they like?

Thanks

There is more on dog boot here, but in short every dogs feet seem different. I've tried several, and the cheaper square fleece ones seem to work best for me for protection from real cold or salts. That said, deeper snow is always a problem for me, and I don't know what would work well for mud as I think all will get wet. Maybe for mud just go with the thinner nylon Kondo's types?

We like these for our two dogs. Apparently they are very popular with sled dogs. They are easy to put on and actually stay on with the elastic velcro. We've tried a few different styles over the years and definitely like these the best.

Dog Booties

We went with the 330 denier. They are fairly thin but they keep the snow and ice off. I'm not sure how well they would do in the mud however.

I am an avid bird hunter and have owned a number of GSPs and one Vizsla. I have experimented with a variety of brands over the years and I think the best booties by far are made by Ultrapaws. Don't know if you can find them in a retail store but I've always ordered them on line at ultrapaws.com. My two cents is that if you don't put a little athletic tape around the top of any boot they will eventually fill up with snow or mud (assuming your dogs are running around in it all day). Have only owned short hairs so not sure how tape will work on shaggy dog. At the very least tape up the velcro strap so it doesn't catch on something. Just don't wrap the tape too tight as it can cut off circulation and paw will swell up like a balloon.

Our dog Sigurd is shaggy and had the same problem with snow between his toes. It got to the point where he would bleed.

We bought a set of Ruffwear boots for him. They have a gaiter built into the boot. It took some getting used to but they work well for him. We do worry that the boots rub at times, so I'm not saying they are the best thing ever and if someone had something markedly better I'd sure give it a look.

Probably not germane to this situation but I used Mushers Secret on my Golden. She did not like booties and it was a hassle to get four on ( and it took half an hour). When she did run on the lake she would come back minus a bootie after chasing snowmachines for half a mile . And hiking on sometimes icy and snowy steep trails she would slide in them and fall down.

Mushers Secret is like a wax. Still allows a dog to get some traction but does nothing at all for mud protection.

paw protection

My dog would get snow and ice build up between his toes from time to time. I got him some Ruffwear boots and socks from RIE. The work pretty well. lots of traction and he like them. The only problem is that snow can sometimes get down into the boot and that bothers him. I never thought of gaiters. I guess they should be easy enough to make.

My current dog all but refuses to walk with boots on. My old dog would adapt after a few minutes and be fine.

Instead I try to keep the fur between her pads clipped relatively short and slather her feet with "mushers secret" before going for a walk in conditions where she gets snow/ice balls in her feet. It's not a miracle cure but it does slow down the buildup and definitely makes it easier for me (or her) to pull the ice balls out on the trail.

I don't know if there's anything special about Mushers Secret. Vaseline might work just as well.

Alan

But Vaseline is a petroleum product which is a problem for dogs who lick their paws.

Lanolin is a possible alternative but in liquid form its ridiculously expensive.. more than Mushers Secret

Mushers secret user here on our GSP. She runs a million miles an hour and starts and stops on a dime.

On a hunt, she somehow lost about 2/3 of one of her pads. Not to the point of bleeding really, but we are trying to allow it to heal. We got those rubber balloon looking Pawz booties. They work ok, never tried a real fabric boot yet.

clrdoguy68: "I am an avid bird hunter and have owned a number of GSPs and one Vizsla. I have experimented with a variety of brands over the years and I think the best booties by far are made by Ultrapaws. Don't know if you can find them in a retail store but I've always ordered them on line at ultrapaws.com. My two cents is that if you don't put a little athletic tape around the top of any boot they will eventually fill up with snow or mud (assuming your dogs are running around in it all day). Have only owned short hairs so not sure how tape will work on shaggy dog. At the very least tape up the velcro strap so it doesn't catch on something. Just don't wrap the tape too tight as it can cut off circulation and paw will swell up like a balloon.
"

I found these to be great. After trying many cheaper ones I decided to try these and couldn't be happier. They're not perfect and in deep snow occasionally my dog (border collie) will lay down and I know she wants me to get the snow out of the boot. I think gaiters might solve this problem but I do it much less with these than other ones I've tried.

Ultra Paws Rugged dog boots

yellowcanoe: "But Vaseline is a petroleum product which is a problem for dogs who lick their paws."

I don't know what's in Musher's Secret. To me it feels like Vaseline so I assumed that's basically what it was with some extra goodies added in.

I don't know that ingesting vaseline is really a problem. Seems to be pretty harmless: https://missouripoisoncenter.org/petroleum-jelly/

Alan

+1 on Musher's Secret. I think it helps keep the pads and areas between healthy when its very dry and cold, and most importantly protection from the tons of salts and de-icers that get layered on the streets and sidewalks where I live every time there's 1/2 inch of snow. It's like the maintenance guys are competing to see who can through down the most.

For what it's worth, Musher Secret might seem expensive, but I've found it also last a lot longer than I would think. One small jar lasts me about 2 years or so - a small price to pay for my dog's feet.

What can you do so the Mushers secret does't end up on your carpet when the dog comes back into the house.

I tend to put it on his pads at night when he's going to bed. It's sort of soaks in like skin moisturizer. Stuff between the toes isn't as much of a worry so can be done any time.

wingnut: " What can you do so the Mushers secret does't end up on your carpet when the dog comes back into the house."

I've never noticed much, if any, residue after we get done hiking. She leaves tracks on the floor if I put it on her in the house but afterwards it's pretty much gone as far as I can tell.

Alan

Agreed.

I would recommend checking the blog below.

They talk about this brand of booties. Which as you said is used by participants in the IDITAROD (the largest sled race). They sell by the individual paw and are sized based on your dog's paw's measurement. They also have different types for different uses (ice vs snow, grass vs pavement, etc)

DOG BOOTIES: THE SLED PROS USE
http://www.blogletics.com/best-dog-booties/

I have a bird dog, bought Ruffwear boots for her...but they fill with snow rapidly and are - for my dog - worse than nothing.