Gear Tips:
Dog Booties

by Rob Lombard
gear@redpawfeed.com TheFrostLine.com
http://www.thefrostline.com/

with special thanks to:
Fidogear.com
Dogbooties.com
Ah-Regah Kennel & Equipment

 

 

 

This being my first entry into this newsletter, I figured that I should pick some gear that we all seem to have encounters with this time of year as we try to get our team in condition for snow covered trails. One of the things I have learned while training sled dogs is, TAKE CARE OF THOSE FEET! No feet no team sums it up.

The information and tips compiled in this section have been obtained through manufacturers of dog booties, research and personal use

Thanks to Fidogear, Dogbooties.com and Ah-Regah Kennel & Equipment for sharing tips and suggestions used in this article!

Tips to reduce the need for booties:

  • Try to train your team to run on the grass shoulders of roads.
  • I have heard people say they like to have gravel in the dog areas to “toughen the feet” (not sure if this works/helps?)
  • If you have the option try not to train on trails with a lot of gravel and especially if frozen in and while dogs are “digging in”
  • When breaking the team to cool down stop where the ground is less likely to be tough on their feet as they get excited to go again and really dig those paws into the ground.

How to use Booties:

  • A trick to putting the dog booties on is to make a small funnel cut from a milk carton or other plastic container that expands the opening of the bootie and guides the dogs’ feet into the bootie with ease. (Thanks Richard Louks)
  • When putting booties on, make sure the dogs’ feet are free of snow, sand, ice, etc. and are relatively dry.
  • Color code your booties by size so that you know by color the different sizes and can easily tell which booties to put on which dogs, most suppliers will make them any colors you want.
  • Keeping your dogs nails trimmed will increase the life of the dog bootie considerably.

What Materials Are Better for What Situations:

Oh my goodness are there a lot of different materials used by various manufacturers in the makeup of dog booties. Some booties are made out of a combination of these materials. I have broken this into two subsections, bootie material and fastener material.

Bootie Materials

  • Polypropylene: doesn’t soak up water, lightweight, stretchable, compact, medium durability, keep an eye on them on extremely hot roads as it is a plastic.
  • Ballistic Nylon: very tough, waterproof, excellent protection in extreme conditions. Gravel or rocky terrain, extended walking on pavement or hunting in harsh conditions. Commonly used in tracking and Search & Rescue
  • Polar fleece: thicker protection in cold powdery snow situations, too light for rough surfaces, soaks up water in warm conditions, great for medicating sore feet, NOT abrasion resistant
  • 1000 denier Cordura: check the denier of the cordura as there are many different thicknesses out there, the higher the denier the more durable but also more abrasive on the foot, the lower the denier reduces durability more but more favorable in snow. Great for wet, ice, snow, rough conditions and medium heat situations (if the ground is too hot for you to walk on it barefoot it is too hot for your dog) Water resistant. NOT slip resistant.
  • 330 denier Cordura: Same as 1000 denier cordura but is lighter and slightly less durable, not suggested for high heat conditions. Not slip resistant.
  • Spandura: long life, excellent abrasion resistance. Comprised of a combination of Cordura, Supplex and Lycra Spandex, Spandura is lightweight, tough and flexible.
  • Toughtek: Toughtek can be found on mitten and glove palms as the gripper fabric. Very resistant to abrasion.
  • Polartec® 300: a soft, quick drying synthetic fabric, good durability.

Fastener Material

  • Velcro: can have the hook part of the Velcro be the wrap or the loop (fuzzy) side of the Velcro is the wrap. Quick to use, unlikely to cause constriction if strips are wide. This is the most widely used fastener.
  • Elastic: easy to slip bootie off, can cause constriction if too tight !
  • VELSTRETCH WRAP: The loop or fuzzy side of the Velcro is the wrap plus it stretches. Great for staying on the dog, can be hard to get them on just right to make sure they don’t fall off yet are not too tight that they cause constriction.
  • Vet Wrap: used by some to help keep booties on dogs that seem to always loose them, can also be used if dog eats the Velcro wrap.

When to Use Booties:

  • Abrasive snow conditions- indicated by sugar type snow or when you see Jack Frost crystals glistening on the trail and snow banks.
  • On Roads to protect from Salt, Chemicals, Gravel, Trash
  • Icy Trails
  • When snow balls are collecting in the toes of the dogs
  • To protect your tent floor from nail holes
  • To protect an injured paw or pad
  • It is always a good idea to carry dog boots whenever you are out with your dogs, Conditions change so have a couple different bootie materials to cover frozen ground versus wet ground or hot trail situations.
  • A small act of prevention is much less work than carrying out or loading your dog into the sled !

Fitting:

When sizing booties, put the bootie on, have dog put their weight on that foot. The bootie should not interfere with the expansion of the toes , however it should not be so loose that it flops like a half worn sock. If too loose they will flip off while running and if too tight they will cause sores on the toes usually on the upper side of the web portion.

Most suppliers have you measure the width of the paw with weight on the paw at the widest point including the nails for proper fitting.

What to be aware of:

Don’t put on too tight! Can cause swelling, cracks, frostbite, and even infection

Dogs eat them! Keep a close eye on your dogs when resting. If ingested the booties can fill with food and cause internal blockages.

Stop and inspect booties often on rough trail, when a bootie wears through it will fill with snow, sand , ice or other debris causing the dog to be in a more abrasive situation than just running the trail

Remove dewclaws if possible , most booties will secure around the dewclaw area causing trouble putting the bootie on, keeping it on and at times chaffing from having the dewclaw secured under the fastener.

The gear tips section is driven by you the reader so any gear that you would like me to review and provide tips and comparisons on feel free to let me know and I will make every attempt to get it in the next edition of “Makin'’ Tracks”, also I welcome any additional tips, corrections or comments about dog booties and/or any other gear that you wish to share just send an email to gear@redpawfeed.com.