A story of a dog and her feet

My dog is the most active dog I've ever met in my life. Unfortunately, we live in an apartment which isn't very exciting for her. I take her on runs when I can but the thing she loves the most is pulling me on my skateboard.

So...every day before I head off to work, Lani and I ride down to the beach so she can get all her energy out. Turns out that the road is bad for her paws. I've never owned a dog before so I didn't think about that. One day I noticed that the hard surfaces of her paw pads were peeling off. One of them was actually flapping as she walked. I felt miserable.

After some reading on the internet and consulting with a vet over the phone, I cut the flapping parts off and wrapped her paws. Her paws eventually healed and every time she saw my skateboard she would go nuts thinking that we were going out. It was so sad to watch her tail wag and face light up when I pulled my board out. My wife recommended that we get her some dog shoes. We purchased some shoes online and when they arrived, Lani modeled them for me for a little bit. Once she got used to walking in them I took her out for a skateboard ride. The shoes didn't last 2 minutes. Don't order from China.

Cute story. But boy, if they wore out those little shoes, imagine the pounding her paws were taking

There must be a solution, I am a dog person as well. Perhaps a skateboard with large wheels to use in short grass?? too much friction? someone here has to have an idea

sled dog? where do you live, is there snow?

I live in Santa Cruz. The large skateboard with big wheels might work. They actually make offroad skateboards. I take her out to the beach on my days off and she has a blast. The reason I take her on the skateboards rides before work is because it only takes 10-15 minutes and I don't have much spare time during my work week. I work 12 hour days with an hour commute to work and an hour back. My wife is usually home with her but she has a hard time keeping Lani under control when other dogs are around. Lani is a great dog but she is not the most social thing around. She gets along great with dogs she knows but the first meeting with a new dog is always full of barking and growling. As long as the other dog backs down then Lani is friendly again. She's a handful and senses my wife's apprehension so it sets her off more.

Here is a link to the shoes that I used for my Black Lab.
http://www.cabelas.com​/hprod-1/0005402.shtml
I used the traction shoes and they worked great. She used them for three years and they hardly showed any wear, although, with all the asphalt use the leather ones they offer may prove more durable.

I think replacing the trucks with bigger wheels will help, less friction on her paws. Remember to compliment her on her new shoes too, women like that.

Two suggestions re dog boots (I know whereof I speak - coming from Toronto and Montreal, we deal with a lot of salt in winter, which *sucks* for pooch paws)

http://www.muttluks.co​m/

http://www.ruffwear.co​m …rip-Trex?sc=2&category=11

In my experience, no other boots come close to the Ruffwear ones except the Muttluks.

Hope your pooch's paws heal up. Don't worry too much - their paw pads harden up after a while.

Oh, and two more things - to prevent her from licking her paws too much at night or when she's inside, put an old sock on her paw and tape it there with athletic tape (not too tight, obviously). another good thing to use is a product called Vetwrap - it's self adhesive tensor-like bandage.

Cheers

tony

She looks like she really enjoys that, so I hope you find a good solution. I love the photos. She has a great face and she's pretty cute in her pink shoes!

I would spend more time getting her socialized and less time worrying about her boots

Ever watched the show "End of my Leash"..get that dog to obedience class if you can.a non social dog is simply trouble waiting to happen.

^^^ I second the suggestion up there for Ruffwear. My older dog used a set for 3 or 4 years before needing new ones.

Besides, what the HELL were you thinking getting little pink frilly shoes for a dog that size? If I were your dog, I'd have left my mark on them to let you know what I think.

Thank you so much for the advice on good shoes.

As far as training goes...we've done it. I won't say it didn't work. It has helped her immensely. There was a time that she would run away if the leash slipped out of my hands. Now I'm completely comfortable with her off leash. She listens when I tell her to stay which is a huge improvement. She's getting there. Part of controlling her behavior is keeping her very active. If she doesn't get to let her energy out, she goes beserk.

Hoff, you can't possibly think I picked the shoes. I wanted to get her some camo shoes that looked like Chuck Taylors!

Good stuff.when I read that your wife has a hard time controlling her, well.it worries me Do you have off leash parks? I would be tempted to have the wife and dog socialize big time there so she feels comfortable...Lani is a beauty.

Right on -- training is one aspect that helps between you and your dog but she still needs socialization. It is tough to do that on your own if she already has aggressive tendencies; I would seek out a group training class meant to address socialization issues.

Your life would be much easier if she could run around with other dogs off leash. It is her normal behaviour and she probably really wants to do it, but she doesn't know how to relate to others of her kind. Help her out!