Dog Booties

I have been looking at dog booties and they seem to have mixed reviews. I am taking my dog backpacking tomorrow - short trip so am not taking booties. They are really expensive to "try" and if the dog will not wear them or they do not work, that is a lot of dollars down the drain. For this trip, instead, I am just taking vet wrap so if she gets sore paws I will just wrap them. We walk 5 miles a day now, on rough surfaces, and the trip will have less daily miles, so I think we are OK for now. But for longer trips, I wonder. Any recommendations?

I have dog booties for Ember, but she never needed them. I picked up a cheap set on eBay to keep for emergencies.

I recommend that you have a video camera handy the first time you put booties on your dog. Watching them plop their paws around the first time is pretty entertaining.

Above all, do not laugh at the dog! That will be difficult, but Hysson sure knew I was laughing at him and refused to wear the booties ever after.

We just got back and came out after one night even though we planned on two nights. What I found out (and feel pretty bad about) is that I did not diagnose the beat up paws. Small round spots of paw came off, sort of like loosing a callus, on each back paw. In the morning it looked OK so I did not tape them. We left primarily because mosquitoes were thick and I did not want to add to mileage and a camp day would have been hard given the bugs. Anyway, when we got home and I gave the dog a bath the paws were quite pink and the two "holes" looked worse. I kept looking at her paws as we came out and she never limped or favored a paw. She is one tired puppy right now! So, even though I had the first aid supplies I think I misjudged the seriousness of the paw problem. In 20-20 hindsight I should have wrapped her paws for our return trip. From how she did this trip, I think she is a dog that really needs to wear booties.

I usually see dog boot sets at REI garage sales. I can't really speak to their effectiveness, but for $10, might be worth a try. Also, Tuf-Foot comes highly recommended on a sheepdog forum.

I bought a pair of cheap booties for my pup on sale at REI on impulse. He does not like them at all, but is starting to get used to them. I kind of estimated the sizing and may not have bought the correct size. They seem to fit OK, but one bootie always seems to fall off. I've pretty much stopped using them and have switched to using Musher's Secret when the ground is super cold and/or salty or if the ground is very hot. My little dude and I have not gone on any overnight hiking trips yet, but so far on the 3-4 mile day trips that we take his pads have been OK.