constant bloody feet

[cfanno01]

I dont know if my dogs just have bad feet or if its just normal for their feet to bleed all the time...seems like they never heel up during the winter?? Most of the issue is at the base of each toenail and on the edges of the main pad on each foot. The actual pads never have a problem. also is there anything other than tuffoot or mushers secret that people are using to help with this? These dogs are running on decent snow not crust. Thanks

[dhostetler]

No it is not normal. Some dogs just have bad feet. In snow hunting feet issues are a big problem. One thing you can check is the length of the toe nails. Trim them if they appear long toe nails can cause the base of the toenail to be sore.

Two types of snow are hard on feet, crusty and wet. Crusty is hard on feet for obvious reasons. Wet soggy snow softens feet/pads causing injuries.

A lot of people have a variety of opinions on what makes good hounds, to me one of my top priorities is dogs bred for good feet.

[ethertonee]

I have found that if you kennel or chain your dogs on gravel or better yet crushed rock year around it really helps. This won't fix all problems but it will help, as they are constantly keeping there feet conditioned. I figured this out about 10 years ago with my labs from duck and pheasant hunting on ice and cut feet from metal around old farm steads. Then I bought the walk with wick books and it is one of the tips Mr. Wick has in there as well. If you condition your dogs by roading on gravel it helps also, but gravel roads are more travled then dirt so use your head hear and don't get your dogs run over. Make sure that the bedding in there houses and dog box is kept as dry as possible as well.

[cfanno01]

Thanks for the replies. Gives me some things to think about. I should make more of an effort to trim their nails consistently so they dont fight it. My dogs live in the house so that might be a major factor in having sensitive feet. I tried roading them a lot this summer/fall, but like you said all the roads that are safe are dirt/sand not gravel.

[cfanno01]

Their dew claws always seem to be the worst...anybody have experience in removing dew claws in adult dogs? thanks. Made sure my new pup had them removed...live and learn

[dwalton]

If you chose to have the dew claws removed have a vet do it. Go to good feed store and buy chlorhexidine it is what vets use to disinfect there kennels. It will kill virus, bacteria and fungus. Wash the dogs feed twice a day and after you take them hunting. Put a triple antibiotic on the sore, red raw around the pap and toe nails. Once you heal your dog up be sure to keep washing her feet after hunting. I would not use a pad coating that seals the air from the foot until you get them healed keep her in a lean place. Good luck Dewey

[merlo_105]

Everyone gave good advise. My dog's are also in the house this year was the first year I had a dog's feet get beat up bad she ran threw Crap snow and bare ground back and forth and so on. When I got to where they caught the critter. I could see she was in a bad way hobbling around. Took her a little over a week to get to the point where I thought she was halfway ready to get back in the woods. Try to road them when you can always got to keep the feet under the dogs. You can put Prep H and a triple antibiotic mixed half and half on the sore parts.

[FullCryHounds]

Sore and bloody feet are not caused by genetics. It is caused by lack of conditioning. Keeping your dog in a kennel with a concrete floor is by far the worst way to keep a hound. Then to compound that with not running or hunting them for days and weeks at a time, you are guaranteeing foot problems. In 35 years of running hounds, I have never once had to trim a dogs toe nails. If you are having to trim a dogs toenails, he isn't getting near enough excersise (which is why you are also having foot problems.) If you are having foot problems with your dogs, considering changing up the way you house them. The average houndsman doesn't have the opportunity to get their dogs out enough to keep their feet conditioned. 20 years ago, I got rid of my kennels and now keep all of my dogs in a 1/2 acre run. Haven't had a single foot problem since. I understand not everyone can keep their dogs in a large run like this. If that is the case then you are going to have to keep your dogs feet conditioned by roading them every day or every other day. Lotions and and creams are not the fix for bloody feet, keeping them excersised and their feet conditioned is the cure.

[cfanno01]

thanks for the advice guys...I have a half acre run for them but they live in the house. I leave them in the large run in the summer when im at work, but not when it gets cold. I also take them in every night. I dont work in the winter so thats when i do most of my hunting. merlo, sounds like we have a similar way of keeping dogs. The snow is what gets mine. never have any issues on dry ground. keeping their feet washed like dewey said sounds like a good idea..especially to help them heal more quickly. thanks again for all the help

[dwalton]

Dean I agree with most of what you say about conditioning a dog but if poor conformation is there already you will still have trouble with their feet. As far as keeping dogs in a big kennel so they get more exercise that is great. Here in the northwest with the rain we have the dogs would be in a foot of mud and water. You would have more foot problems from bacteria and fungus plus fleas, ticks and worms to deal with. I keep my on concrete kennels that can be washed out daily. Most of the dogs never need toes trimmed but they do get a lot of exercise. The only two dogs that need trimmed are the two that get to be loose all the time. They are older dogs that are not very active. Dewey

[dhostetler]

Conditioning does help but in bad snow conditions soreness happens between the toes not on the pads. It don't matter how much you road or hunt your dogs there are virtually no conditions out there that can be duplicated to get grating material forced up between the toes, except maybe several inches of sand. I still consider foot conformity to be the number 1 issue in soreness. Some dogs just have bad feet.

[dhostetler]

I keep most of my dogs on a concrete pad too. I hunt enough that most of my dogs never need to have there toe nails trimmed but some do. Some dogs toe nails grow faster than others, there is a theory that concrete causes nails to grow faster. Even with short toenails when dogs break through crust the foot has more weight and breaks through before the nails causing the nails to force upward on each step. Under certain conditions I will not turn loose in crusty snow. No matter how good conditioned your dogs are there are conditions that will destroy dogs feet. Sometimes all you have to do is rather than be gung-ho and turn loose at first light wait till noon to turn loose, let it warm up and soften the crust.

[dwalton]

Several years ago when I started hunting on the east side on frozen ground and frozen crusty snow with a lot of exposed lava rock. I learned a hard lesson about running in those conditions some of the dogs were laid up for a couple of weeks with cut pads, some did OK. All were in hard condition. In some conditions and places it is not worth turning them loose. Good hunting Dewey

[Jeff Eberle]

DMSO clean their feet real good then dry them. The gel dmso works best work it all over on the feet then put a dog bootie over it for about a hour. All so give them a zinc supplement it helps heal the pad from the inside out only down fall is it make the toe nails grow faster but stronger. I have a buddy that runs sled dogs and that's what their use.