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I have five gallons of hemlock bark soaking in water, going to try and start soaking there feet every two days starting in November. I have heard it works so we will see,

I have to disagree about the rock salt. I bring my hounds into the city (Brooklyn, NY) when I have work there, and nothing bothers their feet more than the salt that city folk put out on snowy days. My dogs have good tough feet. I can run them on snow and ice in the country all day or all night. I run them on the Catskill mountains, and they are fine for long runs year round. But put them on concrete sidewalks covered with road salt and they hurt. Even tough feet have little cracks that the salt will get in, and you know what salt feels like in a open wound.
Here's a few things that help:;
Make sure their nails are short. If the nails don't wear down through use, cut them regularly.
If you're not hunting them, road them. Make sure they get five miles minimum several times a week. Mine often go for twenty miles on a dirt road.
If you can keep them in a fenced yard rather than a kennel or tied out, so much the better. When my hounds are loose in the yard, they move nonstop..Thhis helps both their overall stamina and their feet.

I also disagree about concrete.. I think walking hounds on concrete toughens their feet. Its like sandpaper. It may not work if they are kenneled on concrete, though because they don't move enough in their kennels.

When my dogs do cut up their feet or wear down their pads, I use an antibiotic first-aid cream on them. While this softens the feet temporarily, it speeds the healing process. Also, there's a vitamin-E based dog product called Dermasol that I like. Be sure to trim off any loose pieces that could catch and tear deeper..

I do think breeding has a lot to do with it, but conditioning can make a huge difference. I bought a hound from KY last Christmas and it took him most of the winter to toughen up enough to run on ice and snow without damage. These days, he's good for longer than I am even though I wear boots and he doesnt...

This is a good discussion. There are dogs and strains that have much better feet. There are others which are constantly a problem. The dogs I have been hunting exclusively for over twenty years now and off and on since 1961 very rarely get sore enough to be any problem. Common sense and proper conditioning certainly help.

One tip that I would give all of you is using vinegar. Get a cheap plastic spray bottle at the local grocery or anywhere and fill it with white vinegar. After the dog has run hard, spray the feet thoroughly between toes and all over. This stings if they are sore (and the dogs won't like it, especially if their feet are already infected, but will take out much soreness. This is very inexpensive and helps a great deal. Vinegar is a good disinfectant and will help keep the dogs feet form being sore, especially the runny gall-type soreness that can develop between the toes. You can repeat the spraying every couple of hours, which will help a lot for dogs with feet that are already infected. The old adage of a "stitch in time" certainly applies. If you wait until the feet are infected, it will take more treatments. Try it!

sled dogs in the Iditerod race ALL wear boots. These dogs are in the best possible shape, and they all must wear boots. They use a light but tough material that must be changed fairly often.

There are some conditions that seem to be hard on any dogs feet no matter how tough. I have tried these sled dog boots, but am not completely satisfied with them. Still looking for a satisfactory boot for foot cutting snow conditions.

Forming duct tape into boots will preserve their pads and ankles, and you can run them with otherwise sore feet, but it leaves a lot to be desired too. If you do it, put little bits of foam or foam tape between their toes, and also turn the duct tape across the bottom or take other measures to avoid the slick surface of the tape for the running surface. Different dogs react differently to it. Some dogs dont seem to mind it, others just hate it and will be distracted by it. On some dogs they will be noticeably slowed down, but a lot of dogs dont need maximum speed to catch game, and it is better than not having them out there when you need them. You can still catch game, and hunt them day after day. Their feet will be fine. It is not as bad as an olympic sprinter wearing ski boots, but, it will soften their physical performance edge a bit.

Emily wrote: I also disagree about concrete.. I think walking hounds on concrete toughens their feet. Its like sandpaper. It may not work if they are kenneled on concrete, though because they don't move enough in their kennels...

Well over the years I've noticed that dogs that are on concrete have thinner pads rather than a nice thick hard pad. Like you said concrete is like sand paper and it will smooth out the dogs foot rather than tuffing it up. Just my observations. Think about it this way if you rub sandpaper on a calluse everyday, it will remove the dead thick skin that is the calluse, and give you soft hands. Concrete does the same to good hard pads on a dog, thins them down and keeps them soft.

Alot of my hunting friends keep their birddogs on concrete year round and their dogs blow pads several time a season. I keep my dogs on good hard desert ground and they have good hard pads. I can honestly say I dont remember the last time I blew a pad. They have worn down and become thin in spots, but not blown. Blown to me is when the pad peals off completely, kind of like a popped blister, but looks like a stubbed toe. Basicly the pad slips and then rips or peals back etc...


Larry Lowell