BigGameHoundsmen.com

Hey folks, I am in need of some info. I have a 2 yr old dog that has some real promise. But he is real soft/sore footed and I can't get him in shape because of that. I have tried several things. I tried roading him on gravel to partially gravel roads. Starting out with 1-2 miles 3 days a week and increasing 1-2 miles a week. The furthest I have gotten to road him is 5 miles. Then I tried that pad heal stuff ( it's suppose to condition the pads). I haven't tried gravel in the kennels yet. But every time I think we are going in the right direction he starts to get thin on the pads and sore footed again and can only go 1-2 miles. Then I have to give him some time off. And we are back to square one. I know I am doing something wrong. Just thought ya'll could set me straight. Any and all ideas or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

If you are near the ocean, run him on the beach, the sea water will work wonders. John.

I live in the nortwest desert of NM.

sounds like the dog just has really poor feet..... is he fat?

I have never used the gravel or pea gravel kennels but like the idea. Just out of curiosity, at what speed are you reading your dog. Here, we road hunt our dogs. We hunt them out in front of the truck, on the ground, at about 3mph. We will do this for miles and miles on end. We usually hunt night and morning for days before the dogs will need a break. Most of these hunts we will cover around ten miles or so.

We rarely have foot issues. Our terrain isn't as rough as most. However I think our dogs feet get conditioned better due to the slow pace and constant use. When I was younger I thought of roading as a speed even. I thought the further and faster you could go without the dog giving out, the better. I also had a lot more issues with feet in those days. Maybe try toughening his feet up w/o roading on gravel roads but on sand. Also do it as often as possible and at a slow pace. I think the larger the kennel the better also. I'm building mine 100' x 100' for all my dogs to live together in. Hope some of this helps. I'm sure there's people on here with better info though.

i used cement pavers in the kennel its like fine sand paper and it is also easy to clean. seemed to work for me.

That sound exceptionally bad to me. What type of game are you planning on hunting with him? My hound with bad feet can run gravel roads mostly all day. Rocky mountains and crusty snow cause her problems. His feet sound so bad that he'd be useless except on farmlands like cooning or something. Its a bummer that his feet can't keep up with his mind.

just keep roadin him, try to extend the distance a mile each week (3 times a week 2 miles, then 3 miles, then 4 miles)...if he's got any sand he'll start pushin further and further each time out. if he can't keep up with the others, i'd leave him behind and let him catch up. i've found that just being methodical like a fat guy trying to get in shape for a race, don't kill him the first time out, let him work into it. i had a dog that typically has great feet with kinda the same issue this year cause i layed him up for a long time this summer and this is what i did, started with about 3 miles a run and in a couple weeks we were up to about 14 at a pop early in the morning when its cool.

You didn't say how fast he runs when roading.....flat out? trotting? lots of pauses to sniff and such?

I run three of mine on the mtn bike. One female runs fast, for the whole 26kms. I can't run her like that more than twice inn 9 days, or her front pads will get sluffed off. Her concurrent runs I keep to 13-15kms. My other two are content to trot with short bursts of fast running. Their pad strikes onto the ground are a lot softer, and their pads can take more miles more often, accordingly. Running speed / pad strike force does play into the equation.

I use Kopertox on their feet it works great. My dogs hunt in sand and gravel and lava rock all in the same day. If they tear a pad or get foot sore I mix Kopertox and Reducine 50/50. Reducine is 47% pine tar and also has a mild soreness relief in it. My yard has granite and lava rock in it that also helps. These things can help but there is still no substitute for proper conditioning. I road my dogs 3 day a week at least if I go out to hunt and dont cut a track I road them on my way out. Also if they are sore I give my dogs a asprin to help with pain.

Tuf Foot a couple times a day has worked well for me. Tuf Foot does not work on fungus problems. Al

Paint his feet with venice turpentine a couple times a week,Thats what my Grand Daddy and Daddy used on their open country fox dogs.

Glynn Holmes
www.tellsblueticks.webs.com

I use blue coat on my dogs feet. Always seems to heal slip pads and callous over quick.Dont get a chance to hunt my dogs alot during pursuit season to get there feet toughened up . Seems to make a big difference if I use daily for a couple of weeks before I start hunting them.

pour some rocksalt in his chain circle will help toughen feet like the beach sand works great and cheap

we use methlated sprits to harded pads and infections what kind gravel do you run your dogs on we have some different types in our forstery roads that cut the dogs feet real bad i only run my dogs around 3kms on gravel couble times a week and they hunt aleast 3 times a week gravels not the best thing to run them on