How do you houndsman toughin up you're hounds feet?

[Scratch]

I was curious if some of you had some neat little trick to toughin up you're hounds feet. I realize hunting them get their feet tough however, what do you guys do in the snow when it's so cold you're dogs have a hard time keeping their feet down. It's -15 here in Wyoming and my dogs really have a hard time when it's this cold.

My wife said she read a article to help their feet was to put chapstick on their pads, never heard that one before, so I was curious if anyone had some suggestions. I had also heard pouring Kopertox on their feet helps ( if you don't mind green feet).

Thanks

Scratch

[hounder]

Scratch, I wish i could help you there but i am also looking an answer for my buddy his dogs feet bleed like no tommorrow and are favoring different feet all the time my dog is a digger so i have never had to trim toenails or doctor feet she had a lttle nick the other day but it was higher on the leg

[dubl_t]

I've heard from upland gamers that there's a solution/gel you can "paint" on your dogs pads, sorry I can't remember the name.
Tom.

[FullCryHounds]

Conditioning is the only way to keep their feet in shape. Keeping your dogs in a kennel or on a chain is why their feet are soft. Ten years ago I started keeping my dogs in a one acre run and all my feet problems went away, along with a lot of other problems.

[Jason Waterhouse]

I no a guy in maine that soaks his dogs feet in hemlock bark solution if im not mistaken I beleive it was hemlock.

[Dan Edwards]

I have had dogs with great feet and I have had dogs with sorry feet. The dogs with sorry feet could be made to have tough feet though with lots of running and then some more running. The dogs I have had with tough feet dont even get ice cuts. They are freaks, kind of like a coyote actually in that way. The dogs with piss poor feet even when conditioned still get the ice cuts but they at least dont slip pads no more. Take care and keep the hair ran off of em and they will get real tough.

[Budd Denny]

I no a guy in maine that soaks his dogs feet in hemlock bark solution if im not mistaken I beleive it was hemlock.

Yep, he uses hemlock, I've been using it but not sure if it's that or roading the dogs 4-5 days a week or the blue lotion or the tough pad that I use on em that works, maybe it's the combination . But you have a hound with Bad, Bad feet it won't matter when ya run on crust cold snow.
I have one hound here that I'm running boots on (will not be used for breeding purpases). A fella down the road that runs dog sleds gave me a couple dozen pair. I told him no way would them things stay on, They did. Now I run them on a couple of my dogs. They are just held on with velcro, easy to put on. $1.00 a piece and can be used 3-5 times each.

[Racin_GT]

What is this solution made up of?

[justjared]

my plott had soft feet but i just kept runnin him and my kennel has a gravel floor like wick says in his book and it works for me

[Budd Denny]

What is this solution made up of?

If your talking of the hemlock, just peel the bark off in the spring so it's sappy, put in a 5 gallon bucket and just cover with water, let soak out in the sun then when your ready to use it just pour some in a pan and have your dogs stand in it for a few minutes each night. I am going to try and boil some also.
Had a big flat pan made that my dog can stand in with all 4 feet, my male will stand in there without me holding him.
While soaking the bark I put a big rock on top of the bark so it dosn't float up.
There is some chemical in hemlock bark that they used to use for tanning.

[Racin_GT]

Thanks, is there any ratio that you use or just wing it? lol

[Jason Waterhouse]

Id say wing it 5 gallon pail should be good

[Budd Denny]

Thanks, is there any ratio that you use or just wing it? lol

I'm going to try and render it down so it gets thicker. Nelson said thicker the better.

[Racin_GT]

Oh is this Nelson Coles home Brew?

[Budd Denny]

Oh is this Nelson Coles home Brew?

Yep.