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Yesterday at the park Chesney did a number on his pads, I ended up having to fireman carry him to the car (about a quarter mile walk, good work out!). He torn the big pad on both front feet to the point of them bleeding, plus two toe pads on the front, then he torn his back feet up (two toe pads on each foot) and is really uncomfortable. He won't walk and cries when I leave the room because he can't come with me, so I have been carrying him from room to room to be with me if I am there for an extended amount of time. Chesney really isn't much of a wimp when it comes to being hurt so the fact that he cried when I touched his paw and bumped one of his pads tells me that he is really uncomfortable, not to mention he doesn't even want to walk anywhere. He has torn pads before, but this is the worst I have seen him. This time of year is pad tearing season since it's hot enough here that water is a must to cool off from running so his feet are wet and since its hot and dry the dirt is very hard on his wet paws, so its nothing new, but this time takes the cake!

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for a topical pain reliever and an oral one for him? He is 40 pounds for dosage recommendations.

 

Thanks All.

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if you put that sort of stuff on his feet he will have to wear a collar to keep him from licking. Seems like adding insult to injury....

 

I have skin glued a foot sized nylon square (like jacket material) to feet to cover them if I had too. However I find time, usually a few days, is less frustating.

 

Consider boots for him if you he's prone. The weather isn't going to improve for a while. That nasty humid wind full of dirt yesterday was just plain gross.

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Chesney does wear Mutluks (mostly for pulling me on my longboard) however with doing more swimming yesterday than running on the dirt (doesn't take much running and cutting to tear his feet after he's been swimming!) they get water logged and fall off. Otherwise when he is doing minimal soaking in the water he wears his shoes. He only really seems to tear his feet up bad in Louisiana, otherwise when we are home he only tears them up if he plays too much on the cement and that activity is not allowed anyways.

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If you can keep him indoors and clean, little kids socks are great - but you do need to tape them on. Your local dollar store likely has them (with silly designs on 'em too!). The pain won't last long - but if there is danger of infection, you might want to use something like Neosporin on the paws, and get some oral antibiotics. I don't use these willy-nilly, but there are times...

diane

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Poor Chesney. I second baby socks - get the 12 months old ones - about $5/4 pairs at Walmart. I used rubber bands to secure them on Ouzo, and he didn't try to pick them off. We had a very rough couple of months this year where he constantly had at least one boo-boo on one of his paws at all times. To the point that now when you ask him "Where's your boo-boo?" he lifts up his front paw and licks it where it used to hurt :rolleyes: The one thing that put a stop to this constant rip and tear horror show was Bag Balm - $7 at Walmart for a hefty box - and it does wonders on humans, too! I don't know how much it healed as it softened his paws that were so dry they were peeling off (talk about dry weather here in CO) and since I've started using it, he's never had a torn pad. Plus now he added Bag Balm to the list of yummy ointments :D

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If you have trouble keeping socks or booties on him, or just don't want to bother with them you could try a zinc supplement. Apparently many mushers swear by it for toughening up the pads, and those dogs are running miles! They also have various other ideas for foot protection and care, if you go search through the health: general, or health: injuries sections on SDC Talk you might find some more ideas. I've also heard that hunters will use products like Koppertox or Koppersept to heal and toughen their hounds feet. Hope he's feeling better soon.

 

Rily-dog, I'm surprised your vet recommended Tylenol. I've always heard that buffered Aspirin is the preferred choice for dogs (1 tablet/30#, 2 tabs max. every 12 hours), rather than acetaminophen. Also, worth mentioning in case anyone doesn't already know, in a pet first aid book I have I read that even the tiniest bit of acetaminophen is toxic to cats.

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Chesney is still hobbling around today, he must of done a number on his feet this time. But he is getting better. Thanks for all the help everyone. I will have to see about getting some Zinc for him, after doing some reading about it it might help with his seasonal itchies as well. :rolleyes:

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Would "NEW SKIN" work? I used it when Donald tore his pink little toes up at his first few herding lessons. It stings, but I use it on myself and nothing is better for a cut that you can't keep a bandaid on! It has a strong smell and they don't tend to lick it off.

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Would "NEW SKIN" work? I used it when Donald tore his pink little toes up at his first few herding lessons. It stings, but I use it on myself and nothing is better for a cut that you can't keep a bandaid on! It has a strong smell and they don't tend to lick it off.

 

I was doing some reading on the Sled Dog forums about paw protectors and fixing injured paws. There seemed to be a general positive and effective idea with mole skin and super glue. But now I can't find the link... We might try that next time this happens! But New Skin was definitely mentioned in lots of the pad posts but for Chesney there really isn't anything to stick together. They are what used to be blisters that form from friction on his wet paws then the top of the blister gets ripped off and the raw skin gets run on. I have never used New Skin myself, does it work for things like that or just what can be glued together?

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