# Torn Pads



## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

Took my little Brit out for a day of chukar chasin'. Her pads are swollen and torn now. I know most of it is from not running her as much, its just been a crazy summer. Anyway, does anyone have any tips on how to get them toughened back up? Also, is there anything I can do for her now? She will barely walk and it just breaks my heart seeing her like that.


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## huntducksordietrying (Sep 21, 2007)

My lab got some small cuts from the thin layer of ice this weekend. He didnt seem to mind. But then again this is the same dog that i can accidently step on his tail and he'll just look at me like would you get off of that.


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## Gumbo (Sep 22, 2007)

Give him a week to heal the pads, and if you plan on going out Sat go very easy on him. A dog's drive and willingness to please is so great they'll keep going long after they should have stopped.

You can buy some pad paste at Cabela's called Tuff Pad. It should help them heal and would be good to use if you plan on going out this weekend. Personally I'd give him two weeks.


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## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

I ran across the Tuf-Pad website yesterday looking for treatments for her. Sounds interesting. I ended up ordering 2 bottles of it. One for the dog and the other for me!

She is doing much better now. She just needed a day of rest to get rid of the soreness. I'll be sure to let the pads heal up for a couple weeks though, no sense in aggravating them any further.

Thanks for the advice!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Tuff-Pad and other foot tretments are good for fixing the problem in the accute stage.

If you want tough feet all the time, get your dog off the concrete pad in yer kennel and replace it with pea gravel. My whole kennel is gravel exept for the sleeping/house area and my dogs feet NEVER get soar or torn up. Gravel makes them pads tough as nails.  

Plus, it's cleaner, and easyer to keep clean.


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## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

She's a spoiled dog and stays in the house most of the time. 

I usually take her on hikes every weekend during the summer to keep her conditioned. This year has been the exception and now she's paying for my neglect. As soon as her pads are healed the Tuf-Pad should get her through the rest of our various bird seasons without any more problems.


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## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

Just an update...

She healed up fine and I highly recommend TUF-FOOT.

http://www.tuffoot.com/about/dogs.htm


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## 12 Volt Man (Sep 7, 2007)

Just a suggestion for when this happens "in the field". A couple of times I had pads get cut where there was a "flap of the pad" for lack of a better explanation. I was able to use super glue to glue it back together. Then I made a "boot" out of duct tape. Didn't slow the dog down a bit.


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## TagmBagm (Nov 4, 2007)

My dog gets cuts on his pads all the time. Since we really only hunt shallow water that he can walk in I decided to try the booty technique but he would have eaten his own leg off to get out of them. So now I just let him deal with it and if it is bugging him to bad i have a numming and healing paste that I put on them.


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## lionhunter (Sep 11, 2007)

I use tuf foot on my hounds all year it is some good stuff.


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## Texscala (Sep 8, 2007)

There was an article in Gun Dog about using bike inertubes.


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## Scoutgone (Nov 13, 2007)

I wouldn't use boots anywhere you're dealing with snow, ice, steep rock faces. The dog needs to be as agile as possible in that situation and inner tubes flapping on his/her feet can't be a good thing. Maybe for corn dogs chasin phez in stubble but not in the dez. 

Road, road, road. toughen your dogs feet prior to hunting season. Tuf-foot works great but if the dog isn't in the field much the Tuf-foot will make for stiff pads and hence the likelyhood that they will still tear. You want supple well conditioned pad not a boot sole. If I have to use boots, which is rare, I go with Lewis boots. you get what you pay for.


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## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

I took her out after chukar again last week. Her pads did great, no damage at all. However, there is the upper pad where the dew claw used to be... I havent been treating them with the Tuf Foot and they DID start bleeding. It did not slow her down at all but I will be sure to treat them as well in the future if needed.



> Road, road, road. toughen your dogs feet prior to hunting season.


I hear ya! Dont want to put her through that pain ever again.


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