My dog has soft pads :(

[Wildsea]

My dog has very, very soft pads. He almost weekly gets a thorn stuck in his pad. Luckily he is a right wuss so normally screams so I know something is wrong. I missed one a couple of months ago resulting in his pad getting infected. He has alot of roadwalks and this has not helped them at all. Can anyone give me any tips on how to toughern his pads up?

[bexVN]

Greyhounds suffer this and I believe Greyhound charities suggest daily application of surgical spirit massaged onto paws for a few weeks to toughen them up (obviously assuming there are no cuts!!)

There is also a product for this very thing but it's name escapes me I'll look into it.

Obviously your vet should check them to ensure there is no medical reason for this.

Edited by bexVN on Monday 29th August 19:00

[Jasandjules]

Could be worth getting a couple of pairs of booties for him? A friend's mutt has very sensitive pads and cuts easily, so they tend to use booties a lot.

[Wildsea]

Thanks for the suggestions. I would rather not use booties as he picks up thornes on road walks as well and also in my Grandma's garden who looks afetr him sometimes. If it was only on certain walks it would be fine. I also want to do agility with him and can't run him in booties really.

[Thevet]

thorns can go into any pad, so I would suggest it could also be the environment ie too many thorns around. As you're "wildsea", do you live by the sea? Salt water can harden the skin if in it regularly. Not sure if it's been tried but the stuff usd for treating warts and verrucas "bazooka" has salicylic acid in, which will harden the pad if used carefully and not licked off. Mind you, the idea of trying to paint the stuff on and keep it dry, with you desperately holding on to an upside down dog could be worth a video for youtube.

[Wildsea]

Thanks There are lots of brambles where I live, Itry road walks, but I always walk with the dog away from the traffic and lots of hedges etc have brambles coming out of them which he seems to tred on. I have avoided 1 walk which has a stupid amount of brambles but I can't avoid them all. I'm trying my best to clear my Grandma's garden where oddly he doesn't pick as many up. I may just bathe them in salt water (I don't live as near to the sea as I used to, so can't get there every day. Plus the beach is a stoney one which would cut his pads even more) a couple of times a week and see if this improves them. Thanks for all the tips

[mr2mk1chick]

Kinda slightly OT but when my dog was recovering from paralysis he dragged a leg a bit and wore his nails to the quick and had a sore pad. i bought some pawz boots. they are like rubber baloons that go over the pad and protect the paw, but still let the dog have maximum feel thru them rather than the heavier duty boots. they come from the states. you get a pack of 12 for about £12. they say disposable but i reuse about 5 times or so. i can see they would be great for a lot of applications, such as if a dog is allergic to grass, or is prone to grass seeds or thorns in pads etc. not to use all the time but great to keep inthe house. also good for over bandages perhaps.

[trippyjohn]

there is a product for sale its a wax that is used on huskies pads to toughen them up for sledge pulling

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/paw-wax-50g-dog-paw...