EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Well had a dog blow its pads off this weekend now here is my question he is on softer sand on his chain but one of my other dogs went further acording to the garmin but his feet are fine and he is on about half cliche where he is at.  Do yall think the harder ground where the one is made his feet tougher?

it could be a factor, but also the dog could just have sensitive feet

I read I think mike and lion and boar hunters conversation a few months back about how dogs from swamp areas go to the hill country and blow their pads off easy because of the rocks where as dogs from hill country go down there and blow theirs off because of the wet.  Was just rolling it around in my head going to stink if this dog has tender feet I really like him lol

I got a buddy in Sylvania Ga that used to guide hog hunts and always swore if dog didnt have black or dark pads, he wouldnt use em, that the dark pads were tougher than the loghter ones. Anyone else ever seen that ?

You may think I am crazy, but I vet wrap Grace's paws when I take long rides on rock, it really helps her not get sore.

My brindle male and my yella gyp has been in the same pen together and my gyp run some of her pads off about a month ago...I think might just be the dog, but i,m sure if you kept them on harder ground it would condition them better...My pen is pretty sandy....

Tiny you are crazy. I hear concrete males the pads tougher.

black pigment and the pads hold up better.

Pink and tan pigment they blister up and bleed.

I knew an old breeder in Tennessee that kept his dogs on 1 inch limestone rock. He said it made the pads tough and the toes strong and in the woods the dogs did good and never had a problem.

He also liked the limestone because it neutralized any odors.

I tried it and didn't like it because it was hard to clean the poop from between the rocks.

My dogs are all on concrete and on occasions they still blow their pads out. We got on a bunch of pigs in about a 4 acre saw briar thicket weekend before last. Pigs kept breaking before the dogs could catch they worked that patch for about 3 hours. Before they caught one about 40lb shoat. All three dogs in there blew there pads out. I think it depends on the ground cover a moisture.

I have heard of guys putting a couple of shingles in front of the dog house to toughen up the dogs feet. I have never tried it though.

Yep, thats one thing i look for when choosing pups. (black pads)  True with horses too.  I dont like ANY white on the feet.  Some of the old timers around here use pea gravel in their pens.  I hardly ever have blown pads. Sometimes after running for days, or if running in frozen snow.
     I did however have a BMC female last year blow a couple in just 1/2 days hunt.  Her pads and nose was liver colored. (lighter) 

They are dark not really black but dark dark brown

I wish I could figure it out... down here, whenever it get's bad dry and they get on a long race... blown pads every time.

I've thought about that 1" limerock idea before though... I just don't like keepin' my dogs in a kennel... and that's a LOT OF LIME ROCK  ;D

he micht have got hung on something or steped on something they ran threw all that crap around that barn and no telling what else over on lowreys, who knows what he could have got into, you know since the other dogs seem fine

Watch hogs gone wild...they will show how to prepare the pads  ;D

I don't think so but maybe it is both front and a little on the rear legs.  I'm kinda wondering if for some reason that strike vest didn't make him run different or something

oh when you texted me i thought you meant one pad, yeah maybe he ran threw something different who knows but that is an idea

When I was running dogs in west Texas I had trouble with some dogs knocking their pads. If they got them wet with dew and then were the type of dog that did quick cutting they tend to knock them. Sometimes I used boots which was truck tarp material cut to basically form a pancake with an opening for the foot. Tape the leg first, put on the boot, and tape it to the tape on the leg.

Black pads are tougher just like black horse hooves. If you are in a bind you can use duct tape on a dogs feet in bad areas.

An old time remedy is take a cup of tannic accid powder and mix it with a quart of pine tar. Paint this on the dogs feet. Not only does it heal but it also makes them tougher.

Grass burrs also gives some dogs fits and need to be booted.

One guy had his dog pens under a sweet gum tree and he swore that the sweet gum balls made their feet tougher.

If you have a dog with sensitive pads a thin layer of super glue is a miracle worker.

or hoof laquer

I have had cause to do a great deal of note taking on blown pads. I have dogs with black pads that seemed to shuck them all the time for a while. Concrete kenneling worked wonders to toughen the pads. However, hard pads that get water logged will still run off. I have tried commercial preparations for pads, super glue, booties, and much more. The thing I have found that worked wonders for keeping pads intact was to use bag balm on them a couple times a week on concrete floor kennels. The concrete toughens them and the bag balm water proofs them. It's not about keeping the moisture in the pads, it's about keeping excess moisture OUT of the pads so they can't get waterlogged.

I do the same with horse feet. It's the wet/dry, wet/dry process that causes cracking and splitting. If you can just keep the moisture balance constant within the hoof surfaces, you have healthier feet. I am much more likely to use hoof dressing before rinsing a horse than after. The oily dressing keeps the extra water out.

Noah, if you don't kennel your dogs and still want to try the limestone, could you not put a layer of it around the dog's food and water areas? That way, they have to walk on it to get to their feed and water so you are sure they are getting some benefit each day.

Cheers!
M

There is also some stuff made for dogs that you can get in I think either a nite lite catalog or coon hound catalog called pad heal... or something close to that, will have to look it up, my father in law and his buddys used it in the mountains when they were bear hunting, said the dogs could barely walk that night and after putting that stuff on the were running like crazy the next morning