# How to harden paw pads?



## Kassandra

Charlie has such crappy luck when it comes to this. Last winter she completely split one of her pack paws in half, one side was missing a peice and everything. Today she scraped off a piece of the top layer on both her front pads. It isn't bad, I'm not bringing her to the vet, we have spray stuff from last year (not expired). I called the vet and asked her if we should just use that again and she said yes, that there was no point getting antibiotics again because she has had a reaction to most of the ones we have tried her on anyways and she doesn't want to cause her any more trouble since it probably isn't needed anyways, but to keep an eye on them.

Is there any way I can harden her pads? We've tried mushers secret, didn't do much if anything at all. She would just sit there and try to lick it off. The only thing I can say it did was protect her pads from she salt which we don't see much of anyways, most places here use sand.


AND THIS JUST IN: Both her back paws also have a small piece missing. I feel so bad for her I can't imagine how annoying that must be.


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## EckoMac

Bag Balm will help.
I use Mushers Secret before walks for Ecko's soft feet. Works awesome for heat and cold protection.


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## BearMurphy

is this from hiking, walking on the road/sidewalk, or from playing on pavement?


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## RawPitbulls

I'll just send you Sabrina's paws. I have the hardest time keeping her pads soft! I use cocoa butter on them every night.


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## StdPooDad

Try Paw Pudding from thescentproject.com
ORDER NOW!


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## Kassandra

BearMurphy said:


> is this from hiking, walking on the road/sidewalk, or from playing on pavement?


We live next to a bunch of fields. I wouldn't call it hiking. The fields are covered in snow right now but even underneath them they are just grass.

Mushers secret really did nothing at all. I know it has worked wonders for some people but no idea why it didn't work for it. 
Never heard of Paw Pudding, I'll give it a look.

lol RawPitbulls, no idea why you would want them soft if this is what happens! We can gladly trade


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## RawPitbulls

Kassandra said:


> lol RawPitbulls, no idea why you would want them soft if this is what happens! We can gladly trade


haha! Sabrina sleeps in the bed, and she puts her paws on me. When they are too rough, they will scratch. I have never dealt with splitting paws. All of the products I put on them are to keep them soft. But, I would imagine if you walk the dog on concrete for a bit every day, over time they will become rough naturally.


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## Kassandra

Well, she gets a 20 minute walk before I leave in the morning on the pavement, obviously that is not making them hard though if she cut them all on a bit of hard snow. 

So.. how do we go about trading? Should I just cut all her feet of and send them to you by mail or?? :wink::thumb:


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## Losech

I just walk the dogs more of their feet need toughening up. It's what I do with my own feet too. (I am a barefooter.) But some dogs (genetically) just have soft feet.
The sleddog kennel I worked at would add zinc to the dog's food if there was an increased chance of their feet getting cut (ice, certain kinds of snow, sticks, etc.) That seemed to help toughen their feet.


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## monster'sdad

Losech said:


> I just walk the dogs more of their feet need toughening up. It's what I do with my own feet too. (I am a barefooter.) But some dogs (genetically) just have soft feet.
> The sleddog kennel I worked at would add zinc to the dog's food if there was an increased chance of their feet getting cut (ice, certain kinds of snow, sticks, etc.) That seemed to help toughen their feet.


The combination of abrasion and extra nutrients like zinc and biotin usually works. Some breeds like Labradors were not selected with pad toughness in mind so they just naturally have thinner pad leather.

Zinc is generally not absorbed well by dogs unless it is proteinated and combined with zinc sulphate. Foods that appear to be high in zinc generally don't deliver zinc well and it binds with other minerals and metals so balance is important.


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## doggiedad

why do you want to keep your dog's pads soft? isn't tough pads better for them when
they're out and about?



RawPitbulls said:


> I'll just send you Sabrina's paws. I have the hardest time keeping her pads soft! I use cocoa butter on them every night.


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## doggiedad

i'm not a Vet but i think cutting your dog's feet off is a bad idea. i'm
not a laywer but there's probably a law against cutting your dog's
feet off and sending them to someone.



Kassandra said:


> Well, she gets a 20 minute walk before I leave in the morning on the pavement, obviously that is not making them hard though if she cut them all on a bit of hard snow.
> 
> So.. how do we go about trading? Should I just cut all her feet of and send them to you by mail or?? :wink::thumb:


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## Kassandra

I'll look at giving a zinc supplement, I really think that she just genetically has thin pads. They aren't bothering her today at all but she seems to be walking a lot lighter than usual, usually she is so heavy on her feet if that makes any sense at all. Again I think it is just because I put the "stingy stuff" on them though, and I can tell she's pissed I put it on them again.

I'm a bare-footer too. I hate having anything on my feet. Mine never get scratched up or cut or anything. I find it strange that shes on them all the time and they aren't tough. I also don't think walking them more is an option, really! Once she gets tired there is no moving her. She gets a 20 minute walk on pavement before I leave in the morning. When I get home she goes for an hour and a half run off-leash in the snowy field until she will not move any more and just sits outside the jeep to get back in. Then, before bedtime she goes for a half hour to an hours walk in the trails, also covered in snow. I could do shorter walks more often if that could help?


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## monster'sdad

Kassandra said:


> I'll look at giving a zinc supplement, I really think that she just genetically has thin pads. They aren't bothering her today at all but she seems to be walking a lot lighter than usual, usually she is so heavy on her feet if that makes any sense at all. Again I think it is just because I put the "stingy stuff" on them though, and I can tell she's pissed I put it on them again.
> 
> I'm a bare-footer too. I hate having anything on my feet. Mine never get scratched up or cut or anything. I find it strange that shes on them all the time and they aren't tough. I also don't think walking them more is an option, really! Once she gets tired there is no moving her. She gets a 20 minute walk on pavement before I leave in the morning. When I get home she goes for an hour and a half run off-leash in the snowy field until she will not move any more and just sits outside the jeep to get back in. Then, before bedtime she goes for a half hour to an hours walk in the trails, also covered in snow. I could do shorter walks more often if that could help?


A company called Zinpro makes a a line of treats, foods and supplements with a very high tech form of zinc. Nutrazinc is another that you can get from Howling Dog Alaska and other on-line stores.

The better kibbles for performance dogs have several ways of delivering zinc and biotin that is just not possible with raw feeding. Unless zinc, and some other key micro-minerals, are attached to an amino acid, absorption is very low, sometimes 5%.

Another strategy is to use a product like Impact, which has been in use for about 25 year on dogs that really stress their paw leather. There is tons of protein, fat and a complete vitamin and mineral dose. This would be a good addition to a raw diet.

http://www.annamaet.com/html/supplements_-_impact.html


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## RawPitbulls

Kassandra said:


> Well, she gets a 20 minute walk before I leave in the morning on the pavement, obviously that is not making them hard though if she cut them all on a bit of hard snow.
> 
> So.. how do we go about trading? Should I just cut all her feet of and send them to you by mail or?? :wink::thumb:


I would prefer FedEx! LOL


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## RawPitbulls

doggiedad said:


> why do you want to keep your dog's pads soft? isn't tough pads better for them when
> they're out and about?


I would say yes. Sabrina is NEVER on concrete though. The worst I have to worry about is her walking across shells. They stay rough anyway, despite my best attempts at keeping them soft.


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## Kassandra

monster'sdad said:


> A company called Zinpro makes a a line of treats, foods and supplements with a very high tech form of zinc. Nutrazinc is another that you can get from Howling Dog Alaska and other on-line stores.
> 
> The better kibbles for performance dogs have several ways of delivering zinc and biotin that is just not possible with raw feeding. Unless zinc, and some other key micro-minerals, are attached to an amino acid, absorption is very low, sometimes 5%.
> 
> Another strategy is to use a product like Impact, which has been in use for about 25 year on dogs that really stress their paw leather. There is tons of protein, fat and a complete vitamin and mineral dose. This would be a good addition to a raw diet.
> 
> Supplements - Impact


I feed raw and kibble :smile: 

Charlie is now on GO! Shine +Sensitivity Duck formula, it's the best I've seen her do on any kibble and I've literally been through them all. She gets raw every other day because I personally feel it's good for her and it's keeping her teeth clean. I don't know if I will keep her on half and half or if I'll eventually put her on all raw again. She's doing so well right now so I don't want to mess it up lol. 

Honestly, I do take the majority of your opinions into consideration though I don't usually agree with them. I know you know a lot about performance dogs though and I guess a high energy hunting dog kind of falls into that category. I do like the look of the Impact on their website, however they don't post ingredients for whatever reason (or I just couldn't find them) so I had to look elsewhere, and that really annoys me. First and second ingredients: CHICKEN. Well, eggs and chicken. No can do! Charlie almost instantly has a reaction to chicken. It would be awesome for Remi, however she doesn't really need it.


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## monster'sdad

Kassandra said:


> I feed raw and kibble :smile:
> 
> Charlie is now on GO! Shine +Sensitivity Duck formula, it's the best I've seen her do on any kibble and I've literally been through them all. She gets raw every other day because I personally feel it's good for her and it's keeping her teeth clean. I don't know if I will keep her on half and half or if I'll eventually put her on all raw again. She's doing so well right now so I don't want to mess it up lol.
> 
> Honestly, I do take the majority of your opinions into consideration though I don't usually agree with them. I know you know a lot about performance dogs though and I guess a high energy hunting dog kind of falls into that category. I do like the look of the Impact on their website, however they don't post ingredients for whatever reason (or I just couldn't find them) so I had to look elsewhere, and that really annoys me. First and second ingredients: CHICKEN. Well, eggs and chicken. No can do! Charlie almost instantly has a reaction to chicken. It would be awesome for Remi, however she doesn't really need it.


How many grams of protein does she usually get? How much does she weigh?


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## Kassandra

monster'sdad said:


> How many grams of protein does she usually get? How much does she weigh?


Honestly I don't know how to figure that out. 

When she gets kibble, she is fed 2 1/4 cups, she is currently 47 lbs, I'd like her to gain around 5. 
The kibble is 22% protein. Here is the analysis.

Crude protein (min)	22%
Crude fat (min)	12%
Crude fibre (max)	3.5%
Moisture (max)	10%
Calcium (min)	0.9%
Phosphorus (min)	0.65%
*Omega 6 (min)	1.8%
*Omega 3 (min)	0.36%

When she gets raw, she usually gets pork or beef, or moose, and around 1 1/2 lbs.


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## monster'sdad

When you have a dog with chicken issues, your choices get pretty lean. I could take or leave the Merrick foods but the Beef & Barley food with beef & pork and no egg, chicken fat or poultry at 30/15 looks like a good product. It has some pea protein but it still has more protein and more animal protein than what you are using. It is pretty cheap too $40/30lbs.

There has been a lot ot work on soft tissue injuries over the years and the data shows that below 26% the risk rises.


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## Kassandra

monster'sdad said:


> There has been a lot ot work on soft tissue injuries over the years and the data shows that below 26% the risk rises.


Yeah I've actually been looking around for a higher protein, higher fat food for her. She's so active and such a hard keeper it would work a lot better for her but I just have no idea what would work. Her coat is perfect condition right now. She's gaining weight back. No scratching. I don't want to mess that up and like you said yeah it's a lot harder finding a kibble with absolutely no chicken or eggs, and I prefer minimal (if not none at all) grains because I've noticed she itches a more with foods with grains. So that makes it even harder. 

I appreciate everyones suggestions on food for here on here, and I look at all of them but some of them I know just would not work at all. I have no problem doing trial and error with her, though, if I think something will work.


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