Feet.......................opinions

[Giro 2,648]

Think the ground some folk run on, others would not even dream of letting a dog off the slip...

 

 

 

 

My dogs have suffered few knocked toes.. One dogs feet could not handle it at all..

 

My pals dogs have also sustained foot injuries..

 

 

I persumed it was part and parcel of the game.. lame dogs and vet bills

Edited May 17, 2013 by Giro

[jcm 2,327]

my dog as you can see he has nice tight feet, i use my dog thro woods ect so flat feet with long toes would only get hurt damaged etc

[beast 1,884]

i think there are several factors here, structure of foot, weight of dog, how it runs, ground etc but i am going to generalise and say that the most important factor is genes, and you can breed for good feet, both shape and toughness. the structure of a tight foot is such that it acts as a shock absorber better than a flat foot, but you still have to put in the work to get it really strong. likewise although flat feet tend to be weaker due to there structure, you can still get them fairly tough with the right work. i have never seen a first cross beardie or border / grey suffer a serious foot injury, and i run mine on some seriously tough ground. and beleive me, they are tested hard at times. conversely, i have seen some 3/4 bred collie greys with foot bones like matchsticks, smashed to bits on the same ground

[weasle 1,119]

I like a dog with real tight up on there toes never had a dog with those type of feet get damage,You never have to even clip there nails, Dogs your forever clipping nails seem to be the ones that get injured,just what I found.

[Giro 2,648]

My dogs always appeared to start out with good feet..

 

I also have never cut back nails..

 

My old white bitch has feet like old twist tree roots now,they are smashed to bits. Still dont stop her running. I am just dreading arthritis setting into them..

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Arthritis inevitably gets into damaged bone,..and it is a rotten thing to see an otherwise sprightly lurcher, buggered up, through foot and wrist injuries..There is nothing to be done. You can try and avoid bad ground, but it is part and parcel of a working dogs life, and foot damage can occur at any time..My own hands are pretty much fecked with arthritis and some mornings I can barely chin a rabbit,.but after a few I seem to loosen up..I think the dogs are the same, they need a run or two to get the digits moving,..but suffer for it, next day..

Such is life, eh..

[Neal 1,873]

I rarely get problems with the feet on my three kelpies. The male has hard round feet and I've never once needed to trim his nails. The bitches have slightly longer softer feet but again I've had less than a handful of foot injuries in a combined age of about 28 years from the three of them.

 

There's also the mental attitude. Mine work in areas with a certain amount of flint but more of a problem is broken glass from teenagers' camp fires and thorns. The difference I find now is that, whereas in the past my dogs would fall over and do an impression of an Italian footballer, my current three simply walk on three legs until I spot them, call them over and pull the thorn out. After which they return to all four legs. Not like me...I cry like a baby when I get a splinter!

[paulsmithy83 567]

In my opinion,...and it is only an opinion.....

 

"The best type of feet,.are those that sustain the least amount of damage, over a long period of varied work."..

Very true