pappabear 128 Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 hi all , first time posting in dog section so forgive me if my question is in the wrong place . i have a saluki x greyhound i have taken him ferretting before but he has never been coursing my question is when on his daily walk he does run around the fields and each time he is cutting his pads , i clean them with salt water but should i keep him on his lead or is there a way to toughen his feet up 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Huan72 687 Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 If he is cutting his feet every time you take him out for a stroll, I would say that his feet definitely need some hardening. Start doing some road work but easy does it at first. There are products available to help protect dogs feet such as paw wax etc, having never used them myself I am not really in a position to recommend them, but they are available nonetheless. Conditioning the feet is as important as conditioning the rest of the dog, take it slowly, be patient and the feet will get there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pappabear 128 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 thanks huan , will give that a go Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skycat 6,173 Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 What sort of ground are you running him on? If the fields are covered in flints then no amount of conditioning will avoid injury. Also, what are you feeding him on? How old is he? Pups have softer feet than adults, and they toughen up with age. Bad quality food will also leave him more open to injury. Walking several miles a day on concrete or tarmac will help to toughen the pads up too. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foxhound45 167 Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 (edited) Cuts to the feet every time? That is serious. I would try changing the ground you are walking him on or walk it yourself studying the ground for glass. If he is coming home biting his feet this is an entirely different matter and is a sign of a pup being walked through nettles although if fields are being limed or you are walking over waste ground leachate or acids may be the cause. Do you have a picture of the dogs feet? Are they being sliced (glass) deeply, grazed (grit and flint) or you wouldn't be running your dog on Tarmac a lot! Instead of running off the lead nothing beats road walking which is great for fitness and fortitude. That is where I would start. Here is a photo of my big fella, pure greyhound and given the terrain I run him without ever having one broken toe I spent a long time conditioning his feet. Edited March 19, 2014 by foxhound45 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SirRichardCecil 70 Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 Plenty road work and soak the dogs feet in warm water and potassium permanganate a few times. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
beast 1,884 Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 roadwork is the key, although as skycat says puppy feet are softer anyway. i also think soaking the feet is beneficial, twice a day for at least ten minutes, but we have always used a strong salt solution rather than potassium (does that stain their feet brown cecil?) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SirRichardCecil 70 Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Yes it does beast but it only needs to be done a few times to toughen a dogs feet up. The brown stain goes pretty quick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
beast 1,884 Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Yes it does beast but it only needs to be done a few times to toughen a dogs feet up. The brown stain goes pretty quick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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