Are you training your dog too long during one session? If you're out of Novice you probably have a good idea of what you need to work on. Maybe limit your training sessions to short and productive, making sure your dog isn't exausted. Usually dogs who tear or hurt pads are sweating through their feet and rubbing them on a dry surface (think running in wet shorts, same effect.)

What kind of surface is hurting your dog's feet? Perhaps you need to limit the amount of time you spend training on that surface. When training inside on our barn stall matting, and it has been raining outside I have to wrap my dog's feet in vet wrap to keep them from tearing. The vet wrap keeps them from sweating through to the floor, and I can only train for 10-15 minutes at a time to avoid injury.

I've used "skid boots"... they work pretty well (people use them in flyball.) Like I said above, I don't train with tape or boots unless it's really wet out and I'm running indoors. If a dog is always running with boots or tape they begin to always count on them being there. IOW, the dog learns to rely on the aid, learning to really lean back and use those pads or claws and they won't get hurt. As soon as you take the aids off, the dog wears and tears right away on their pads.

Some people say jogging your dog for a few minutes a day on rocky pavement will build up your dog's pads. 2-3 minutes MAX... easy straight lines, easy turns, absolutly no JUMPING.

Katie

For any pre-existing cuts, you can actually use that liquid bandaid stuff on them to close them up. Tessie ripped her paw once about a week and a half before our first trial of the season, and we applied it before each practice and each run and it worked like a charm; she was fine and it didn't open up again!

As hycaliber suggested, a good vetwrap bootie can do wonders. The cheapest place I've been able to find vetwrap, oddly enough, is the large chain pet stores, such as PetCo and Petsmart.

 

Good luck!

 

Cat, and

--- Sunrise Sweet Tess TT CGC English Springer Spaniel

I have a lab with very soft pads. We've tried many many things, the best results of course are from limiting his time on aggravating surfaces and checking them literally every few minutes. We do dock diving and that is what really seems to affect him, they get very soft from the water and then he rips them on the dock.

I have found that using Tuf-Foot really helps. But you have to be consistent with it, use it several times a week at least. Check the pads and how they feel every day, you should see an improvement soon. When we have an event coming up I will use it on him every day. It is best to put on before bed because it is the color of Betadine and can really stain a carpet. It does absorb into the pads but if your dog gets right up after applying, it could be messy. Or if you crate your dog, put it on him before getting into the crate.

http://www.tuffoot.com/

Good luck!

Whitney

http://asquared.phanfare.com

The flyball community at large generally uses good old fashioned Vetrap - available at your local Agway, grain store, etc.  You can also find it really cheap on-line via eBay, discount tack stores, etc.  It's quick and easy (sticks to itself) and you can apply it before each run, etc.

*Note* If you are using it for runs and then have a break between runs - be sure and remove it immediately after the run.  A dogs feet often swell up after any strenuous workout (flyball, agility, frisbee, etc.) and you could be doing circulation damage to your dog if you leave it on after he/she is done. 

 It's a royal pain in the butt if you are doing several runs in a day (like we flyballer's do) but your dogs health is far more important than the minor aggravation associated with wrapping/unwrapping. 

 You could also try skid boots.  I think a previous poster mentioned it but I can tell you from personal experience that they work and they are MUCH easier than all that wrapping!  Velco on... velcro off and on to the next set of races.

As for a 'dependency' on the boots - I don't know as I necessarily agree with that point.  I have an ULTRA obsessive Border Collie that runs just as fast and crazy regardless of what is going on and what is on his feet/legs, etc.  So, if I don't wrap/boot him he shreds his stop pads - if I do wrap/boot him, he doesn't.  That certainly doesn't mean he's grown dependent upon the boots/wrapping - it merely reaffirms why I originally started warpping him in the first place... he shreds his stop pads!

Hope some of this helps!

   

The problem with this is that vetwrap isn't allowed when competing in agility.  It could be used for practice, but I think the best way to go is to toughen up the pad through use so they won't tear during competition.

Seems like the vetwrap works great for flyball, where you CAN use it, though.

My vizsla has very smooth, thin pads...I've often equated them to bald tires. I've found that the best way to toughen them up is hiking.  Seems to work the same as callouses on people's feet...