Thread: Paw pad care
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Old September 16th, 2009, 10:40 PM
Gail P's Avatar
Gail P Gail P is offline
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Location: Ontario
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Many mushers swear by feeding a zinc supplement to toughen up the feet. You can either use zinc tablets (they seem to recommend zinc gluconate, not chelated zinc) or you can find a supplier for a powdered supplement such as Zin-Pro. There is a list of links to all kinds of equipment and supplies if you go to www.sleddogcentral.com, but one I know lists it on their site is AKKO Sports in Quebec. www.akkosports.com

To heal feet there are various different creams you can get, but most have similar ingredients to zinc diaper ointment - lanolin, beeswax etc. I haven't had to use it on my dogs but I keep a jar of cheap Wal-Mart diaper ointment in my truck for the dogs feet just in case.

If you want to bootie you can wrap the dew claws so they don't rub. I recall reading how to do it (again, on the SDC Talk forum, you could do a search for related subjects if you do go to that site). Seems to me they were recommending using a bit of sponge or something to pad under the dew claw (between the claw and the leg) and then vet wrap over it to hold it down tight so it doesn't rub or catch on anything. Many distance mushers routinely remove dewclaws though because they need to bootie a lot under certain conditions.

ETA: I just went searching the forum and came up with the old thread I was thinking of about wrapping the dew claws http://www.sleddogcentral.com/forum/...ping,dew,claws
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Last edited by Gail P; September 16th, 2009 at 10:53 PM.
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