Banging up his front paw

[Quaidis]

Last time I was here, I was asking questions about carts for my 9 year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Yukito. A good update is that I have one for him, it's balanced out, and he's pretty cool with the process of learning to use it. He hasn't lost full ability in his back legs yet with the DM he has, so he isn't in the chair full-time, but it's becoming more frequent to take him on walks with it.

More recently he's really gotten use to using the cart to the point that, on walks, he tries to run half the trip. The same thing happens in the backyard. He's a storming, rolling, mechanical torpedo corgi. But on the walks, by doing this, he's putting bloody scrapes on the main pad of his front paws. This usually happens when he tries to run across the asphalt/road between sidewalks than on the sidewalk, itself. This leaves him sore and without walks until he heals each time (he heals pretty quickly).

I don't want to stop him from getting out the energy, and I don't want to punish him for being youthful in his old age, but how do I prevent his front paws getting marred by cart-running?

[Christine]

He sounds like a wonderful little character! Have you thought about boots for his front paws? Here are some from our site and I am sure there are many more if you Google.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/help-pet ... boots.html

Also, maybe some of the cart people will chime in. Not being one of those, I wonder if the front part of the cart needs to be raised, just a tad?

[Bobbie]

I haven't seen any problems with front paws with my maniac, Oliver, so I suggest checking cart weight in front- is it making him stumble or pushing him down? If not, regular dog boots might help but I'd be reluctant to add boots as they might turn him off the cart.

[CarolC]

He's a storming, rolling, mechanical torpedo corgi.

I love your description! There are commercial pad tougheners you can buy, that are normally used for hunting dogs, but I have never tried them. Here are some examples (you can probably find many more online, or you may find one in your local feed store or wherever they sell supplies for hunting dogs):

http://www.tuffoot.com/about/dogs.htm
http://www.thepitbullbible.com/NaturesM ... nning.html
http://www.willowriverkennel.com/nation ... -for-dogs/

Here is a discussion of people who have dealt with foot problems in their hunting dogs. One of the things they recommend is laying your hand on the asphalt for a few minutes to see how hot it really is. However if the problem is the roughness of the asphalt and not the temperature, maybe your only choice is to keep him on a leash so he stays off the asphalt.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showt ... p?t=216000

It is extremely cool that he runs around so much!

[Quaidis]

I'm not kidding here, I can't balance his cart any better than I have. If I go up any heigher, he'll start backing up at random. If I go any lower, he'll slip out of the cart. It's level with the ground, and the height is perfect - letting him put pressure on his back legs so he can use them, and supporting his spine at the same time. He's not uncomfortable walking in it, and he's not tip-toeing.

He's also not dragging his front feet at all, and not having difficulty with cart walking. Getting around corners in the house without getting stuck? Maybe. Running around the hills in the backyard and chasing after squirrels? Definitely not.

I think the issue with the scratchy paw asphalt is two-fold. He started having the issues when it was stupidly hot out. And they repaved the road this year, so it's a little more rocky and 'new' than your standard, flattened, aged roads.


I should also mention that when he runs, he puts his back feet out behind him and relies completely on his front feet.


For now I'll look at the pad tougheners. Never thought about that, it's an interesting read!

[CarolC]

I have never used this product and don't know anything about it, but I see it on the HandicappedPets website.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/index.php/paw-guard.html