How to Protect Your Dog’s Paws on Outdoor Adventures

By Krista Halling DVM DACVS

Did you know that your dog’s paws take a big beating when outdoors? Whether they’re hiking over uneven rocks, running on a trail of drainage stones, trekking in snow, walking on hot sand or simply on your neighbourhood asphalt on a hot summer day, your dog’s footpads and the skin and fur between their toes get exposed to all these elements. 

As a result, your dog’s paws can develop thermal burns, cuts, thorn penetration or the buildup between their toes of sand, ice balls or burrs from plants.

Here are the best practices to protect your dog’s paws and help prevent injury while dogpacking:

• Keep your dog’s footpads well-moisturized using a paw balm. Foot pads act as shock absorbers for your dog’s feet and protect them from harsh surfaces. To do this, footpads need to remain smooth and supple. Moisturized foodpads are more supple and are less likely to develop cracks and wounds.
• Keep the fur between your dog’s toes trimmed, in order to reduce the buildup of snow, ice, sand and plant burrs. Short fur also makes their paws much easier to visually inspect. You don’t need to remove all of the fur since it offers some insulation; just enough so it doesn’t mat or extend past the foot pads.
• Keep your dog’s nails trimmed short. This prevents the quicks (the nerve and blood supply at the base of the nail) from growing too long. Overgrown nails are more likely to get torn or injured and may alter their natural gait. Don’t forget to trim their dewclaw nails as well. The dewclaw is on the inner surface of their front (and sometimes rear) paws, and is a vestigial thumb.
• Let your dog go barefoot. Barefoot walking gives dogs natural sensory feedback about where and how their feet are positioned. this promotes balance and co-ordination. use boots only when the terrain is harsh or unsafe. 
• Harsh terrain best practice: On rough or snowy terrain, place dog boots or rub paw balm on footpads and between the toes. On hot sand or asphalt, place dog boots or avoid that surface.
• 7-second rule: if the ground is too hot for you to touch for 7 seconds, it is too hot for your dog to safely walk on without boots.
• Watch for signs of limping. If lameness develops, inspect your dog’s paws for cuts, blisters, or debris such as thorns, stones or ice balls stuck between their pads and toes.
• After a hike or a run, always inspect your dog’s paws as above, since problems can develop well before a lameness is noticed.
• When adventuring on rough terrain or hard surfaces, be sure to build up the distance gradually, letting your dog’s feet get accustomed to the harsher ground.  This is especially important to do if they are used to walking primarily on grass or other soft surfaces. 

These tips will help keep your dog’s feet happy and adventure-ready!

(For those interested, product-wise, we like using Musher’s Secret paw wax and Dogbooties.com’s Cordura boots, but there are other great brands of balm and boots out there as well.)