Help any use dog shoes/boots for dragging back paws

[tracylh]

My Gunner has spinal issues, the neuroligist feels there is atleast 2 spots on his spin that his causing him to lose some feeling in his back legs. He's almost 12 and the dr, honestly does not recommend surgery. Gunner is 110 lb, so he has reached his life expentacy, however Gunner still has so much life left in him. He refuses to be babied and still wants to walk and play. If he falls playing fetch he just gets right back up. My problem is the when we walk Gunner on on pavement he drags his back legs and the nails bleed a little, but he really wants his normal walks, so has anyone used any dog shoes that they can recommend. Now that the neuroligist has him on neurotine and to his deramaxx he really is doing so much better, so I want to continue his normal activities. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Tracy

[vom Eisenherz]

Try a chiropractor- you might be surprised at how much relief he gets if he's properly aligned elsewhere. I had a dog with a similar issue due to injury, not age, and the chiro helped immensely.

[TaZoR]

If you just search google for large dog boots there is a variety to choose from. If your dog needs it you can get a bit larger size and put a few layers of cast padding on underneath to.help. until you get the boots I would just bandage his feet to help him get used to walking a bit differently and protect his feet. Your vets office will be glad to give you a bandaging lesson if you need one.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Here are some things that might help - talk to the neuro: Canine Orthopedic Equipment Designed for Increased Mobility and Extra Support - Whole Dog Journal Article

I would also talk to the neuro before trying anything like chiro, just because they may have a recommended chiro vet or may want to hold off on that depending on the spinal issue.

Here is a page of links that you might want to check out: TheraVet - Related Links

[Bear GSD]

Originally Posted by tracylh

My Gunner has spinal issues, the neuroligist feels there is atleast 2 spots on his spin that his causing him to lose some feeling in his back legs. He's almost 12 and the dr, honestly does not recommend surgery. Gunner is 110 lb, so he has reached his life expentacy, however Gunner still has so much life left in him. He refuses to be babied and still wants to walk and play. If he falls playing fetch he just gets right back up. My problem is the when we walk Gunner on on pavement he drags his back legs and the nails bleed a little, but he really wants his normal walks, so has anyone used any dog shoes that they can recommend. Now that the neuroligist has him on neurotine and to his deramaxx he really is doing so much better, so I want to continue his normal activities. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Tracy

I used boots with my last shepherd. She would drag her back legs and make her nails and tops of her paws bleed. The ones that I used to used were called "Muttluks" The were lightweight and were east to put on with a velcro fastener.
The only thing was because she would drag her paws in a certain way that I had to duct tape around the the toe of the boot so that it wouldn't put holes in them right away.
She didn't mind wearing them and it definitely helped with being able to take her out on regular walks. Hope this helps!

[tintallie]

Ruff Wear Grip Trex Boots from ruffwear.com. You can also find Ruff Wear at backcountryk9.com and some times they have sales on Ruff Wear gear.

[zyppi]

I used 'vet wrap' with one of my dogs.

Amazon.com: Vet Wrap: Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com: Vet Wrap: Sports & Outdoors

[Mary&Stella]

My old dog Ralph needed to use a bootie on one of her hind paws for the last few months of her life, as without it she woulf drag the paw, so we had a great little boot with quite a nice rubber tread, we put it on so the tread was the part making contact with the ground , so basically updise down, we put her paw in a baby sock firt to prevent rubbing and in went the paw, a wee bit of baby powder as well beacuse eventually the shoe smelt like an old running shoe !! Anyway it worked great, she did not mind the shoe, and only had it off for bedtime !

I looked them up on the internet, they were Ruff Wear Batkn Boots Grip Trex "red"

[kiya]

I tried boots on Kiya's hind legs and found it seemed to make her put a lot more effort into walking. Also the noise on pavement was loud. I tried the soft claws on the nails that were wearing down. Unfortunately they wore down too quickly. I stopped by the hardware store and found this clear plastic tube that fit over the soft claw and that helped extend the use a lot. I have to always check them & replace them, I'm not ready to hang up her leash yet.
She doesn't seem to drag her paws when she's jogging so recently I started taking her on "short" trips up the block with my bicycle.

[MickeyD]

Our 11 yr old GSD is dragging one back paw due to hip arthritis. He is seeing a canine physical therapist who fitted him with a special boot to pull the foot up. Otherwise, he was just ripping the toes out. This is the boot we use:

Hindlimb Dorsi-Flex Assist