Hi all,young Zak(18 month blac lab) seems to be hobbling a bit on his front paw,upon investigation we can see where one of his pads has a crack in it,there does not seem to be anything in there,but im worried he may be in more dis comfort than he is letting on
Is this a visit to the vet or something that will heal itself?

Hello Spindle and Zac!

Firstly just be sure wether its a Cracking of the pad or a cut?

For cuts plain old bathing with salt water and air drying is the original and still the best method! (I also use colloidal silver.)

For cracking (find the cause) and then there is a myriad of options (depending on the cause) Alot of folk go for nice and simple smear of vaseline, I use Paw wax (Shaw's do a good one that is cheap but effective and easy to get hold of online or at Pets at home etc) Calendula cream is good, and I've used Neutrogena Norwegian fishermans forumla handcream before now (very similar to vaseline but is perfumed which isn't great but results are good)

And be careful of road/pavement walks *if* we get any more hot days (the ground temp of Tarmac & concrete can be Sizzling HOT!)
Hope this is of use :)

Another vote for Paw wax here, fab stuff.