Hi,
Can anyone help me one of our bullies keeps limping and when we look it seems that his pads underneath are cracked.  We keep putting vaseling or baby oil on but he just licks it off,  somebody told me that Golden Hoof is good but I dont no were to but it from as it just seems to be for horses.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me.

Kind Regards
karen Hand

One of my bitches picked up a tiny piece of glass, just a crumb, in a pad and after 2 months the vet decided that she would have to remove he outer part of the pad as we could not find the glass but the bitch kept on working and chewing at the foot. Now back to your problem, the vet told me to try and soften the pad with zinc and caster oil so that when she came to peel the skin off it would be supple and avoid damaging the underlying tissue. Anyway within a week of doing this the pad became soft and whilst I was massaging the ointment in I felt a small sharp piece and although I could not see it I managed to find it with a pair of tweezers and remove it, big relief for me as that meant know op. So try that.

On of my working Springers used to suffer from craked pads, and sometimes ear-end dermatitis too!  She was a great worker, and a very old guy who used to race geyhounds told me to give her regular servings of black pudding as the amino acids helped develop better pads.  It did seem to help, and we also used paw wax on her feet in very hot or icy/snow conditions which helped protect the pads too.

Other than that, I would suggest making sure your dog has enough fat in its diet, which is essential to build a good skin, coat and pads too.

Perhaps the long dry summer hasn't helped!