My vet tells me that the pink patches on the pads of my dogs feet is where he has worn out his pads. Does anyone know if this can be reversed or will it make walking dificult for him? He is a 7 year old englisher springer spaniel.

Buy him a pair of doggy boots they really are good

Use paw wax as welll, it will help to moisten them so they don't dry out too much.

And make sure his diet is correct in it's constituent quantities.

The skin covering a dog's pads is being continually replaced just as any other skin. I think more to the point is, as Jackie was saying, the reason for the damage. Is it food related? exercise related? There is sure to be a reason somewhere. Some dogs do seem to have thinner bads than others but they still get by ok. A possible problem is the dog normally exercised on soft going suddenly taken for a long walk on hard abrasive going. Possibly a dog who swims a lot which softens the skin then run on concrete? You can see where my mind is going?

Best wishes, John

Thanks for all your replies. I can't think of any reason for this damage. He has Burns food as he has allergies (suppose this could be the reason?). He has arthritis so he doesn't dash about quite as much as he used to and we do the same walks most days, on pavement until we get to the woods or playing field - he does run round like an idiot when we go somewhere new but I can't think of any new places that we have been recently. Also he hasn't been swimming for a long time ( usually causes eye or ear problems so he only goes to the river or the beach very rarely).

In the normal course of events walking on hard surfaces such as pavements will in fact harden the pads and it is only usually if the pads are already softened that any trouble would arise. As another thought, what is the nature of the going in the wood? Many sharp flints lying under foot could cause trouble. Normally this would not be a problem to anyone other that people such as beaters and Gamekeepers who's dogs spend long hours running in the wood. But if his pads are abnormally thin it might cause a problem. One thing is certain, there is a reason in there somewhere! It just needs finding.

Best wishes, John

Now those who know me don't all laugh at once, but I was trained as a ballet dancer and we used to harden our toes and feet by rubbing them in surgical sprit, don't know if it would help but it may be worth a try.

Actually I was trying to think of what long distance walkers use Jackie. I kept thinking parrafin but I know it wasn't that because it is very bad for skin but for the life of me I could not remember what it was! But you have it in one!! Thanks!

Best wishes, John

Meths John, but it makes the socks very volatile :)

Thats the one Jackie! Could get quite exciting if you stand near a bonfire though!

John :d

:p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p

You know that I'm a fully paid up member of the Royal League of Arsonists Val. I love my bonfires!

Gosh my OH is into bonfires too, thinks he is an expert at building them and then spends all day 'feeding' them. And after about 6 hours rolls back in stinking of grilled cabbage. :(

Thank you all for cheering my day up!

It did get a bit light-hearted :) but I was serious about the Surgical Sprit, rub it into his pads every day, you can get it from the Chemist.

Light-hearted?.....Jackie in a TuTu

;) ;) ;)

Tell you what Jo, had we have met it would have been it is true though, I have also been fired from a canon. Pity we can't post photos on here, come to think of it though it is probably a good thing we can't ;)

Soft pads can be a symptom of a lack in the diet and you might want to think about adding biotin and fish body oils on a daily basis; there are medical conditions that can cause soft pads but these are rare.

Can I get biotin & fish body oils from a health food shop or do I need to buy it specifically for dog use?

No you can get them from any heatlh food shop, I would give around 3000mg of FBO per day for therapeutic purposes say two weeks, (make sure that it states the EPA/DHA level) and then drop down to around 1000mg per day.  If you feed FBO you MUST give Vitamin E (make sure that it is natural sourced, it will state D-alpha-tocopherol) 200 iu per day should be fine for a spaniel.

Biotin on its own or multi B complex including Biotin should be included.

Do not expect to see results before 6 weeks at the earliest.

None of these should prove harmful to your dog in any way.

HTH

Thanks for all your help everyone. Will try your suggestions and see what happens.

you might want to add some zinc too.