Six months ago a friend took on two adult deerhounds after their owner died. With their previous owner the dogs had been exercised almost exclusivly on grass. As well as free exercise the new owner walks them on concrete for about 6 miles a day (she walks to her husband's workplace and gets a lift home with him). The bitch is fine with this, but the male is constantly wearing down his toe nails to the point that they bleed. We thought that this would resolve itself as the quicks of the nails receeded but it hasn't. HE has good tight feet so the problem isn't with conformation. Has anyone come across this before or have any ideas of what to do? Thanks

Hi Jas,

She could try bathing his feet regularly in witch hazel - it may help - although I'd be inclined to ensure that they were fully recovered for a minimum of a week before embarking on road walks and even then, building up the distance gradually.

Nail-bed infections can come about quite quickly and develop into more serious conditions.

Best wishes, Teri

Thanks Teri. Maggie is leaving him at home for a good week each time this happens but Mac gets very upset (understandable!) when Mo is taken out without him. She has tried building his walks up by walking him with her youngster who is still on restricted lead work but each time she gives him a longer walk the nails wear down. Last time he finished his walk wearing Maggie's socks covered by poo bags! :)

>>Last time he finished his walk wearing Maggie's socks covered by poo bags!

just a thought , why not get some proper doggy booties then, the kind they use with sled dogs :-) then atleast he can still have walkies. :D

Sounds a good idea to me Jane :)  Poor boy - he must be miserable being left and sore joining along - so that could be a workable answer!

:D Teri,

thought i would just add this link for dog booties
just incase they didnt know where to look :-)

<smacks head hard> Why didn't I think of that?? :D Thanks! Do you know of any brand of boots that is particularly good?

It's always the obvious ones that get us :D  Now if they do doggy Timberlands, sorted ;)

LOL @ Teri

True though isn't it!  Can't believe how many times I can make a mountain out of a molehill - OH comes home and says something so doggone bloomin' obvious that it takes all my willpower not to beat him over the head with a big stick :D :D :D

see above jas i posted a link for you :D :D

Thanks very much for that. Mac will look cute in his new boots. :)

There is only one small issue with dog booties. If they are doing 6 miles a day most will wear out very quickly, so shop carefully!

Hi Bluebell, do you know of any boots that are hardwearing?

I believe that countrymun have quite a good range. If I remember correctly they do one that is used by the forces and should be tough enough!

When I needed them I couldnt find any in the UK and imported some from the US, they looked like the sort of hard nylon that you would make a sports bag out of. At the time we were restricted to lead walks having had a nail removed and were doing no more than 4 miles per day. We wore out the boot in about 2 weeks. Good job they could only be bought in sets of 4 :D

Thanks for that Bluebell. :)