Hi Everyone,

I'm so happy to say that after having his right hind leg amputated in April (he had a huge tumor), Stephen Dog is doing really well! He's got tons of energy and he can now walk about three miles at a time and wags his tail the entire time! That being said: we're urban folks and we walk a lot on pavement. I have been watching his left back paw and I'm really worried because his nails are getting worn down so much that he actually started bleeding yesterday. I bought him some of those hiking dog booties and he HATED them. I saw the review in the gear section for alternatives, but I'd love to get some advice from you all about what to do. As winter approaches, I really want to make sure I have something to protect his paws. Please share any wisdom with me that you have – I'd much appreciate it!

- Stephen's Mom

Sounds like he's doing fabulous!  Glad to hear he can go so far on his walks!  But the nails/pads…bummer….  Have you tried other types of boots?  Which one's did you try?  How about turning it into a fun clicker training experience/positive training experience – where you slowly introduce the boots to him and feed him treats during this timeframe…so eventually he knows the boots means great treats are coming his way and make it a positive experience for him?  Or how about using maybe a lighter weight bootie at first and then graduate to something more rugged later?  To get him used to them?  If you are walking alot on pavement, I would guess that a bootie would really be a necessary evil?  Especially with a rear amp with how they shuffle that leg back and forth?  It seems to me, IMO, rear amp dogs would have more wear and tear on their paws/pads on that rear foot than a front amp dog….because of the nature of the beast of having to power off so much on that one rear leg…

Tracy, Maggie's Mom

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all so much for the great ideas! Stephen dog had a huge benign fatty tumor. We adopted him and by the time we figured out what was going on it was an emergency amputation. Tripawds was incredibly supportive to me back in April and then I just remembered what an amazing resource this is. I hope to be able to help other people out who are going through the same thing we went through. The people on this site are inspiring! Stephen just ran in his first 5K this weekend (we ran with him!). It was a benefit run for doggie cancer – we couldn't think of a better cause to get us all out running. We were SO proud of him for making it!

Stephen's nail is the issue. He's worn them down on his back leg so much that there's not anything really protecting his tender under-nail. I think we'll have to buy him booties. I like the idea of getting the sock-type ones to start and then working him towards a tougher long-term solution like the gortex ones. He really didn't seem to like them when we tried them over the weekend. I'll look at the gear reviews and pick one of those sock-like ones to try for now. He'll wear through them pretty quickly, I'd think, but at least they're more flexible than the hiking booties – they made him walk in a weird way. 

You are all the best. Thanks so much!!

-Stephen the Dog's proud Mom