Argh - split pad again...

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

Ddog is very active and loves nothing more than haring about in the woods at top speed, ideally with a swim included too.

However he seems to have ridiculously delicate paw pads - after getting back from a two-hour walk this morning I realised he was licking his back paw and there's a big split right across the large pad. He's had several of these over the four years we've had him and I'd really like to get to grips with this. What's the best way of preventing and treating split pads? Obviously if they're infected we take him to the vet.

He has about 25 minutes lead walking on pavements in the evenings on the way to and from our local park which I hoped would toughen up the skin but obviously not...

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

Bump - any ideas to stop this happening?

[BiteyShark]

Mine has taken the surface off his paw pads which was done by playing ball on gravel tracks through the forest which contain quite sharp flint. I now only throw the ball to him on softer surfaces to the sides of the path so it doesn't hurt them as much when he skids to a stop.

Have you managed to identify the common surface that is causing the splits? If it only happening at certain times he is probably running over something specific which if you can identify if you can then avoid it.

[parklives]

You can buy dog 'shoes/boots' which maybe you could use when you go for longer walks on stony terrain?

[SwimmingInTheBlueLagoon]

Like park says you can get dog boots (police use them on their drug sniffer dogs, so they don't get hurt). Worth looking into.