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I hiked from the Mint Springs trailhead down to Lemmon Pools and back. I think I broke my dog The pads are rubbed off his front paws and he can't walk... Anyone out there have any advice to help him heal??

Sounds like a trip to the vet is in order... and maybe some booties for next time?

Ouch!

This happened to Kai many years ago on the Fossil Springs trail. My otherwise extremely placid dog would have absolutely no part of letting me touch his pads in an attempt to apply a medicated cream. He actually growled at me when I tried. (Only time in his life he's ever growled, so I know it hurt big time!)

For 2-3 days, he kept off his feet, and I actually picked him up and carried him out to the yard so he could eliminate, limiting the pressure and pain his pads he would endure getting there and back.

I also got some pain killers from the vet for him, but otherwise it's going to be a rule of immobilize for a few days and wait for it to heal.

The next couple of days will be a little rough. But he should be just fine in time.

That happened to my dog once. I felt pretty awful about the whole thing. I put anti-bacterial cream with pain reliever on his pads and wrapped them for a couple days and he was fine.

Tough_Boots wrote:I felt pretty awful about the whole thing

Ditto. That's an experience I made sure he would never have to endure again.

chumley wrote:it's going to be a rule of immobilize for a few days and wait for it to heal.

The next couple of days will be a little rough. But he should be just fine in time.

Yeah, that's it!

This happened to my friend Dustin's dog during at Supes hike we did a couple months ago, except his dog was so overworked, he started having a seizure on the ride home. I still feel bad for azpride having to comfort the poor dog. Once hydrated and rested, the epileptic episode stopped, but the dog spent a few days in bed (literally) with his paws wrapped in gauze and socks.

Next time get a Queensland Heeler. They never wear out.

If you don't already have a pair of dog booties, I'd recommend some from here: http://www.woofhoofs.com/

They're well priced and are the only booties that can stay on my dog's paws. You can also mix sizes if your dog's back paws are smaller than his front paws. I think they're introducing some with a mesh top for really hot days pretty soon.

azbackpackr wrote:Next time get a Queensland Heeler. They never wear out.

My pooch is part (mostly) ACD and lemme tell ya, her pads definitely wore out once =( Playing fetch one day in the dirt lot near my home and afterwards there were actually red spots of blood wherever she walked inside. Luckily it didn't get bad enough to full on bleed and it was only one paw, but that certainly taught me that they need to be conditioned for anything more strenuous for sure.

Like a true dog though, pain or not, she was DAMN well gonna bring that ball back to her owner! Just can't beat the loyalty =)

To the OP, I'd recommend picking up some gauze and CoFlex wrap (super cheap at Petsmart) if you think they need to be wrapped up at all. Heck, pick that stuff up anyway just in case. After my little incident I went out and kinda went overboard building a dog-friendly 1st aid kit just for the pooch.

Thoreau wrote:a dog-friendly 1st aid kit just for the pooch

Actually a very sound idea! I keep the basics in a separate kit for my dogs. I also keep injectable Benadryl shots in there because one dog is allergic to bees. Oh, the things we do for our four-legged friends!

azbackpackr wrote:Next time get a Queensland Heeler. They never wear out.

Seven miles and ours becomes luggage.
When we were camping in the Anches she fried her right rear. All night long she wasn't really licking it, just had the whole foot shoved in her mouth.
The next day she was back in action for more hiking.
Dogs can handle an amazing amount of foot stress, if they couldn't, they wouldn't have made it through evolution.
But an urban dog has to be in good shape just like our selves for hiking. Anytime you're walking or hiking they should be with you so that their level is matched with yours.
Hope your pup makes a speedy recovery.

I hope the pooch does well. On a related tangent, I recently heard quite a pitch for the all natural, refrigerated dog food. The vet was on a crusade to get people to switch from dry food to this stuff http://www.freshpet.com/ I know a dog that has switched and the difference in energy level and vitality in this 12 year old healer is pretty remarkable. He said dogs die from cancer these days, but not the ones on this more natural food. If any of you remember Hooli who used to post here, he was a big promoter of natural diets for dogs.

Dog suffers heat exhaustion on hike with owner

PHOENIX -- The Valley's hot temperatures don't just take a toll on people, as some dog owners found out Friday morning.

Firefighters had to rescue a dog from the Thunderbird Recreation Area near Pinnacle Peak Road and 55th Avenue in northwest Phoenix after it apparently suffered heat exhaustion while on a hike with its owners.

The hikers reported that their dog was in trouble and looked like it might have heat stroke, according to firefighter-paramedic Ted Wynn.

Firefighters found the Rottweiler lying down and unable to walk. Wynn said the dog was not responding right.

"It looked like it had just gotten too much heat," Wynn said.

The rescue team cooled the dog down and carried him down the trail. Wynn said the dog appeared to be doing OK when it was put in the owners' vehicle.

"People don't understand that dogs really can't handle the heat," Wynn said. "And a lot of times they'll do OK for a while, but the next time that you come out your dog, like this one, can get in a lot of trouble."



http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Dog- ... 10689.html

Oh, thank you taxpayers for rescuing a dog! Well, it shows we truly are a humane society (pun intended) if our firefighters rescue a suffering dog!

Probably would have been a better use of taxpayer dollars if they had put the owner out of our misery...

Yeah saw it on the news last night, I go the impression it wasn't the dog's idea.

@Alston Neal

Man's best friend... Maybe there should be an exclusion cause in their contract.

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." - Josh Billings

Unlike a cat, one might be tempted to add...