Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

In addition to my normal backcountry endeavors, I am getting into nordic skiing and have occasionally been bringing my dog, an Australian Shepherd, along. I live in northern Utah, and tend to xc ski on a mix of untracked areas and snowmobile tracks. She's older, so traction is a concern. She also has some stomach problems, so I can't put anything on her paws she might want to lick off.

She has a lot of trouble with snow and ice balls forming around her paw pads. She's worn boots while backpacking a few times, but I've never tried them in the snow and am worried about losing them. Wondering what other people use to keep their dogs comfortable. If you have experience with boots that stay on but have good traction, something that can be applied to their paws (I've seen wax products) or anything else that works, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Thanks!

I have the same problem with my golden retriever. I have tried some wax with no success, there were still snowballs forming between the toes. I have also tried some fleece boots, but they didn't stay on and we lost them on the snow. Also the "shaft" of the boot was not tall enough, they collected snow inside the boot. That might also be one of the reasons they didn't stay on on deep snow.

Hi Alex,
Three possible suggestions. If your dog will tolerate it, use a set of clippers to clip the fur between your dog's pads, as that long fur (which an Australian shepherd has) makes the snow/ice ball problem a lot worse than for short-haired dogs. My collie mix, who experiences this problem frequently, will not tolerate an electric clipper (the noise freaks her out) so I may try battery-operated clippers soon.
The second is to get boots made for sled dogs. For years I had struggled with getting boots to stay on my dogs' paws when they needed them. And then last year, my new vet recommended this place (https://www.mtnridge.com/BOOTIES_c_20.html). And what an improvement. The boots are thin but tough, and the key thing is that they have elastic velcro to keep them on. I used them numerous times last winter, and we might have lost 1 boot. As opposed to the usual loss of a boot on every other ski or bike adventure. Plus these boots are cheap, so when they do get lost, it doesn't 'hurt' so much. I suppose the traction is somewhat reduced on icy surfaces (which we in the Northeast probably have a lot more of than you do in Utah) but I haven't noticed it slowing my dog down much.
A third product you could look at, if your dog's stomach will tolerate it, is Musher's Secret. I found that works well if my dog let me rub it into the fur between their pads. My guys have licked it a bit, but I tend to put it on right before we leave the house and then they are so excited to go skiing that they tend to forget about it.
Good luck with finding a solution.

As mentioned, Mushers Secret is the best thing I have used for my Border Collie mix and blue heeler/Aussie mix. The booties were a waste of money, they have either been eaten, lost or made things worse. I’ve also used Mushers for pad injuries and it works well to decrease healing time.

Another product to keep on hand for summer months is Handhills Tuff n Up. It helps with pad healing and with regular use it can make the pads less prone to injury. We use this a lot with our dogs in the summer for mountain biking.


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Thanks, all. I will definitely be trimming her hair better (she tolerates it somewhat), and I'll try the boots. I'm going to try Musher's Secret and see if she tries to lick it off. I saw someone online recommending Crisco as nearly-as-effective as Musher's Secret, but I don't trust her to not lick it all off. If your dog doesn't have pancreatitis, Crisco might work.

Will report back when I've tried a few different things.

Booties work fine if you get the right ones and put them on properly. I get the 300 or 500 dernière ones from dogbooties.com . They’re about $3 each so you can buy a bunch and it’s no big deal if one gets lost. Put vet wrap around the dog’s leg. Then put the booty on with tight Velcro. Then put the plastic hockey sock tape on over the Velcro and overlapping the top of the boot onto the vet wrap. That’ll usually hold it on.

You can use Lewis Boots and follow their directions for fastening them on. But they are expensive so if you lose one it hurts!