Service dog handler lobby

[lostforgottensoul]

So, in Florida, it is time for boots again. I bought the Ruffwear summit trex last year that had a sock portion at the top that made getting the boot on impossible so instead of getting a 2nd pair of boots I cut the sock part at the top off and was able to get them on easier and they worked. I just needed to ensure that the fabic at the top was under the velcro portion. He worked all last summer just fine in them but this year he is having a real hard time with them and I don't know if it's just him needing to get used to boots again after 6 months of no boots and he's just being a baby about it or if they are hurting his feet.

I worked him in the boots on Wed after having him run inside a bit with them the night before and he had a real hard time at my therapist's. I thought they were too tight as at a point he sort of did a "I'm in pain" low whine (or what I took as an "I'm in pain" whine. A bit of a higher pitch one then any other whine would be but not loud like I stepped on his tail or anything. Real low volume). Anyway, I loosened them just a tad and then one fell off right anyway. I'm like see, they aren't too tight. They never fell off last year.

Anyway, so yesterday I ran him in them outside and he seemed fine. Running ok, walking ok.

Today, I went to Walgreens in them really for him to get working in them more but needed toothepaste anyway and he was having a really hard time again and was stress panting, not really wanting any sort of rewards. Checked to make sure his dew claw was under the velcro part to ensure I didn't smash his dew claw or something but it was. He hasn't limped at all in them. He walks normal ish but is just having a super hard time. They are majorly stressing him out. I have Ruffwear socks that came with the boots but if I put those one I will never get the boot on.

Suggestions? Ruffwear now makes a Summit Trex without the sock part at the top but I really don't wanna have to buy a whole new set of boots. I need to fogure something out as it's getting really hot here and just getting hotter and I honestly don"t wanna take him out of service just to wait for boots to come in the mail but will if I have to. I also have baby socks that I bought to try to get his feet covered at the gas station but they fall right off by themselves. But they are cotton and the Ruffwear socks are some sort of polyester.

Do you think he just need more practice? He doesn't limp or lick his feet or show any pain after nor does he really show any pain with them on that I can tell. He walks and stuff just fine. Just super stressed out.

Edited to add: I will say I have not tried the Ruffwear socks with the boots without the top sock part on the boot. The boots maybe easier to get on now that the sock part of the boot isn't on there. I know the socks are for dogs with dew claws but he was totally fine without the socks all last year. Never used the socks once. Not sure what is different this year.

 

[littleoc]

Well, maybe you could try not having him wear them in some places and see if you can tell the difference?

My service dog refuses to wear anything on her feet no matter what. It means I need to be careful with her in some situations, but it’s just what works best for her. (We even have a command, “Careful,” to make her look at her feet and be sure she isn’t stepping in anything dangerous, like broken glass.)

I’d recommend trying that out somewhere to make sure something else isn’t bothering him! My service dog is aging and gets knee pain (long story short) a lot now, so she’ll tell me to slow down and we will. I know your pupper isn’t aging yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to check his knees or something later. Or just see if the stress responses don’t go away after removing the boots for a while.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Well, maybe you could try not having him wear them in some places and see if you can tell the difference?

My service dog refuses to wear anything on her feet no matter what. It means I need to be careful with her in some situations, but it’s just what works best for her. (We even have a command, “Careful,” to make her look at her feet and be sure she isn’t stepping in anything dangerous, like broken glass.)

I’d recommend trying that out somewhere to make sure something else isn’t bothering him! My service dog is aging and gets knee pain (long story short) a lot now, so she’ll tell me to slow down and we will. I know your pupper isn’t aging yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to check his knees or something later. Or just see if the stress responses don’t go away after removing the boots for a while.

He works fine without boots but I can't work him in the summer without them. I'm in Orlando, surrounded by black pavement that gets like so super hot that even Musher's Secert (which I do have) doesn't help. He wouldn't be able to walked into my therapist's unless we ran and I fear for his feet even if we did that. Sucks to be in a super hot climate surrounded by black pavement. It's not really an option to just not wear them unfortantly.

Last year it rained quite a lot and so I would try to go out after it rained if I could but appointments and stuff I don't have the luxury of just waiting for it to rain and cool down the pavement.

Edited to add: He is due for his yearly vet visit and am planning an all over xray just to be sure. For my peace of mind anyway.

 

[Kiba_nika]

Three commands that are absolutely essential are: "Leave It!", "Touch", and "Stay"
- "leave it" is great for any distractions, food on the ground, squirrels in the trees, screaming kids, etc. It will be used about 100 times a day!

I'm confused and in no way trying to be mean but I'm not great at making things seem nicer than they are so I'm sorry for being blunt I have a bit of emotional detachments so here goes. What breed is ur dog? I'm curious because from the statement he seems highly reactive which some breeds just are it's how their built. But do you really use "leave" it that often? We recently went to a massively busy park with kids/food/dogs/strollers/ducks/loud noise.. Every distraction I can think of we crossed it and.. TBH I think I only had to use it once.. We let him interact with a cute tall terrier who was nice when the owners friend came up with his chocolate doodle and it growled at me and my SD my dog in turn moved blocked and offered 1 single growl to the dog before stepping back against my legs (I believe he didn't want to seem to be cowering from the growl as he took his cued position) I've been attacked by a mastiff recently and didn't want him to get overly deffensive for a SD he's never shied away from protecting me. So I told him "leave it come heel" it's like a gentle toned sentence while also being a 3 string of commands "leave it" "come" "heel" and ofcourse he followed leaving the dog so it didn't have time to give any more aggression to the situation

 

[littleoc]

Just wanna say, that’s crazy brave of you to let your dog sniff another one! I’m still terrified of doing that, but then again, my university had dogs who would straight up attack my service dog without warning. I think she’s gotten so much more distracted by other dogs since then, though she’s improved tremendously since we left that university’s campus.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I ran Chopper in the boots today and he did fine. Again, not showing any pain from his feet. If they were hurting his feet I'd think he would show pain after they were taken off maybe by limping or even licking his feet and nothing. I did notice though one of his back legs shaking once after he brough the toy back (fetch) but never again while running. I was watching and it happened once but never again. He lays on his side after on the hard floor to cool off and he's kicking his back legs a bit but he has always really done that. I am gonna get an xray done soon. Make sure his hips are still in good shape...and all of his joints. But, for now, I need to figure out what to do for boots because we can't go without them. I could put them on, load in the car, drive to where we are going, walk across the pavement until we are inside and then take them off. Have him work then put them back on to go across the pavement again but that's a pain in the ass. I have to sit on the floor just to put them on and have him help me get up. Just would rather avoid that if possible cause sitting on the floor of a public place to put boots on my service dog is ummmm...but will do it if I have to.

I did check inside the boot for loose material that his dew claw could be getting stuck on and there isn't any. His dew claw is all the way in the boot, under the velcro strap and free of anything that could be yanking on it. Other then socks, taking them on and off, or buying a new pair....I am not sure what else I can do. I am having him wear them as often as I can to help him get re-used to them. It just baffles me how he could work in the same pair of boots just how they are perfectly fine last year after training him in them. Is it normal for it to be this hard for him to get re-used to it again?

 

[littleoc]

It doesn't sound like the boot is causing pain, at least! If they were on too tight, you would see swelling in his paws from the lymph system not draining (it happens fast in dogs). So I would say that's clearly not it.

I'd watch that knee for a stressed tendon, I suppose, because that's what happened to my dog. But otherwise, sounds like you're doing everything correctly.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I'd watch that knee for a stressed tendon,

What part is the knee? A dog only has 2 bends to their leg. Is that the one down by the foot that I seem to want to call an ankle?

Is a stressed tendon fixable? What did you do for it? Will research it now! How did it show itself in your dog before you had a vet look at it so I know what signs to look for.

 

[littleoc]

A dog’s leg is shaped pretty similarly to ours, so the top bend is the knee joint and the one by the foot is the ankle joint, like you said! If you gently pull the leg up while the dog is standing, the one that bends like our knee is his knee. You can search for a diagram on a search engine!

And for a stressed tendon, unfortunately it’s hard to tell. An x-Ray can show if there’s swelling in the knee, but that only helped on my dog because her tendon had already torn (and was snapped, so was completely irreparable without a nylon replacement). Her other knee is tearing a little, too, we think, but we don’t know for sure yet. It seems that the only way to have a more definite answer is to have her consult with her knee surgeon again, so he can mess with the leg to see if it hurts her.

We did this with the regular vet, who still recommended the consultation, but my dog did yelp when the knee was bent tight. To see if this was just regular swelling and stress, we put her on a very low dose of steroids for a bit (so she had to pee much more) to see if her panting would stop.

Pretty much the only way we knew anything was wrong to start with was because she was panting at odd times that shouldn’t have been stressful or hot. Like, at bedtime.

But anyway, for you, I’d be almost positive it still has something to do with the boots, until you can rule that out! But since your doggo helps with balance, it may be good to think about this, too.

My doggo is doing her job well, though she’s sometimes somewhat restless because the vet has pretty much banned her from running until we get her other knee sorted. She’s doing some light physical therapy in the meantime. I just give her a little less food and take her on walks (we live in a place that’s inappropriate for dogs, so she can’t walk around in the house).

 

[lostforgottensoul]

my dog did yelp when the knee was bent tight. To see if this was just regular swelling and stress,

Oh you mean the back leg. I have bent each joint and put pressure on each while bent to see if it hurt and he didn't seemed bothered by it in the least. So theres that. He's still going to the vet but doing all I can to ensure his joints are ok before continuing mobility tasking.

I took him off joint suppliments because of their price. I really need to.start buying them again.

 

[littleoc]

Good!!

And yeah, they’re so expensive... I’m feeling that pain too. No advice there, unfortunately.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Well, put the socks on today with the boots (after work just to see how hard it would be and if it helps). Ran him inside with fetch and really, no difference. The boots did go over the sock though. Without the sock part on the top of the boot, its just easier to get on. But, no difference in how well he could move in them or how much they stress him out. I did notice that when I took them off, 2 of the socks had moved and smushed themselves at the bottom of the boot so not sure if thats the best. I guess need to ensure the velcro goes over the sock part? Ugh! I cannot go without the boots. Just so freaking hot here. I didn't realize just how much retraining it would take to work ok in boots again and the heat creeped on us so fast this year. Need to take him to Lowes to run aside the electric scooter like I did last year but gotta work in boots tomorrow no matter what. Just so hot right now and black pavement all around me. Just no getting around it. And bone dry this year so no hope on rain cooling down the pavement. We havent had rain in months. Ugh!