September 3, 2009
It’s 11pm and I’m sittin’ here drankin’ a Heine relaxing from the 15 mile loop I just lit up. Got off the trail in the near pitch black (8pm EST). Started out at 6pm. I rarely end a ride so close to sunset without lights. It wasn’t my fault. I left in plenty of time to finish 15 miles WAY before sunset. Nope, not my fault at all. My riding buddy mechanical’ed three quarters into the ride.
Meet Alaz. He’s a bad mofo and a great trail dog. Alaz is a two year old German Shepherd. He’s been riding with me a good bit, but he’s mechanical’ed twice now on both of our last outings. I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this challenge with their trail dogs.
He ripped his pads.
The first time this happened (4 weeks ago), Alaz started limping immediately after he tore his front right pad. I saw him limping soon enough to quit the ride and hike back to the truck before anything else happened to him. I figured he just caught it on a jagged rock and that it was sort of an isolated incident. I was wrong.
Today, three quarters of the way through the ride, he slowed up…..a lot. I figured he was gassed as we hadn’t rode in some time, so I let him set the pace and we just sort of slow pedaled for a while. But then I noticed that he was also limping at times. Not steady limping, but selectively limping (and not that much). By this time, it was getting so dark and we had a lot of trail left to cover. I told myself we needed to keep moving to get out the woods while we still could see our paws in front of our faces.
By the time we got back to the truck, it was mad dark. I lifted him into his seat and he just rested. I opened the lid to my Camelbak and let him get a drink. He thanked me for that. I could see it in his eyes.
Got him home, gave him a bath and inspected his paws. This time, he tore all of them. He is laying around the house recovering like and old man even as I type this.
Now before you go getting all worried for the Alaz, let’s talk about what these rips really are. There is no blood. There are no deep gashes. It looks like your foot would look if you wore a blister into the sole and peeled the skin. Only thing is, the exposed “skin” doesn’t seem to be sensitive to the touch on Alaz (he doesn’t show any sign of discomfort when you touch it).
Today on the trail, I met a guy named Matt who was out with his trail dog named Casey. Matt told me the same thing has happened to Casey in the past. And at least one other has told me this as well. Apparently, this happens. But why it is happening to Alaz all of a sudden? Do his paws just need to toughen up by getting used to the harsh terrain? Anything anyone can tell me is appreciated.
Alaz is a badass. So I really wanna figure this thing out for him. Just to show ya’ll how badass he is, below is pic of him in bite training. Ya, I had to over compensate for my hurt dog by posting something gratuitously manly. Deal with it. Alaz is the great protector, my friend, and my trail buddy. He rules. And I want to help him.
Alaz in Bite Training
I have a Shepherd too. While it’s hard to watch these guys limp around, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Definitely call your vet (I imagine you already have), but with time, he will heal and be back on the trail. You might want to take him out to the trail without your bike (I know, I know), just so his pads can toughen up a bit. Also, they make dog shoes for this sort of thing. I’m sure you could find them at your local dog store. Not sure how well they work.
Hey Matt. Thanks for the reply. It helps to know others have seen this. As tough as I think he is, I guess the truth is that his paws just aren’t tough enough for the rocks and trails yet (like you said). I’ll take your advice and do some hiking to toughen him up. But yeah, it’s hard to leave the bike! Especially when you see other riders balling past you! Do you take your Shepherd on the trail? Sounds like you do…..
how’s your dog doing? i’ve read a lot about dogs getting their pads torn on the trails. i’m curious how long it takes ’em to recover.
Hey Jeni –
Thanks for asking. Alaz recovered fast – three days total. The first two days, he was quite stagnant; he just sat around licking his paws, etc. When he did walk, he limped badly. I would carry him to go to the bathroom outside and carry him back in. Not easy with an 80 lb dog when you live in the city have to walk a block to the park for the grass. On the third day, he was walking with more confidence and by the fourth day he was running again. Boy was I relieved.
You can see him back to his happy self here:
http://www.youtube.com/spokeapparel#play/favorites/3/UJRHkbL1ruQ
I will probably get him something like this for the future:
http://www.seniorpetproducts.com/product/ultra-paws-endurance-boots-p2188.html?&parent=253
Hey Fakis, just started taking my weimaraner out on the trails with me and at the end of yesterdays trail i noticed on his 2 front paws between the pad and his toes he had what looked like burst blisters, today he can hardly walk, was just wondering did you get a set of the ultra paw boots in the end? and if so do they work well?
Matt –
I did get the boots but he runs rights out of them. No matter how tough his pads get, he was still ripping them so now I just slow my pace when I ride with him. And when I mean slow, I mean like 40% of what I normally do. A dog was not built to run at all out speed over rocks and terrain. By doing this, and with some frequency so his pads build up, he does fine. Hope that helps.