Long Term Use Of Therapaws

[inugrey]

I'm sure most of you know Inu is my corn dog. He's been sporting a Michael Jackson style boot on his front left for almost two full years. Since he is leash walked in the city that means pretty much every single walk he's in a boot.

The other day he had a chance to run around with Salem in a friend's yard. Grass=no boot. While they were playing he suddenly let out the gsod and scared the bejesus out of Salem and me. Up goes his corn leg and he hobbles around for a few minutes. Once we were back inside laying about he was fine.

 

So that incident leads me to this question. I know that when I wear a brace on my wrist it becomes increasingly weak due to dependence on the brace. The therapaw is a full support wrap around the ankle. So would that constant support from the therapaw make his ankle weaker?

 

Goodness, can you see me doing physical therapy on my dog because of a therapeutic boot he has to wear?

[Guest greyhounder]

How many corns does he have?

[Guest Winterwish]

I would guess it's not from the usage,or dependency of the therapaw,but from not having it on,leaving his problem foot subject to discomfort.

Also,it could well be that his pads on that paw are just not callused enough to go thru' the rigors of play without the boot (even if it's not actually rigorous running around).

 

I don't know for sure,but I would say it's probably not the ankle becoming weaker.

[inugrey]

Interesting thought, thanks. I had wondered about his pads since they don't get the wear of his other three feet. It just seems so bizarre that my athlete has developed a sensitivity because of me trying to help him walk with more comfort. Darned if you do darned if you don't.

 

He's only got one big honkin' corn that is pretty resilient and painful for him.

[Pippin]

have you tried lysine or bee propolis?

[Guest Ola]

I was thinking the same thing as Winterwish. I know if I have a band-aid on for a long period of time the skin underneath gets a little softer and more tender. So perhaps his foot is just not used to walking directly on the surfaces, or maybe he stepped on a rock, even though it was a grassy area?

[gazehund]

I doubt it is his ankle becoming weaker. More likely his pad is soft from wearing the boot all the time.

If you have ever seen or had a hound right off the track , it is kinda the same thing. Since they generally run and turnout on sand, their pads need to be toughened up (with short walks) to be able to walk comfortably on concrete, asphalt and dirt.

Just my totally useless opinion, but there you have it.

[Guest SusanP]

We tried them for Simon's corn, and even with very limited us, they rubbed her knuckles raw. Couldn't continue to use them even for walks.

[Batmom]

Have you tried having it hulled? Sometimes when hulling is done, vet also has to trim away some callus, which forms on the pad around where the corn was. That callus can be as much a problem for the dog as the corn itself.

 

I have had the same problem with the Therapaws as SusanP -- rubbing sores on the dog's toes/ankle.

[inugrey]

Have you tried having it hulled? Sometimes when hulling is done, vet also has to trim away some callus, which forms on the pad around where the corn was. That callus can be as much a problem for the dog as the corn itself.

 

Inu is hulled probably every six weeks or so. His recent one was done while he was under for a dental and the vet was pleased with out much of the corn he got out that time. So maybe he went too far and took out some healthy parts too.

 

Maybe I'll just add the nickname "Boots" to his list and put them on when he gets yard time too.