Help With Morning Routine.......very Frustrated

[Guest Mooogies]

Well, Chai is settling in nicely. Was going for her walks in the morning, doing what she needed to do right away and I praised her a lot for going quickly. Now that the colder weather is here, well below zero with a bad windchill, (note also I've been home since the 24th) she seems to have fallen out of her routine. I'm also giving her an extra long walk in the middle of the day (when things have warmed up a little).

 

What have I changed? I tried to put boots on her. The first day I managed to get her front paws booted, the 2nd evening, the right side, front and back only. This morning, her right front paw only. She starts limping when it's really cold like this so the boots are to protect her feet from the cold and salt. But she whined and eventually growled when I tried to put the 2nd one on her this morning. So off we went. -18C 0F, so it's pretty damn cold. Well, we walked, and walked, and walked. She peed once and after almost an hour and she was shivvering from toe to tail I finally brought her inside.

 

So questions....1) seeing as this change in her routine sort of has corresponded with trying to get the boots on her, could it be that the boots bother her so much it's thrown her off her routine? and 2) any suggestions on how to ease her into wearing the boots without such a fuss?

 

I have to admit by the time I got just the one boot on her this morning I was quite frustrated. I didn't want to give up because then obviously she wins but the whining and eventual growling finally got to me. I have an idea that the next time I try to put them on her she's going to growl right away, seeing as that worked this morning.

 

So is it really worth the boots?

[RobinM]

We don't do boots. We also don't use salt- we use sand so that helps and I avoid roads with salt (I don't know if that is an option with you)

 

It takes enough time to coat all 5 of my dogs and ourselves. Our dogs wouldn't move if we put boots on them!

[Guest Mooogies]

I live in a residential area so to get to the fields where I walk her, I have to go by the street and sidewalks, both of which are salted. So avoiding the roads with salt........I would have to carry her and that would be taking the whole princess diva dog to a whole new level. Although I did consider it this morning!

[Batmom]

What kind of boots do you have? If they're complicated to put on, you might try some from dogbooties.com -- simple socklike things with velcro on top. Put bootie on, "Good girl!", give treat, take bootie off. Repeat repeat repeat repeat. Then two booties. Etc.

[Guest NewGreyOwner]

Our grey was in a nice morning routine, too (we've had him for a little over year). He would willingly go out for a walk first thing in the morning and we would do our whole neighborhood stroll. Now that the ground is snow covered and the cold has set in, he has refused to go out in the morning. We do not push the issue - he eventually goes out after a few hours, but HE's the one that has changed the routine! We tried boots on him, but he totally refused to even walk out of the house. So we gave up on the boots. Once he's made up his mind to go out, he's fine and enjoys the walk. We only stay about 20 - 25 minutes at a time, and that seems to be adequate for him. He's more willing to go out later in the day, but the morning isn't working for him any more! We're hoping he will go back to a regular morning walk when the weather finally breaks!

[Guest Mooogies]

The booties are fleece, with a suede bottom. It slips over her foot like a sock and velcros at the top. I tried the treats, put one bootie on, treat, good girl. She was more interested in the treat and wouldn't let me touch her foot. So I decided to give up on the treat and just praise her. Maybe I need to work on the booties when it's not time to take her out. Would that be a better idea and just get her used to walking in the house with them on? Or did I mess with a good thing and maybe I should just let her walk without the boots on. UGH

[MerlinsMum]

I use K9 Apparel's booties and while Merlin doesn't like it when I put them on, he trots away contentedly when he's outside. They really help because his paws freeze up otherwise and he starts limping.

 

You could try a different kind of boot, but I would also advise you to take some very deep breaths when putting the booties on and walking her - don't let yourself be overcome with frustration (I know, I know - easier said than d0ne, right> I've been there, I understand! ). It's possible that Chai senses your frustration and is responding to that as well.

 

You might want to try muzzling her briefly while you put the booties on. And use REALLY yummy treats, so she associates booties with something really delicious, not just ordinary treats.

 

Good luck!!

[Guest Mooogies]

My gut is telling me to persevere with the boots. It's in her best interest and she loves to walk so much it will be worth it for her once she gets used to them versus stopping and watching her lift her paws because they are starting to freeze and watching her limping. That can't be fun for her. I know I'm being too soft and she's probably sensing that she has the upper hand already. I hope I'm not done for. I really hadn't wanted to muzzle her, but I'm afraid that she's going to bite me. She is giving me the warning signals isn't she?

[Batmom]

Yep, work with her on the boots when it isn't walk time. Muzzle if you think she's liable to snap. You can make the muzzle fun by smearing a little peanutbutter inside .

[Guest Mooogies]

WOW........never thought of making the muzzle fun by smearing peanut butter inside it! I bought a variety of boots and the fleece ones with the suede bottoms are the only ones I've even been remotely successful with. So maybe I'll take all the other ones back (I had high hopes for the high acclaimed balloon type boots and those were the least successful - I was sweating and didn't even manage to get one over her toes) LOL!!! It's funny when you think of it, just not funny at the time when you're trying to stay calm but not succeeding. I swear as much as I love her, they are as bad as having a toddler!

[Fruitycake]

Sorry you're also having morning issues. I have a boy who has to have the perfect (and I mean *perfect*) place to pee. This morning it was an hour and ten minutes before he found the perfect place to pee and eventually allowed his urine to grace the edge of a snowdrift. This was on the 5th walk around the block.

 

He does wear boots, because some of our neighbors haven't cleared the snow from the sidewalks and now it is sharp ice ready to slice his delicate paw pads (not sarcastic - he buffs them smooth regularly running and braking on the inside carpet). We also have a lot of salt-happy neighbors so avoiding salt is not an option unless we only walk around our own house. He is about as laid back as one could hope for in the booting department, though, so at least that isn't an issue.

 

If she growls when you're booting her up, I think you might need to either muzzle her before booting for your safety, or get her used to having her paws touched in general (probably also while being muzzled - again for your safety). Our other dog doesn't like having her paws touched, so we do a fair piece of just touching and picking up her paws and fiddling with them just (whew, I can actually see my typos now!) to get her used to the contact. A treat held by her nose so she can lick and be distracted while you’re touching the delicate feet can help a lot (it has with Allie).

 

Good luck!

[Guest bigbrindlebunny]

I've never tried it, but some folks rave about something called Musher's Wax. You put it on their paws, and it's supposed to protect paws from both salt in the winter, hot pavements in the summer. Anyone have an opinion on using this? I've been wondering about it....

[Guest TeddysMom]

Personally, I wouldn't fight her over the boots. There are a lot of dogs that do just fine in the winter without boots. I do like the idea of the mushers wax which I am going to order today. We live on a gravel road so when we go for walks it would be nice to have some protection on their feet. You could just wash her feet when you get back to the house so the salt doesn't set on them and have a chance to irritate her. I keep a bucket at the back door for mud or ice that gets on the dogs feet.

[racindog]

Might try putting one boot on before her meals. Then taking it off after meals. Progress to 4 boots. I have had very good luck eliciting cooperation/desired behavior when "connecting" it to something pleasurable like the meal. Even works for getting a lot of horses to accept horse trailer. Just feed 'em in it for a while.

[Guest Energy11]

We don't have the ice and snow, wish we did, as that is MY kind of weather! Staggerlee HAS to wear booties on our daily walks, due to his corns. We use The Voyagers booties, and they are WONDERGFUL!!! Comfortable, and they stay on! Good Luck. Send me SNOW, PLEASE!

[Guest Vers]

We're using the Musher's Secret, and it does seem to work well to protect their paws, especially from salt (entirelypets.com has a good price -- no affiliation with them). We also have the Voyagers boots, but Stella's feet are so tiny, it is difficult to get them to stay on. It was below zero here last night, so she wore them but walked out of three of them before we got home. This is our first winter together, and I am leaning to using the Musher's Secret daily and putting boots on them only when there's sharp ice or snow crust.

[GeorgeofNE]

I've been leash walking a dog 5x a day for the past 17 years in New England--my dogs have never, ever worn boots.

 

She's a dog, not a toddler, and she doesn't need them. If they aren't helping, they're not worth it. Some dogs appreciate them--and I'm not suggesting they might not be beneficial to protect her from the salt. But my dogs have certainly never suffered any ill effects from walking in the winter, and we DO encounter salt and "ice melter." Occasionally the dog might even stop and hold up a paw. I wipe it off, give the dog a little pat, and away we go!

 

Are you saying she isn't pooping on your morning walks all the sudden?

 

I take my dog out for a quicky, then feed him, then take him for a long walk. Have you tried that? He won't normally poop the first time, but usually has to go about 15 minutes after eating.

[Guest whimzical]

Well, Chai is settling in nicely. Was going for her walks in the morning, doing what she needed to do right away and I praised her a lot for going quickly. Now that the colder weather is here, well below zero with a bad windchill, (note also I've been home since the 24th) she seems to have fallen out of her routine. I'm also giving her an extra long walk in the middle of the day (when things have warmed up a little).

 

What have I changed? I tried to put boots on her. The first day I managed to get her front paws booted, the 2nd evening, the right side, front and back only. This morning, her right front paw only. She starts limping when it's really cold like this so the boots are to protect her feet from the cold and salt. But she whined and eventually growled when I tried to put the 2nd one on her this morning. So off we went. -18C 0F, so it's pretty damn cold. Well, we walked, and walked, and walked. She peed once and after almost an hour and she was shivvering from toe to tail I finally brought her inside.

 

So questions....1) seeing as this change in her routine sort of has corresponded with trying to get the boots on her, could it be that the boots bother her so much it's thrown her off her routine? and 2) any suggestions on how to ease her into wearing the boots without such a fuss?

 

I have to admit by the time I got just the one boot on her this morning I was quite frustrated. I didn't want to give up because then obviously she wins but the whining and eventual growling finally got to me. I have an idea that the next time I try to put them on her she's going to growl right away, seeing as that worked this morning.

 

So is it really worth the boots?

 

Jonsey is a 2 year old male, became part of our family in lat september, Jack is a 4 year old Dashchound, i have not tried the boots on them or on any other dog that we had. I do understand that with Greys that something is needed, so i asked and an answer that i got was Mushers Secret Paw Protection - i have not used it at this time, but i do have some on order.

Good luck

[Guest sheila]

I've been leash walking a dog 5x a day for the past 17 years in New England--my dogs have never, ever worn boots.

 

She's a dog, not a toddler, and she doesn't need them. If they aren't helping, they're not worth it. Some dogs appreciate them--and I'm not suggesting they might not be beneficial to protect her from the salt. But my dogs have certainly never suffered any ill effects from walking in the winter, and we DO encounter salt and "ice melter." Occasionally the dog might even stop and hold up a paw. I wipe it off, give the dog a little pat, and away we go!

 

Are you saying she isn't pooping on your morning walks all the sudden?

 

I take my dog out for a quicky, then feed him, then take him for a long walk. Have you tried that? He won't normally poop the first time, but usually has to go about 15 minutes after eating.

 

what she said.

[Beautybabe]

I walk our dogs in New England also. I don't use boots but sometimes in the winter I put them in the car and drive them to a place where there is less ice or salt on the walking surface--for them and for me! I wouldn't bother with boots unless my dog has a problem with a toe or pad. (Emmet always wears a Thera-Paw for his corns.)

 

They do wear coats with absolutely no problems and we do fine with snoods, too.

Edited December 31, 2009 by Beautybabe

[Guest Mooogies]

Just to update.....after reading your replies (thank you very much by the way) that I was stressing more over her wearing boots than whether her feet are really that cold. I decided to put the boots aside for the time being and the very next walk she did everything she was supposed to do. It seems her feet only get cold when she stops to sniff, if we keep walking she seems fine. So yes I will try again, but there is so much to concentrate on getting her settled into her new routine with me that I figure boots are pretty far down the list.

[Guest Swifthounds]

How long have you had Chai? Hounds recently off the track or farm often have feet that are more sensitive to things like blacktop, grass, snow, ice, etc. As a general rule, dogs of any breed develop sure-footedness and the ability to tackle different environments by actually engaging in them. It takes some time after coming off the track for the feet to adjust to the new variety in footing.

 

I've never used boots on a greyhound for anything other than injuries. Even here in the cold northeast, I only use coats for long walks and playtime in the snow, but not quick potty trips. That said, you can condition Chai to accept the boots with a little repetition, positive reinforcement, and a whole lot of patience. She may not be crazy about the boots, but consider her perspective. The whole idea of something on her feet is totally foreign. Do the conditioning when you're at home, not when you're about to go for a walk - at least until she starts to make a positive association with the boot. Start by taking one single boot and a hand full of small, tasty treats. Take the boot, touch it to her paw, say "boot" (or something else), and give her a treat. Repeat until she's associating the boot and the treat. Gradually increase the contact with the boot, saying "boot", and giving a treat. Work up from there.

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

That was a long walk - it seems to me - an hour at 0 deg, if the dog is cold and miserable that isn't going to work in your favor. I have shortened my walks up considerably, she knows why we are out there, she does a quick pee and maybe a quick poop the first turn out in the morning. Then I eat and feed her after, and about 5-10 mins after that I take her out for the walk when she does her real poop and maybe another pee and then I bring her back home. The colder it is - the quicker she poops because she doesn't really want to walk around the block. I have some good boots from Itscath, but rarely use them because they take a little time to put on. With the boots I can take her anywhere for longer walks..without them, she has problems with the salted roads. She will step into the shush and then when she walks into the snow it just freezes in between her toes, etc and then I have a greyhound trying to hold 4 feet up at once for me clean and warm her feet. Last year, I did an experiment where every time I crossed the slushy street, I picked her up (so she would not walk in the slush--neighbors must think I am nuts) and she had no problems with her feet freezing when just walking in the snow.

[Jackandgrey]

This is late to the party but - I use boots for walking only in extreme cold and then I must say I am less and less inclined to walk . But in normal nasty cold, I find they're feet get cold enough to lift and limp when we first start out. If I just give them a quick warm up with my mitt and then a quick pace for the next bit to get the blood flowing, then they are usually fine. My Jack never needed boots in any weather but I find these two are less hardy souls

[Guest Mooogies]

Sorry, I re-read that, it was supposed to read HALF an hour. SHe does know why she's out there however she also loves her walkies! I'm trying to make it as comfortable for her but also easy for me too. That way if we are both happy we are both going to keep walking. I've watched her and you nailed that right on the head. When she walks through a slushy bit it seems to freeze between her toes shortly after that and that's when she starts to limp or lift one of her feet up. I've tried to keep her on the side of the road where we walk (if there are no sidewalks) so that she's not in the slushy parts but she seems to stray into the middle of the road at times (we live on a dead end street) until I manoeuver her over to the side of the road. I had thought about picking her up actually, when I have to cross a side street, but I don't think I could lift even 55 lbs (bad back).

 

For the most part if we keep going and don't make too many stops, her feet don't freeze and she seems to be tolerating it well. I do stop and wipe her paw off if she starts to limp or lift one up and she doesn't seem to mind that and we keep on going.

 

So far we haven't had the really really cold temps here yet and when we do it will be just a really quick walk so that she does what she needs to do and a sprint back to where it's nice and warm!