Ryuk is very good with his paws, he's a climber, he can pick things up with them (usually while he's already got something in his mouth...then he hold's the -stolen- item in a paw while he runs away on three legs -_-)....I would love to use this natural ability...but there's a problem...

His pawpads are made of sandpaper...They hurt, A LOT....

I've been trying to teach the canine freestyle trick where the dog jumps up on your back and he RIPPED THROUGH MY SHIRT AND SKIN landing...and this isn't a light shirt........He's torn my jacket standing on it, he sliced open my hand doing "shake"

It's not his nails, which are super short and wear nice and round. They're checked regularly (I paint them often) I clip and file his dew claws so they're not the culprit. His pawpads feel like sandpaper (but are not cracked or dry either).

Is there any exfoliating lotion or something I could put on them? I use musher's secret in the winter for his own protection but that doesn't make them less rough. He isn't on pavement often enough to have feet this tough...

It seem to be the biggest problem on the main bad of his front feet, his toes are much softer...

any ideas?

I don't have any advice, but I'm totally laughing at the image of him jumping on your back, ripping through your clothes.

Sorry, me too!

So did my housemates XD....I didn't realize what had happened, I assumed he'd just landed hard and maybe I had a cut or something and it hurt....


through the shirt, right into my back, like someone had put a power sander there....then of course he looks all proud with the "Yay, I did it, where's my treat?!"

This may be a tad out there. My female has some very thick callus near a few of her nails, underneath. It is really hard and thick.

I just used my dremel to wear it down a bit. As long as your dog will allow this, it might work.
Kinda like a doggie pedicure.

You have to keep the dremel moving but it definitely takes down a thick callus.

Would Ryuk lick off other creams on his feet if you put them on?
My female is too much of a licker and would lick it all off. But if he won't bother with that, you could try an Amlactin cream
which has lactic acid in it which would slough off dead skin.

I would try using the dremel on low to get off the excess skin.
Then after you give a bath, put some of Musher's secret over damp paw pad skin. It should help seal the moisture in the pad better.

Just my 2 cents.

Maybe bag balm? Problem is its so greasy.... you would have to make him wear socks or something while it soaks in. I don't see that going over very well.

Feet issues are such a pain to treat!

Maybe you should wear armor! Lol

I would be careful about messing around with the pads. they don't bother him, right?
Making them softer is going to make them less able to stand up to any wear & tear while he's fetching.
If he happens to slide on pavement while trying to catch a wayward thrown object, his paw pads won't be able to take the scraping if they're too soft, and you'll end up with a scraped paw. Also if he steps on glass, thorns or anything of that nature a soft pad will be easier to penetrate than a rough one.

I know, Tuckers paws pads are nice & soft, not sure why, probably because we do more trail hiking than concrete sidewalks. But if he slides on pavement at all he will scrape his pads bloody. They just aren't tough enough.

 Quote: wendy lefebvre

I would be careful about messing around with the pads. they don't bother him, right?

I feel kinda the same.

I have two regular smooth-leathery and one rough sandpapery dog, and they are just like that. They have head-to-toe going-over once a year at the vet and she never said "Yikes!" at the sandpaper, and the dog acts fine .... and I have had a dog with a damaged pad; it is so hard to care for and heal ....

Maybe I might smooth on real Vitamin E .... but probably not. For me, I would probably look at his fish oil intake and make sure it was right, and then make a note on the vet list for next call of visit for any of them, so ask. I feel this gut feeling that she will say "Oh, some are just like that."

Of course, I do not mean cracked or damaged pads.



JMO, though; I'm interested to see what others say.

Maybe Dr. Betty will see this.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/02/2011 01:21 PM)
Edit reason: make head-to-do into head-to-toe LOL

I thought the same. If they're cracked and bleeding and bothering him i would try to aleviate it, but if not i wouldn't mess around.

trust me, soft pads are worse. And they do take an incredibly long time to heal. There was one incident where Tucker took a sliding stop on pavement after he misjudged my ball throw that scrapped off a flap of pad on the large one and also took off a chunk from the small one higher up his leg.

Jamie, it might be best if YOU wore two or three layers... just two extra t-shirts might do the trick and leave the boy's pads tough for all the fun stuff you and he do together. You could even make/wear a special vest for when training/doing this behavior. As creative as you are, I can only imagine how neat it could end up looking!