Newest issue with my dummy puppy.

I've been taking him to the forest preserve for long runs on the bike trail there. He loves them, comes home nice and tired and happy.
But... from all the running, his pads have been getting more and more smooth and dry. He's started slipping on our wood floors a lot more, looks like the roadrunner sometimes with his legs flying around but the body not really going anywhere.

So, in the last few days he had a couple tumbles in the same spot on our floor. About 3' x 3' section of wood floor near our kitchen. And now when he gets near there, he stops dead in his tracks, kinda sways back and forth a little, and is really reluctant to cross that part of the floor. And what's worse is that when he finally does go, he usually tries to do it so fast that he slips again. So it's this self-perpetuating fear of this one part of the floor.


I want to help him fix up his pads, either rough them up or make them more moist. I tried putting some hand lotion on them today and will maybe try that for a few days to see if his pads get more moist and he gets more grip. Or might try bag balm.
Alternatively I thought of getting the little rubber dog booties, but I highly doubt he'd agree to wearing those...


Anyone have any solutions for dry, slippery pads?

Thanks

No solutions for the pads, but is it a spot where a non-slip rug could be placed? We have one that looks like bambi on the icy pond when he's wound up, so a strategic series of rugs have been set up to at least slow down the sliding

You can try Musher's Secret. It has numerous uses.

Also Paw Wax.... which might be basically the same thing with a different name.

There is some stuff I've read about on the Dobie Forum that Husky owners use on their dog's pads....Maybe this would protect his feet when he's out and about...

http://musherssecret.net/

Also, make sure his nails are trimmed up...long nails decrease traction on slippery surfaces

thanks for the tips. i do keep his nails nice and short with the dremel.

my wife shot video of me working with him today just walking him back and forth trying to get him to relax. you can see he seizes up and flips out when he has to walk over this little section of floor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qhgdollA0I

Zuki is having this same problem with wood floor and the shiny floor (like hospitals,schools have). Only she is the same way with the whole floor. She did slightly better after I threw treats away from her so she had to move to get them. But other than that I don't know what to do.

Not to be anal, but I hear long nails on the floor. You may need to trim them every week or so, to get the quick to recede, but you shouldn't hear nails clicking if his nails are truly short.

I'd also check the hair between the pads too. My housemate's new kitten ran in place on our hardwood floors until we trimmed the fur between his pads...


You may want to try to teach him that sliding is a game. When we first moved here my dog had never really been on hardwood floors and kept sliding when he'd run around the house. I started acting really positive about him trying to counter balance himself when he slid. He's now a hardwood floor pro, power sliding into the corners and he has a ball out maneuvering the other animals in the house.

I would check his nails to, however I disagree with Kelly that just because you hear them they're to long. My own dog has trimmed nails that wear quite short. On pavement you can't hear them, but on hardwood floors he uses his "hand paws" to sort of grip in and you can him here clicking away across the floor, it may just be desperation trying to grab the floor for grip.

If don't want to trim/dremel often teach him to paw a piece of sandpaper, I have my boy do that in the winter when we don't get to do any work on pavement because it's covered in snow, works wonders and mine at least never quicks himself lol