First off, I think you have to be realistic about boots on a dog. Getting the sizing right is tough and there are a lot of spots on the foot, like the dew claws where you can get rubbing.
So my goal when I set off to buy dog boots were the following:
>Cheap. I didn't want to have to slit my wrists when one was lost in the bushes or swimming or ??? $35 for a set of four is pretty reasonable.
>Reasonable expectation of them staying on.
>Reasonable quality so that we would get some use out of them before they died.
>Use - Backpacking in the high sierras over lots of sharp shale, granite, etc. (I had a dog the year before blow through her pads and had to wear vet wrap and duck tape through the trip.)
After reading tons of reviews on the internet, looking at prices, etc., I ended up with the Ultra Paws Rugged product.
What I liked about these boots:
2 straps. This is important. It gives you two opportunities to keep these on. If you can get the first strap below the dew claw, and the second over, that's the best. With the two straps the boots didn't twist around so that the dog is walking on the top of the boot. (I heard this complaint with a lot of boots.)
The boot fits loose, more like a mitten. This eliminates rubbing from ill fitting boots with pressure points. The foot can move around in the toe and you don't have their claws smashed against a hard surface.
Good rubber traction on the bottom, but not stiff. Reasonable quality.
We practiced at home, and watched for discomfort. My smaller queensland looked like her dew claws were bothering her. (You have to keep the straps pretty tight for the best results and the folds of the boot were closer to her dew claw than the other dogs.) So for her, I put vet wrap around the dew claws before I tightened the boot.
My German Shepherd/Border Collie fit into his boots well, and I didn't end up wrapping his feet at all.
We had a small rat terrier (10 lbs) who also came with us. He didn't have any dew claws to put the second strap over, so his boots were harder to stay on. Kind of like trying to put boots on skinny, straight poles. What we did here was vet wrap around the top of the dog's leg where the top of the boot would hit. Then put the boots on. We then took thin strips of duck tape and taped the boot to the vet wrap (this prevents the duck tape from sticking to the dog's hair.) This worked beautifully.
So off we went, and I was amazed at the success of these boots. They stayed on - even with them flying down the trail full speed, running through the bushes off trail, etc.
Another option that I did not try, involved a dual combination of boots. There are some other boots on the internet that are basically thick balloons. They are very cheap. So my plan was to put the balloons on first (which would have made it 5 seconds on sharp granite.) I would then put the Ulta Paws boots on over them, and tape the boots to the balloons that would fit snug on the paw. However, I never got to try out that plan as the above solutions worked well.
I would highly recommend these boots with the above expectations along with some innovation with vet wrap.Get more detail about
Ultra Durable Dog Boots, Black/Red, Medium.
