# Weimer foot trouble??



## r_b_burg (Dec 24, 2004)

This past week I had my weimer, she's a female 5yr old, out in NoDak for her annual pheasant hunting trip. She hunts occationally here at home, and spends 4-6 hours outside everyday. The problem this year, one of the problems, I'll elaborate in a bit, was the portion from her foot to the dew claw pad. After about 3 days of hunting it was cut up from the fields and sloughs. Is there anything you can put on this to protect it or toughen it up?

Now the rest of the story............after a good first day of hunting, a few points, found a few criples etc. Day two, she goes on point in a slough. Like a dummy I sent her into the cattails..........no bird flushes.........no dog comes out, no noise at all............except mt hunting partner yelling.."Porcupine!!!" Needless to say it was to late. She had a mouthful of quills. About 60-80. She couldn't close her mouth and everytime she did you could see the pain in her eyes. There were 3 of us in the feild. Two guys held her and I pulled them out. All but two that burried under her tongue. It was a Sunday night, so It took a while to locate a Vet. Once I did she said to treat her with ASA for pain and watch for infection. The dog never made as much asa a wimper ever! The vet was amazed the dog let me pull them out. About a day later one quill worked it's way out under her chin and I pulled it out with pliers. Then two days later another. That is the first cou[le of days hunting. I wasn't sure if she would go out again, but she did and guess what.............. Same story.......on point, but this time she holds point, I walk up and the bush starts to rock. I immediately call the dog off, but it was too late.......a SKUNK!! You guessed it. She got sprayed and got a tomato juice bath. That stuff really works!

All of this and the foot thing took a lot of the hunt out of her. For the last couple of days she "glory hunted." Stayed basically by my side and when we shot she would track the down birds. We'll get out this year here at home again.


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## Springer (Dec 21, 2004)

Here is your answer to finding a vet in ND/SD

http://www.dakotahuntingdog.com/

You could try some boots but most are hard to keep on the dogs feet while running, You really need to bring more than one dog for multiple days hunting unless you are conditioning hard for weeks before your trip.

There is a product called tuff pads but I have read mixed reviews on it.

Sorry about the porkie and skunk, Hopefully he learned a few things.


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## Remmi_&amp;_I (Dec 2, 2003)

r_b_burg said:


> the portion from her foot to the dew claw pad. After about 3 days of hunting it was cut up from the fields and sloughs. Is there anything you can put on this to protect it or toughen it up?


My weim had the same problem this weekend. I'd love to hear an answer as well. Also, her paws were much more tender/red than usual.......must have been the terrain, however it is the same ground we hunt every year. :-?


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## BIRDSHOOTER (Jul 18, 2005)

If I'm understanding you correctly the cut is not on the foot pad or dew pad itself, but rather the section of the ankle between the two? I would just clean it well, then put some EMT gel or antibiotic ointment on the cut and wrap it lightly with vet wrap. Vet wrap kind of acts like shrink wrap in that it will stick to itself and actually tightens (shrinks) as is wrapped on. _Don't want to cut off circulation_. This will speed the healing and protect it from further injury.

If the cut is in fact on the pad itself and depending on how deep it is, it may need to heal up some before I would continue hunting. In a pinch I have heard people who have used super glue to close a pad cut. Just *BE SURE *to clean well with proxide or iodine first before using it. Then you can boot the dog if you wish to prevent irritation.

Other than conditioning the dogs pads with actual hunting, I have used this product with some success to toughen up the pads and skin. It will take a couple weeks of daily use to get them started, then couple times weekly to maintain.
http://www.tuffoot.com/


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