Lately I've been snowshoeing with my dogs. They love to run around in the snow and roam off the tracks to investigate nature. However, last time we went on a snowmobile track that had icy snow. When snowmobiles run over icy snow under just the right conditions, microscopic ice shards are created that really irritate a dog's paws in a very painful way.

The best solution to avoid this issue is to put dog booties on their paws for protection. However, they've already run down steep hills that they can't climb up - adding smooth dog booties will restrict them to nearly level ground.

Enter steel booties. These are normal comfortable booties on the inside, but with steel blades on the front protruding downward with a shape similar to the blades on a snowshoe only smaller. My dogs will then be able to climb up the steepest embankment while still having safe and warm paws.
-- Worldgineer, Mar 12 2004

Booties http://www.exciteme...ctures/muttluks.jpg
[Worldgineer, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Snowshoe http://www.irl.bc.c...ivoting-harness.jpg
[Worldgineer, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

I hope you've trained your dogs not to jump up when greeting you.
-- jurist, Mar 12 2004


Nope - they jump up all the time. I recommend armor plated snow pants or just installing these on the hind legs.
-- Worldgineer, Mar 12 2004



random, halfbakery