Thursday, February 1, 2007

Shoes for Handicapped Dogs

I am still searching for a soft but durable shoe that my Siberian Husky, Avalanche can wear on his two back feet while out on his daily walks. Avalanche suffered a spinal cord injury back in November 2005 which left him paralyzed from the waist down. He has improved to where he can walk to some extent on his own, however, his right leg still drags and his body mechanics are poor so his left foot wears his pads down to where they get sore and bloody if not protected. I have been buying infant socks and taping them on his rear legs for our daily walks, however, like today, he wore through triple socks on each foot, that is 3 pairs of socks a day! The hard sole dog shoes don't work because his right foot doesn't get to move in them and they get twisted, fall off, etc. The soft sole dog shoes he can wear holes in them in a day or two and that gets expensive. Any ideas? If I take the time to wrap a double infant sock in duct tape across the top, it does extend the life, but it takes time to do this. Avalanche spent the first year of his rehab in a K-9 cart or dog wheelchair. He doesn't like to use his wheelchair anymore and he needs to continue to build the strength and flexibility in his rear legs. In the meantime I am getting an awesome bicep muscle on my right arm by helping to hold up his backend for our 2 mile daily walks. There is a fantastic product on the market for dogs with rear end problems such as hip dyplasia, it is called a "walkabout". It is made of a neoprene type material that you slip each rear leg into leg holes, then you pull each side up over his back end, where it attaches with velcro as well as clips. The whole contraption has two handles, one over each hip. This product literally saved our backs and provided so much help in moving our handicapped dog around especially during the first few months of his rehab. The "walkabout" is machine washable, and I have two of them, in case of poop accidents. We found these products on a website and the people behind the website were so amazing and helpful. If you need specialty dog products for handicapped pets, they have some amazing things. Our biggest problem is that our Siberian Husky is 75 pounds. Not as many products for large dogs as the smaller ones.

1 comment:

annette said...

my dog also has paralysis on one of her back legs and I have experimented with making a shoe to protect her from getting sores and grazes when walking on her knuckle. At this stage I have made a shoe out of wetsuit material cut from a 'stubby holder'. This is soft and easy to put on.I use double sided velcro to hold this on and I have sewn a circle of sheepskin on the base. Her going out shoe has a circle reinforcement on the sole.(a piece of an old sandle glued on with contact cement). My next next experiment will be a similar design made out of leather.