Dog Boots II

Rocket didn't get a walk yesterday - which is kind of tragic, because he needs a walk every day or he gets really wound up. He is already wound pretty tight so I try not to make it worse.

After spending a couple of days rehearsing with the boots, it was finally show time. It was icy and snowy and there was a lot of salt and anti-freeze available to hurt his paws and it was a perfect chance to put the boots to work.

After much drama, we set out. Rocket does not like having his feet touched and putting shoes on him is a lot of foot touching. I persevered and he finally submitted, and we were able to leave for our walk.

He looked good

And after a little bit of practice, he felt good too. He seemed to enjoy the extra sound they made as they tapped across the ice. He likes making noise when he walks. He on purpose walks through leaves when available and he seeks out snow so he can crunch through it. The shoes let him make noise where he normally would not have that opportunity.

So we walked. It was cold and I got tired, I blame the cold air and my heavy snow boots. But I kep on, Rocket was happy and we kept going. Everyone who saw him in his boots thought he was adorable, which was nice because I thought I was going to get laughed at for putting shoes on my dog.

The boots stayed on well, except for one that had broken almost as soon as I touched it the first time. I didn't think the rubber band thing was all that important until our walk disclosed that the rubber band thingy is what keeps the boots on the dog for real. Its a struggle without the rubber band thing but they do stay on without it.

We walked on. We finally got home and he demanded that he race around the back yard for a few minutes. I let him, he earned it.

Once we got inside I was able to looks at the boots more closely. Yes, three of the four stayed on but four of the four had holes in the soles after just one walk!

These were nice dog boots! They were lined with fleece and had what looked like heavy plastic bottoms. Clearly, not as heavy as they needed to be and they came off his feet when he was running in the yard. Its nice that they stayed on while he was sedatly walking through town, but it would have been nicer if hey had stayed on his feet under more active circumstances.

True, these were on sale at Tuesday Morning, but they started off their lives as expensive items. This tells me that when I replace these - because I am going to replace them, that I need to look for shoes with much heavier soles and that are better secured to the dogs' feet.