Tonight when I was walking Watson and Darwin at the end of the walk I noticed that Watson was limping and when we got home he didn't want to walk over the gravel. When we got inside, I had him lay down and looked at the pads of his paws. On both front paws the pad is torn in the front. I took some pictures:


Should I just put some neosporn on his paws and just monitor them over the next couple days? In the second picture there is a flap of pad that didn't come off. I was wondering if I should leave it on there and put neosporn under, or should I cut it off and just clean it from there.

I'm not really sure what he cut it on. I'm assuming it might of been this morning when my roommate let him out and he got out of the yard. He doesn't make any sounds when walking but he definitely is sore.

any help would greatly be appreciated! Thanks!

What temperature is it outside when you are walking your dogs? The sidewalk, asphalt and gravel obtain higher temperatures then the air outside in the summer. I usually walk mine in the early morning or after the sun has gone down in the summer.

Just take care of it as you would take care of a burn. Keep a close eye, make sure they aren't licking at it to irritate the wound. Go see your vet at your earliest convenience to make sure there isn't anything not physical wrong going on.

Good luck, hope your pack gets well soon!

I typically walk them either in the morning of after 6. The dogs don't walk on asphalt/sidewalk, the path we take is all grassy. And when I said gravel, I meant rocks. Our driveway is rocky and covered in shade all day. I don't think it's due to the ground being too hot. It's not a blister, it's as if the pad has been sliced on something.

Neosporin should be fine, I wouldn't do anything about the one that is falling off as far as cutting it off goes, your idea of neosporin between it and supervision should suffice. If it doesn't seem to get better or show signs of improvement in the next few days, see what your vet thinks

This happened with Pippa the first few times I tried biking with her. Even though it might be cooler when you walk them in the evening, the ground can still be quite warm. Also, if they're pulling at all, that can make it a lot worse.

I tried to clean it off with a little water, put some Neosporin on it and left it alone. It looked a lot better in a week and almost gone after two weeks. Also try and keep them off any type of pavement until then. If it doesn't appear to be getting better, definitely take them into see a vet.

Cleanse with Hydrogen Peroxide and either use some Musher's Secret or Corn Husker's Lotion-

Ah, yes! The Musher's Secret. Meant to include that in my post.

I've been using that before walking/running/biking with Pippa since we had an issue and haven't had a problem since.