The Best Dog Boots Review

29 17:24:30

The 3 Best Brands On The Market

Now there are even more reasons for your dog to be the woof of the town. We're not just talking about making your dog look cool but were talking real BONA FIDE protection for your best friends paws. It is now possible to protect your dog from harsh elements all year round.

Nowadays, The Seasons Can Be Harsh

Snow, ice, slippery surfaces, salt and de icing chemicals all cause major health risks for your dogs during cold winter months. Hot bitumen roads and surfaces, grass, sharp rocks, seeds and prickles all cause discomfort and possible injury to your dogs paws during the hot summer months.

Note – As dogs breathe and disperse body heat through their paws it is extremely important that you get the well ventilated summer boots or suitable all-weather boots for hot weather.

Health Benefits

Dogs with degenerative diseases such as hip dysplasia, degenerative myelopathy and arthritis can really benefit from good shoes as can dogs that suffer from skin allergies or tend to drag their paws as the walk or run. The fact that your dog is wearing boots can also lessen sickness caused by whatever they happen to walk through whilst out on their stroll. Dogs may absorb toxic pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals, salt or just all round muck and dirt through their paws. Of course it's common for a dog to lick and clean their feet after they walk. Ingesting these kind of things could be harmful for your dogs health.

The Good News

The good news is that there are 3 brands of dog boots that come very highly recommended. I wanted to do a top 5 but to be totally honest, these 3 particular brands stand tongue and tails above the rest. All of these companies have a few different styles of boots to cater for your dogs particular needs. There are boots for summer, winter, hiking and trekking, traction or medical needs. You will find top quality products at all of these 3 places. So in no particular order here they are...

Neo-Paws

Made from tough neoprene material with sturdy rubber bases, Neo-Paws is kind of like the Nike of the dog shoe world. They tout worldwide veterinary endorsements for their orthopaedic designs. Catering for Summer, Winter, and Medical problems such as Hip dysplasia. These are a top quality product. The design of the boots are made to cover quite high up and around the dogs legs, which has it's upside and downside. Upside - these boots really do offer great protection. Downside - I have found that my dog actually seems to find it a little difficult to sit down whilst wearing them, making training in these a little difficult - but boy can she run with these on, actually more like fly. There is another point that should be mentioned... they do actually take a good few minutes to put on as they work on a wrapping system to encapsulate the foot with reflective velcro straps for extra security and visibility. It takes a while to get used to putting them on your dog, however, the flip side of this is you're not too likely to have a problem with them coming off.

Muttluks - Fleece X-Small
Amazon Price: $61.95 $41.95 Buy Now
(price as of Aug 10, 2013) For winter comfort, fleece lined Muttluks to keep your dogs feet warm and protected from the harsh winter elements

Muttluks

Arguably, many dog boot officianardos would rank Muttluks as the absolute best. Muttluks is also a little famous for answering the call from the rescuers at Ground Zero and supplying over 850 sets of boots to the 300 Search and Rescue dogs on 9/11. [3]

Having not as much experience with these as I do with Neo-Paws, I can't speak from my own experiences, but if you delve into forums and such about dog boots, you will often find that Muttluks and Neo-Paws customers are often battling it off as to who is the best. To me, it seems that they look a little more comfortable, especially if you're looking for winter protection, as you can buy fleece lined winter Muttluks which sound pretty special. Muttluks are made with self-tightening reflective straps to give a secure fit, leather soles that are soft, flexible, comfortable and offer a more natural fit and feel for your dog. They also sell an all-weather shoe suitable for both hot and cold weather (so you don't have to buy separate boots for winter and summer) which features a nylon exterior. These look the goods as far as comfort goes but even though they say they are extremely long-lasting, I wonder about the leather soles holding out for the long run?

Muttluks All Weather Leather Sole and Toe 3.75-Inch to 4.25-Inch Dog Boots, Large, Yellow, Set of 4
Amazon Price: $56.00 $34.13 Buy Now
(price as of Aug 10, 2013) Muttluks for any type of weather, hot or cold, rain or snow...keep those feet protected and clean.

Ruffwear

Coming in a little pricier than the first two mentioned, Ruffwear boots look very cool. They basically seem to have a summer boot, a winter boot and a super-duper hiking boot. They look as if they would be more comfortable than Neo-Paws and more hard-wearing than Muttluks, which I guess means they fall somewhere in the middle. If you have the extra money they could be what you want, however it seems that Neo-Paws and Muttluks battle it out more in the popularity status.

Ruffwear Grip Trex Boots for Dogs, 3.0-Inch, Granite Gray
Amazon Price: $69.95 $55.96 Buy Now
(price as of Aug 10, 2013) Tough, super sporty and fantastic for dogs that like to go hiking or trekking.

Foot Note (no pun intended)

All 3 brands mentioned are machine washable and will require that you to take specific measurement of your dogs paws before you order. Getting a shoe that fits is not exactly an easy task.

When wearing boots for the first time, your poor dog will walk in ways that will probably find you not being able to contain your laughter. This does wear off as your dog gets used to the feeling. It's difficult to know what your dog is thinking about his or her new shoes.

Whilst I can vouch that my dog doesn't particularly like me putting any kind of designer doggy wear on her, including the shoes, once she gets out and about, they cause her no hinderance and she even seems to believe she can fly. If anything, she seems much more sure-footed and adventuresome.

If you think that providing comfort, stability and protection for your dogs feet might be in order, I think you'll find what you're looking for among these 3 top contenders.