Boot sizes for Akita

Zinja

I have a 12 year old American Akita. We have wooden floors and she slips all the time and sometimes have difficulty standing up. She also has an environmental allergy problem that will sometimes cause her to lose fur. We have to wipe her paws with baby wipes whenever she comes in.

Anywho: I'm thinking of buying her ruffwear grip-trex boots. Has anyone had any success with these boots? I will get the measurement on her paw this afternoon. What size should I get?

WrylyBrindle

Reilly has a set of grip trex boots. I bought them to keep her feet from getting salty on the winter road. My tips are the following:

- the website has a pdf you can print out to help with sizing. Print it out and put the paper on the floor and have your akita step on it to get the right size. Claws count.
- The boots DO fit better with the socks- I didnt get them at first because I thought it was just to suck more money out of me. but...after we got the socks the boots stayed on. BUT (2.0) I aslo then realixed that the socks are not that special- you could get almost the same performance out of buying thin children's socks at target. (I say almost because what the Official socks have is no heel- and childrens socks sometimes have a heel, which the dogs dont need and will cause a little bunching of material, but if this bunching is above the strap it wont matter. Reilly also has some of my daughter's old toddler socks. Much cheaper- they dont say Ruffwear on them, but they do have puppies on them.
- You can lose boots outside if they dont fit well (Thus the socks.) You can buy a single boot if needed. I have 2 extra boots.
- The boots are flexible and they dont slip on the floor. They are just like a sneaker. They'll take some getting used to and they make a bit more noise than a barefoot dog. The griptrex boots have venty type mesh on top so your dog wont get 'too hot', but considering that dogs can only sweat thru their paws, I think they can get hot feet. Rei only wore hers for walks in winter, so I cant speak to this directly. But I know that I personally like to take off my sneakers and let my feet breathe, so I dont know for how much time in a row the dog will feel comfortable?

Heidi

I don't have any experience with dog boots because none of my dogs has ever needed them, but I know there are items available for adding traction indoors for slick floors.

For indoors you could try these things that stick to the pads to add traction:
http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=0X6X
http://www.puppylovepawpads.com/

And here's a page from the tripawds website about different products that add traction indoors and out. For indoors, I'd probably go with something breathable like socks or pad stickers.
http://gear.tripawds.com/2010/12/21/best-traction-for-tripawds/

Zinja

Awesome guys, thanks for the input! I didn't know I could print out the pawprints. Ninja has never had booties so this will take some time for her to adjust.

Ninja will fall when she bumps into. My main concern is her standing up. She kinda just swims on the hardwood

Do you know any products that can help the elbow shedding problem? My vet says the reason why she is missing hair on her elbows is because she falls down hard on them.

T_Dog

Hmmm. Did she just now in life encounter a wood floor? I took my puppy about four months to stop swimming, now at a year old he has learned to push himself to a sit position and then stand up. After sleeping for a long period he will sometimes still swim. I have bought area rugs and some floor mats. But he likes to sleep on the cool wood. At first he was like bambie on ice, but he is better with it now. I think it was like skying his muscles had to get strong so he could keep his legs together. 12 years old though yours may not be wanting to fight the wood floors anymore. Menards has area rugs for a reasonable price.

Zinja

No, we converted our floors from carpet when she was two. She now slips a lot and has a hard time standing. Shes 12 and we have to help her stand but she sometimes gives up and lays on her side.

shibamistress

Oh, man, that's sad. Poor old girl. It's probably just too hard on her elderly joints. While the boots could help, I wonder if there is a way you could do something else to help her? (I'm thinking the boots might be hard for an elderly dog to adjust to and may add to the walking problem) Is she is one room a lot? Could you get a large area rug or rug runners in the place she is so she has something to grip? Even if it was just something cheap, just for rooms she spends the most time in, it might help her be more comfortable.

Might consider something like that too.

Zinja

We would put a small rug under her for her to grip. It worked for a little bit but sometimes she still wont get up. She moves around the house and even though we have rugs and doggy beds scattered in every room, she would still rather stay on the floor.

shibamistress

Poor girl. It kind of sounds like it might be more than just the floors, you know? I know when my very young guy, Oskar, had the pain in his back, he didn't want to get up either. Neither did my elderly GSD when the pain in his back was too much for him. Is she taking any pain meds? Had back xrays? I'd bet she's in pain from arthritis or something, poor thing. It sounds to me like it is more about her not wanting to get up because it hurts than about the floor itself.

JessicaRabbit

My akita slips and slide on our hardwoods. We knew there was no way he would wear boots. So we bought a few area rugs and connected them with yoga mats. His confidence soared after doing that.