The great adventure of putting on dog boots.

I admit it! I put boots on my guide dog in the winter. It isn't to make a fashion statement. She is cute enough all by herself. So shiny and black and full of personality. I put them on to protect the paws against road salt and other chemicals. Yesterday, I took all 4 boots out and called her to me. Usually she bounces about and it is easy to hear her collar. She started over in usual fashion, sniffed the boots on the floor, and disappeared. It turned out she had not gone far. A few feet. But she was being very quiet just standing there. I called her. She moved slowly a pace or two forward and got within reach. She sighed. I heard it. One boot on. Kibble treat. Next boot she tucked her front paw up close to her body but we got it on. treat. Then she resigned herself to the back feet being handled. Once they were on she dashed down our stairs and stood impatiently by the front door. wanting me to hurry up and get my own boots on. If she had to have boots on, let's go out and get on with it.

Are the dog boots really on the dog paws?

One of the most difficult things for me about having dogs wear their boots, is knowing whether or not the boots are staying on the feet.  The story I told a couple of days ago, illustrates that the first time I tried them on my first guide, I had no idea that I had to check.  I thought that once they were on, they stayed on.  This is not always the case.  If someone with full sight puts boots on their dogs, they can glance down periodically at the paws.  Or perhpas they see a boot flying off or see it in the snow.  I can do none of these things.  One way to check on the status of boots is to feel them periodically.  Maybe at each street corner?  But, this is not an easy task.  Usually, when it is cold enough for my dog to need to wear boots, it is also cold enough that I need to wear thick warm gloves or mittens.  Once they are on, I can't feel the dog boots.  So, I need to stop, remove a mitten, hurriedly touch each foot to see if the boot is still on, and then put the glove back on.  And, if the boot is gone, where is it?  Do I wait outside in the freezing cold to ask someone to look for it?  Or do I just carry on?  I can sometimes hear if a boot is missing by the sound of the dog feet.  This is harder when there are many other sounds in the environment but I have caught this by sound a few times.  I did call my co workers on my cell phone one time to ask if they could keep an eye out on the way out to their cars for boots.  Stories of dog boot adventures continue tomorrow.  Two days of dog boot wearing this week and still all four pawz boots are in place.  Yay Tulia!  Yay me!