Stopper pads?

[whirlwind]

Hi, this is my first post in this section.

I have an 18 month old springer/ collie, she's the first dog I've owned/ trained myself although always had dogs as a family. She's a super little dog, obviously really busy and energetic as you would expect from the breed combo! This in itself isn't a problem, as we live on a farm, and as a riding instructor she's with me all day everyday. She's been amazingly easy to train, comes out in hacks with me, goes to a fun Flyball club every week and goes out on the farm with my partner following the quad or just messing around with the other dogs.

However I'm finding I have 2 main problems with her, she's impossible to keep any weight in and is totally uninterested in food, she's fed on field and trial and has halfa tin of wet food on a morning which she'll normally eat most of. On an evening (when the other dogs get fed as well) she's not interested. If I feed her with the others she'll pick at her feed a bit, until she gets pushed off it. The obvious answer would be to separate her to feed but if I do that she won't eat anything unless I put wet meat down. I'm reluctant to feed her on a diet purely of wet meat as to much seems to upset get tummy and have read lots about it not being good for their teeth.

The other issue is the pads at the back of her front legs (I think these are referred to as stopped pads but may be wrong) if she's had a busy week these seem to crack/ cut real easy and make her sore. It's hard to rest her because of the way we keep them but if I've tested her for a day or 2 they clear up but are back to bring sore whenever she does a lot. Any ideas as to what I can do to protect them/ help them to heal would be great, thank you.

A picture of her for reading through that essay! Hopefully this works

http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/a...1468255698158_zpstvogda1c.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I'm sure someone else will answer but my old dog wouldn't eat kibble and I don't blame him. He had wet food for the last 6 years of his life plus bones and he had brilliant teeth-never needed a dental. If she wants wet food, let her have it- or stick her on raw with some tripe?

 

[Alec Swan]

Her condition looks excellent and she's a credit to you! You're worrying over weight and without reason.

Pads? It can be tricky. The temptation is to apply some sort of ointment but all that'll do is soften the pads and make matters worse. In your shoes, I'd leave them as they are. We're having a rather wet summer, and with the constant application of water, so her pads are remaining soft. If they become sore then that'll slow her down a bit, which won't do any harm. She'll let you know when things become uncomfortable, and then the answer will be up to her!

She's a very smart little woofer!

Alec.

 

[AmyMay]

If we ever have a 'tricky' eater we pop a little natural yoghurt on their food. It's never failed to work.

 

[Clodagh]

She is lovely, and doesn't look skinny to me.
Food wise, if she is not interested then I would go for a really good kibble, you can get some really hefty meat based ones. (Millieswolfheart are not much more than skinners and they do a 70/30 meat based one for poor doers.

 

[Aru]

She looks like ideal weight in that pic. fit opposed to skinny. Can you feel her spine?or the first few ribs?ideally you should be able to feel the ribs under a thin layer of fat....if you good body condition score you can see where she lies on that but dogs are much better off at a 2.5 on the body condition scale then a 3.5 or 4!I wouldn't be concerned about her weight at this age especially considering the amount of exercise she is doing.neither collies or spaniels are not naturally designed to be fat!they are designed to go all day and a light lean frame is ideal for this.

Like Alex said about pads there's not a lot you can do lotion wise as you will just soften the pads and you need them to callus further not soften...but if very bad I have heard good things about mushers ointment?i think it's called. Il have to look it up...or maybe someone on here will recognise it?Basically just a waxy layer you can add to paws to reduce the friction burn.she would need to have been rested and the raw cracks heal before adding something like that though.

Very nice looking dog!

 

[whirlwind]

Thank you for all replies/ suggestions! I'm about to hose the little ratbag off when she returns from sheep duties (she's fairly rubbish with them to be fair, but likes to think she's being helpful!) so I'll try to get a more accurate picture of her then, might be able to see more wet. I can count her ribs and feel most of her spine/ hipbones, but as you've all said, she has plenty of energy and I'd rather see her lean then fat!

Pads don't seem too bad at the moment, I've laid off the ball throwing as that's what seems to really cut them as opposed to her just being out and about. Hopefully they'll toughen up by themselves and if not I'll look into the waxes and things suggested but am wary about softening them has been suggested.

 

[Karran]

My Working Cocker was exactly the same, her hips, spine and ribs would be quite visible despite having three meals a day and a bed time treat.
She is a busy little dog always on the go but people come up to me and tell me that I must not feed her or that she needs worming. It did help moving her to Natural Instinct Working Dog - we lost the visible hips and spine but I've come to terms now that we're always gonna have some ribs showing!