I hope one of you highly experienced people can help me with what maybe a stupidly obvious question 

I run my 1 sib sam with a scooter and on smooth surfaces he runs fine but on the the bits of the tail with small patches of gravel he slows and try to avoid it, this is no problem as he just moves to the side of the trail.. I was wondering though about the use of boots are they for the protection of injuries or can they be used for less sympathetic surfaces.

Cheers Matt

I sometimes use booties on one of my dogs if I know that the trail is a bit rough, it seems to give her the confidence to run.

You have you be careful of the surface though as booties can mean less grip for the dog and more chance of slipping.

Thanks Brian its not a bad trail it is just the fine gravel in a few places that seems to irritate his feet rather than hurt or damage them.

Any recommendations on which boots are best ?

Cheers Matt

I've tried a few types (Cordura, Denim, Goretex) and prefer the Toughtek 9000 boots.

http://www.dogbooties.com/products/toug90boot.html

They're tough and the velstretch makes putting the boot on real easy.

I bought about 50 off Ali Spowart several years ago when he imported a huge pile of dogboots and it's only just this season that I've worked my way through them. I was getting 2 or 3 runs before the boot wore down...

  many thanks

Matt

It may also be worth doing some other work on rougher surfaces so your boy's feet harden up gradually or you can use some paw wax which helps to protect feet on a temporary basis.

Liz