If you ever wanted...
to know what a Dog Boot looks like.
Yes, that's right.
A Dog Boot.
It looks like this:
Now, please. Before you start posting those comments in with harsh comparisons to Paris Hilton's Chihuahua, animal cruelty and downright stupidity. Stop!
And consider for a moment...
This is not what you think it is.
This boot is for medicinal purposes.
I know that's what Aunty Mabel used to say about the bottle of cooking sherry tucked into the toilet cistern, but honestly, this really is.
In Scout's never-ending quest to find excuses to go and visit her favourite
Vet where she is plied with lovin' and gourmet treats (because she never gets that at home..it's a veritable Spartan bootcamp here) she somehow managed to find the only smouldering cigarette butt in 44 hectares of parkland and step on it, resulting in a nasty burn.
(I know that readers of Needles Edge who smoke would never even think about dropping a burning butt into the mulch at a dogpark).
So after a couple of days of home-treatments and Scout perfecting the pitiful three-legged hobble, she convinced me this was a case best left to the professionals.
"She's going to need a boot" the vet informs me, and before I have a chance to digest this info she's disappeared and returned, tugging at what appear to be laces on something small and black in her hands.
"These are RM Williams" she says as she deftly fits the toilet-roll-size tube of black leather onto Scout's recalcitrant paw.
"You're kidding"! I reply, knowing she's an old leg-puller (or in this case paw-puller) from way back.
Turns out RM Williams does dog boots.
Apparently they're for the working dogs out in the paddocks all day to prevent paw problems.
By now I'd not only gotten used to the idea, but actually started thinking it would be pretty cool (Scout could herd sheep! Just like a Kelpie!), but wouldn't you know - it's a size too small, and the last pair! Needless to say, it's the vet and I who are disappointed and not Scout.
"This isn't as cute, but a bit more...Adidas" the Vet assures me as she bustles back in with the sporty model pictured above.
Well, at least it "fits"
By the time it came to pay the bill and go, Scout was not having a bar of it.
I was perfectly free to leave and go home but there was no way she was coming with me, especially not with this damn fool thing on her foot.
And no amount of encouragement would prevent Scout from doing a mad three-legged-hobble combined with a manic Rimmer esque saluting thing with the offending paw stuck out in front.
The result?
She'd chewed through the buckle and got it off in the back seat before I even drove out of the carpark.
Scout does her Inscrutable Sphinx impression in the morning sun, sans boot thank you.
Yes, that's right.
A Dog Boot.
It looks like this:
Now, please. Before you start posting those comments in with harsh comparisons to Paris Hilton's Chihuahua, animal cruelty and downright stupidity. Stop!
And consider for a moment...
This is not what you think it is.
This boot is for medicinal purposes.
I know that's what Aunty Mabel used to say about the bottle of cooking sherry tucked into the toilet cistern, but honestly, this really is.
In Scout's never-ending quest to find excuses to go and visit her favourite
Vet where she is plied with lovin' and gourmet treats (because she never gets that at home..it's a veritable Spartan bootcamp here) she somehow managed to find the only smouldering cigarette butt in 44 hectares of parkland and step on it, resulting in a nasty burn.
(I know that readers of Needles Edge who smoke would never even think about dropping a burning butt into the mulch at a dogpark).
So after a couple of days of home-treatments and Scout perfecting the pitiful three-legged hobble, she convinced me this was a case best left to the professionals.
"She's going to need a boot" the vet informs me, and before I have a chance to digest this info she's disappeared and returned, tugging at what appear to be laces on something small and black in her hands.
"These are RM Williams" she says as she deftly fits the toilet-roll-size tube of black leather onto Scout's recalcitrant paw.
"You're kidding"! I reply, knowing she's an old leg-puller (or in this case paw-puller) from way back.
Turns out RM Williams does dog boots.
Apparently they're for the working dogs out in the paddocks all day to prevent paw problems.
By now I'd not only gotten used to the idea, but actually started thinking it would be pretty cool (Scout could herd sheep! Just like a Kelpie!), but wouldn't you know - it's a size too small, and the last pair! Needless to say, it's the vet and I who are disappointed and not Scout.
"This isn't as cute, but a bit more...Adidas" the Vet assures me as she bustles back in with the sporty model pictured above.
Well, at least it "fits"
By the time it came to pay the bill and go, Scout was not having a bar of it.
I was perfectly free to leave and go home but there was no way she was coming with me, especially not with this damn fool thing on her foot.
And no amount of encouragement would prevent Scout from doing a mad three-legged-hobble combined with a manic Rimmer esque saluting thing with the offending paw stuck out in front.
The result?
She'd chewed through the buckle and got it off in the back seat before I even drove out of the carpark.
Scout does her Inscrutable Sphinx impression in the morning sun, sans boot thank you.
posted by Carson at 6:07 pm
12 Comments:
The probabilities on Scout managing to step on that butt would be staggering, of course, but I'm sure you've considered that.
Dropping a lit cigarette pretty much anywhere in the country makes me feel, well, faint.
And I smoke.
you are having a shocker with scout! sounds harder than children... we have 2 dogs, 2 kids and 1 cat. mad, i tell you, mad. hope she is on the mend soon - or just knit an "all in one" that goes over her head, shoulders, back, tail, etc... (or is that a straight jacket... hmm, i digress)
Aw Scoutie--boots. So much indignity for one dog to bear. I hope her little foot's ok, and I sympathize with the gnawing: one time Bailey, having stepped on some glass, chewed off her cone collar, and then chewed off her bandages, and then chewed out her stitches.
(I secretly think Bailey's a Kelpie, by the way.)
Poor pup! Too bad she can't understand the Offensive Leg Choker is meant to help!
Sled dogs have to wear booties to protect their pads from the ice, and they sell house-dog versions up here for winter-time walks; I can't say my dog liked the idea too well either. He just stood there looking pained, shifting from one foot to another, refusing to move in any direction.
Hope she heals up quickly!
Oh, poor Scout, to have to suffer the indignity of a dog boot. Carson, this post made me laugh so hard I cried. I think it was the fact that she had the thing ripped off in the car that did it.
I do hope her wee paw heals, and please give her a scritches for me. And maybe a treat, you big ole Spartan meanie. *grin*
Poor Scout! I hope her foot heals quickly! I'm sure she forgives both you and the vet for the horrible indignity of the dog boot. She's very pretty in her photo.
Poor thing! I hope she heals soon. It's always so hard to explain why such and annoying thing really is good for you dog.
I know from experience how much dogs hate footwear since Mister needs little "socks" when it hits -30 C in the winter. He always does a pitiful little dance when I put them on but luckily once he gets outside, they don't bother him anymore.
Just don't start thinking that the dog is holding out for hand-knitted cabled boots. I'm totally impressed that you're taking on those socks.
As for dog for-their-own-good stories, I remember my father not wanting to pay for the cone collar when our dog had some stitches, so he bought a bucket at the hardware store, cut out the bottom, drilled some holes around the bottom, and tied it to her collar with string. Poor thing got used to it pretty quickly, and although in some ways, it looked a little friendlier than the collar, but it didn't hold still like the cone collar - it sat on her head the whole time and knocked around when she ran around. Very silly.
Oh, the poor little pretty! I've never seen her before, she is gorgeous. Hope her paw feels better soon.
Oh dear- poor Scout. We should start a campaign to change that saying about teaching dogs new tricks to refer to dogs not wearing shoes they don't like...
A smoldering cigarette in a park? That's just WRONG.
You know, I thought that boot was kinda cool when I saw it, but R.M. Williams? Wow. I had the dress boots from them. I heard they don't make them in Australia anymore. That's true?
Hope Scout gets better soon. Give him a kiss for me.
What a wonderful dog - she has got such a Mona Lisa smile - maybe that's Mona's secret too! You've got to admire the cunning and persistence of our doggie friends. I hope her paw is better soon.
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