I made it a whole season without booting my dog. Our land we hunt has lots of CRP so we didn't have to hit cactus flats where we deer hunt. We let the birds in those flats be free only cause the hunting was good on the easy terrain. I'm wanting introduce my dog to boots this summer. She's never run them. Which boots do yall use?

It's your best dogs feet so use the best boot, Lewis Dog Boots.

how to boot a dog

You might need practice for yourself but I have never seen a dog take more than a few minutes to adjust.

You'll be surprised how your dog will learn to run through cactus. Let him out there unbooted a few times. It won't take long and he'll be sprinting with very few thorns. Grassburs are whAt get mine. I'm a LEWIS fan too.

Never boot in cactus, just carry curved needle nose pliers and pull them out when they come in, but we had burrs so bad this season that we had to boot every dog every time and what a nightmare it was for us and the dogs. Settled on Scott boots from Gun Dog Supply for the sand burrs but they do not turn thorns. You can wrap them with good duct tape though and they do some better. This boot does less harm to the top of the foot than others I tried. Got to tape any of them on or you will lose them. If I was just hunting one day, duct tape is hard to beat but it will take the hair off a hard runner's feet if you have to use it every time like the deal I got into this season. Our dogs took to being booted and running in them immediately, no need to waste your time fooling with them off season because if you put them on to where they don't let the bad stuff inside, the dog pays them no attention whatsoever. Just be sure to start with a clean boot on a clean foot and leave yourself a little tab on the tape wrap to pull it off with and keep a sharp pocket knife to cut the tape off in cold weather. It is not fun but if you gotta do it to hunt you will get good at it quick. (or go home)

Lewis Dog Boot is the only way to go IMO.

Nothing stops big cactus spines. Especially when it is damp. Lewis boots offer more protection than anything. They are good for caliche and lava. Scott boots are the easiest to put on. They are all you need to deal with sand spurs and sore pads. Bike tires are the cheapest and somewhere between Lewis and Scott.
You can make duct tape boots, but must first cover the foot and ankle with reverse duct tape, then put tape sticky side down over that.
This is hard to do with an uncooperative dog--best practice making the boots before you get in the field.
Also, if you have a wife who sews, you can knock off scott boots. You don't need the velcro top, just put on a cuff of reversed duct tape above the foot so that the boot covers half the the tape when put on. Then wrap top of boot with sticky down tape.

Ha, thanks guys. I thought she had to learn to run in boots. I was way off.

When I think of all the knowledge I've gained from bird hunting vs all the knowledge my dog has gained I realize I had to learn much more then she did:)

She sure has taught me a lot this year. I could've hit those birds in that cactus just a soon as I got those boots on but just didn't know:)

It's too late now for some but they are a lot easier to put on without dew claws.

Cactus has never really bothered my dogs. They are raised around it. Sand and grass burrs though will hurt them fast.
I hate to use them but if in sandy burr country we use Lewis brand.

I've actually had experienced dogs stop hunting in the field and wait for you to come over and boot them when they run into a lot of spurs.

Use duct tape, only if spurs are bad.

I heard the guy that owns Lewis was quitting making the boots because he couldn't find anybody to work for him. I think they are pretty hard to find these days, but they are by far the best boot made.

On a side note, a boot is only as good as the tape you put on it. Warm your duct tape up on your dashboard before you put the boots on (heats up the glue) and you'll have a lot more success getting them to stay on.

I'm friends with Steve Snell, the owner at Gun Dog Supply, he said the owner is an older guy and has been pretty sick. He may be down employees as well, they cant make them fast enough. I know of a lot of people that are looking for more boots. If I had the money, I would probably consider buying that guy out and selling them, as many as they sell, he has to be making some sort of profit.

Some friends of mine and I have been thinking the same thing about buying him out. I'm surprised Snell hasn't, because he has an easy medium to sell them. Like you say, it has to be fairly profitable.

I asked him about that, if someone like him bought out Lewis, he could really corner the market. He would literally be the only gun dog supplier that sold Lewis, everybody would have to go through him. He said he didn't think it was doable.