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I never anticipated being someone who put clothes on their dog. I didn’t necessarily choose this life, it chose me. We live in Wisconsin, and a few weeks ago, we were in the heart of some very frigid temperatures right after a snowstorm. This led to the ground being covered in ice with sharp edges. Our 5-month-old puppy was no longer enjoying being outside how he used to. It was time to train our dog to wear shoes. Over the last few weeks a lot of people have asked how we did it, so here’s how.
Why a dog should wear shoes
I don’t walk around outside barefoot. I live in the city, and that is frowned upon when you live in the city. My feet are soft, they’re not calloused, and stepping on a rock will lead to a string of colorful language. Our 5-month-old puppy gets a lot of time outside but when he’s inside he’s on soft carpets and flat hard surfaces that don’t exactly build strong pads. For us, protecting our dog’s feet is about keeping him safe. When it’s cold and icy, he can enjoy being out longer without having to stop and clean the ice and snow from between his pads. It’s also all too common to stumble upon broken glass on the sidewalk. Again, keeping our dog’s feet protected like ours in these instances feels like a no-brainer. Last, we plan to take our dog hiking with us regularly and he’ll be asked to traverse all kinds of terrain beyond the soft grass in our front yard.
What you’ll need
- Dog Treats
- Proper Fitting Shoes
- Patience
Before the shoes
Within a few days of getting your puppy, once they’ve started to trust you, it’s time to start setting them up for success by playing with their ears, paws, and tail. These are things little kids might do and the vet will certainly do. Giving dog kibble throughout helps build a positive association. If your dog is older, you can still train this, it just might take a little longer to teach the older dog new tricks and maybe a higher-value treat.
Starting with shoes
Now that you have properly fitting shoes for your dog, it’s time to introduce them. Again, kibble is a great reward for making this positive. Hold the shoes near your dog and any time they sniff them or touch them with their nose, they get a treat. After a few rounds of this, take the shoe and gently touch your dog’s paw with the shoes, again, treating along the way. If your dog gets nervous at any point, that’s a good time to stop and make a plan to pick back up later. You can’t rush to get them on their feet if you want it to last. We knew Bodie was ready to put them on when he chose to chew on a bone over interacting with his shoes.
Putting Shoes on Your Dog
Putting shoes on your dog for the first time might require a partner. Courtney held a peanut butter-filled Kong while I took care of the paws. Make sure to have the velcro and zippers completely open before even grabbing their paw. You want this to be as seamless and little jostling as possible for your dog. Slide a paw in and once the shoe is secured, give them a second to check it out. We allowed Bodie to sniff and lick his shoe but if he put his teeth on it, we gave a “leave it” command and tossed a treat down away from the shoe. If your dog seems nervous about it, it’s okay to stop with one shoe for this go and slowly add more later. Again, you can’t rush this if you want them to be okay with it.
The Shoes are on your dog
You’ve practiced your patience and now have shoes on your dog. Quick, get your video but then it’s time to move. We grabbed treats and called Bodie to us just a few feet away. He’s food motivated so even though his gate was as expected, strange, he came over and got his treat. Within a few minutes, Bodie was walking normally barring a few sporadic wild steps. If you are giving your dog treats, their mind will begin to leave the weird things on their feet and start to focus on the food. By not focusing so much on their feet, their walk will adapt faster. By utilizing this method we were able to get Bodie in shoes and out for a quick walk around the block within a few hours. A few weeks later, he now knows when he sees his shoes that he’s going to go outside for an adventure and sometimes even offers his paws to us. To fully ingrain a positive association, we are continuing to give treats even though he doesn’t think much of it at this point. A big key we’ve learned is to not stop giving treats when they get it right.
