Barbie's new Booties

Last time we took Barbie camping we went on a hike. It was hot and the road was rough on her feet. She got very tender and once she had cooled down she did her best to walk around with us, gingerly.

We have a road trip coming up, so I decided that I would buy her some booties. The only booties I had seen were the Ruffwear ones, and their sizing goes on the width of the dog's foot. I thought that they probably wouldn't fit Barbie's long, skinny sighthound feet very well.

A bit of searching on the internet and I found some booties that are sized by the length of the dog's foot called Muttluks - so I decided to give them a try. I ordered them hoping they would arrive with plenty of time to get Barbie used to wearing them - they were coming from Queensland and they arrived 3 days later! I was very impressed with the postage time! The shop was topdogs.com.au if any Aussie people want to order stuff from them.

When the package arrived, naturally Bender thought it was for him. Ever since I opened a package that had a collar for him years ago, he thinks all packages are his.

The instructions that came with the booties suggested that you put the boots on one at a time - starting with a front foot and leaving it on for 5 minutes, then putting one on the opposite back foot. I put two on and Barbie went back to her default position of lying on her sleeping bag.

I decided we would have to go on a proper walk for her to learn how to walk in them, otherwise she would just lie there. What could she acclimatise to if she wasn't even using her feet?
I put all four on, but she shook two of them off by the time we had gotten to the top of the hill - I must not have done the velcro up tight enough. She did the rest of the walk with two on - and by coincidence it was the front and diagonally opposed back foot. She actually did really well, though she did stop a few times to gnaw on the front boot! I told her off and she went back to walking.

This is a good sign. When I was trying to walk her in a harness she was walking slowly, and stopping because it was bothering her. She was, if anything, more animated than usual on the first walk with the booties on, because I revved her up a bit after I put them on her. Boots mean fun!

They seem to fit her well, though I think her rear paws are a bit smaller than the front, so the rear one she had on moved around a bit as she walked. I need to pay more attention to pulling the velcro straps tight around those skinny ankles of hers!

Hopefully you all approve of the lovely purple colour. I think Bender is a bit jealous now, I was going to get him Ruffwear shoes but I am not sure he will take to having booties on his feet as quickly as Barbie seems to be.