I seldom need protection from snow and ice, but I use Musher's Secret on my dogs' pads when we run in the sand. I find it protects their feet the same way that waxing my boots makes them last longer. Musher's Secret is easy to use and I prefer it over boots as long as there are no sand spurs.
On long trips I use it to make sure my dogs' feet hold up for the entire hunt. It's a great product.
Transcript from Steve's Video:
We're looking at Mushers Secret today. It's one of my favorite products for dog pads. Dogs' pads are really the most important part about them from a running standpoint. You've got to have them in good condition. You've got to have them where they can hold up under a lot of pressure.
I do a lot of hunting in really dry environments, so I deal with a lot of sand. Mushers Secret was originally designed for dogs to run in the snow. The concept behind it was that you'd put the Musher Secret, a wax type product, in between the pads and it would keep snow and ice from forming inside the dog's pads. That was the original design for it.
But what I use it for is to condition the pads so that they can be protected from sand burn. It's not uncommon if I have a dog whose pads are not in good shape at the beginning of the season for them to blow a pad. That's where the top of the pad gets ripped off and you are down for about two weeks if your pads come apart like that.
So Musher Secret, to me, the best way to explain it, it's kind of like waxing a boot. It keeps the pads strong and supple. That's just really what it feels like. I put in on my dogs prior to running them. When you get through after an hour, hour and a half, when you look at the pads you can just see the difference between them. Like I said, the best way to describe it is taking a pair of boots and they are dried out, old, and they are going to crack. Pads will do the exact same thing. So Mushers Secret is a great product for that. I use it especially early in the season and it keeps my dogs' pads in great shape.
