While dog footwear may be a bit overkill for the average walk in the park, Ruff Wear’s Bark’n Boots come in handy for extra protection on any long outing with man’s best friend. Read more for our full review.
If you’ve ever taken a dog on a long hiking trip or anywhere that involves ice or very hot pavement, you know that boots can certainly come in handy to save some significant wear and tear on your dog’s paws. We’ve been considering taking the Daily Hiker mascot (A 7 month old German Shepherd) on a hiking trip in the spring and have been interested in something along the lines of the Bark’n Boots from Ruff Wear. So, we recruited the puppy to try these out.
The boots themselves are well made with double stitching all the way around and securely attached velcro. The mesh tops to the boots add some extra ventilation for hot days, and the Vibram soles seemed to provide grip on every surface we brought the dog across. The included storage bag was a nice touch so we don’t lose a boot in the gear closet when not in use.
The first time we put the boots on, our dog wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. She tried to chew at them as expected, but a bit of distraction with a game of fetch helped her get used to the idea pretty quickly. At first, she pranced quite a bit with the boots on, but seemed to forget they were on after about 30 minutes or so.
My only warning is that you need to make sure you readjust the boots 10 minutes or so after you put them on the dog. They tend to move around a bit and can fall off if you don’t readjust them. Once they’re adjusted however, I didn’t have much of a problem with the Bark’n Boots falling off.
Perhaps the nicest side effect of the boots is not having to clean up muddy paws after a hike. While the boots won’t save you if the dog jumps into a lake or deep mud, they do cut down on the amount of dirt tracked into your car after the average hike.
At $59.95, these aren’t the cheapest dog accessory around. However, the added insurance is well worth the money for me as the alternative is carrying a 60 pound dog out to the car. If you don’t plan on taking the dog into the wilderness, Ruff Wear makes another pair of the Bark’n Boots called the Skyliner for every day use at a slightly cheaper price of $49.95.
Product sample provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.
These work great for most conditions. However, they tend to fall off easily in deep snow. I would not recommend these for winter snowshoe outings with man’s best friend.