Dog Shoes and The Treehouse

My mother was born in 1919 on an estate in rural Saskatchewan, where she lived until she was a teenager. When she was a child, an older brother gave her a baby goat as a pet. The goat was her companion and played alongside her during the day and slept in her room at night.

Until one day:

“The goat began to smell,” my mom explained. “Then it ate all the flowers out of my mother’s window boxes. I had to give her back to the herd. It broke my heart, but she was an animal and didn’t belong in the house.”

Likely she’d be dismayed that I’d just spent the better part of a month trying to get my two Golden Retrievers to wear shoes.

In February, my husband and I found our dream house. It’s a three-story home built in the trees, with a mountain view, privacy and newly built. It checked off many of the items on our must-have list: it’s at the end of a quiet street, with a gourmet kitchen, lovely bathrooms, high ceilings, large windows and beautiful maple solid wood trim throughout. We agreed this was the house we’ve been dreaming of, the one that is the reward for leapfrogging through multiple houses since 2019. The Treehouse, as we call it, is Peter’s ninth home purchase, and my tenth.

It was love at first sight, but we had reservations about buying it. Why? Because the home has gorgeous acacia floors. We have two Golden Retrievers, Graham and Gouda--feisty, active dogs with shedding fur and nails that click, click, click, and are guaranteed to scratch wood floors.

Rehoming the pups was not a consideration; well, not a serious one anyway, so it was necessary to find a way to accommodate the dogs in The Treehouse. In early March I traded three doses of Simparica-Trio for a Dremel nail grinder with my friend Kristin, who shares her home with Rosie the Golden Retriever, a playmate for my Gouda. I packed the Dremel in a moving box and I can’t find it. Last week I told my dentist I haven’t found the Water Pik either because I’m too busy trying to keep shoes on my dogs’ paws. While we are certain that Kristin’s Rosie won’t get ticks or fleas, I understand the Dremel, like the Water Pik, is only one line of defense against destruction.

“Just relax,” our British friend Clare said to Peter and me one lovely evening on her lakeview deck. “Houses are meant to be lived in. Just enjoy your new home and don’t worry about a few scratches.”

Great advice Clare. But these acacia wood floors are spectacular and need protection. We began looking for shoes for Graham and Gouda to wear while inside the house.

We boarded them for them for several days during the move and wanted their paws covered the moment they entered The Treehouse. After some research, we ordered two sets of DOK TigerToes™ Premium Non-Slip Dog Socks through Amazon, medium for Gouda, and large for Graham. The socks have great reviews, and a set for four paws costs $17.99. The selling feature is the tread, which covers all sides of the sock, so that even if twisted the tread will continue to provide solid footing on wood floors. Reviewers raved.

The socks are held in place by Velcro. You pull a sock onto a paw and secure it in place. Initially Graham and Gouda were patient, if a bit mystified, with the process, which involves shoving each paw into a sock and pulling it up as far up the leg as possible, then securing the sock with the attached Velcro strap. Much paw shaking and tap-tapping took place. Rather than bounding through three flights of stairs, they were subdued, almost dainty, with strides best described as mincing. I quickly ordered a second set for each dog.

“There,” we agreed smugly. “That solves the problem.”

Until it didn’t. Golden Retrievers are mischievous devils.

If they are inside the house, even lounging on one of the three decks, they must be shod. The fourth evening in The Treehouse the weather was dry so they spent time on the upper deck while we enjoyed dinner and a glass or two of champagne.  They had bones and toys, Magpie the cat and the sounds of nature to entertain them.

After dinner we realized Graham had chewed the Velcro strap off one of the socks. Gouda had gnawed a hole through one of hers. We should have known Gouda couldn’t be trusted to leave the socks alone—she’s a textile girl. Before we wised up to her habits, she ate portions of several once-fabulous Oriental rugs. Christmas morning 2022 we discovered she had snacked on sheetrock. Left untended, she is a destroyer. But she sure is cute.

The highly rated TigerToes™ socks weren’t going to work, especially as the damage continued after Peter sewed the Velcro strap back onto Graham’s sock and fixed the hole in Gouda’s. For those keeping track, we spent $72 on four sets of these, not including sales tax. And our dilemma was not resolved.

We needed better shoes.

As an aside, the dogs wear shoes or socks only inside the house. We remove the paw coverings before we take the pups for a walk or a brief jaunt into the woods for a potty break. Removing then replacing the socks or shoes adds long minutes to the process of taking them to do their business. That’s time we could be doing something, or nothing, else.

The pups think this is a fun game. There’s lots of excitement and games of chase and Keep Away from My Paws are afoot. (Pardon my pun.)

During the TigerToes™ experiment I brought Gouda to Kristin’s house for a playdate with Rosie. We do these at Kristin’s lakeview house (she lives next door to Clare) because Kristin doesn’t cringe when the pups track mud across her white carpet. Kristin is a kind and patient soul.

She asked how the shoe wearing was working. I explained.

Later that afternoon Kristin went to PetCo. There she found YOULY™ shoes for dogs, which are adorable bright yellow, waterproof silicone shoes. She sent me a photo and later that day Peter ordered two sets of these shoes. Each set contains four shoes for $19.99. He picked them up at the store the next day and we put them on their paws. Again, there was much shaking, clomping and mincing.

We ordered a second round for each dog. We spent, pretax, $80 for four sets of these shoes.

But did they work?

Sort of.

Again, the Velcro straps are fasteners designed for Golden Destruction. Made of silicone, these boots are much tougher, but can be easily chewed or torn by a dog who is either bored or doesn’t want to wear shoes. One morning during the first week of YOULY™ boots, Peter noticed one of Gouda’s shoes was missing. We searched everywhere, and we couldn’t find the shoe. Gouda and Graham thought the search was an exciting game certain to end with cookies, so they accompanied us while we looked for the shoe.

“I’ll bet she ate it,” Peter said confidently.

I entered a state of quiet panic, envisioning a trip to the (expensive) emergency vet and (expensive) lifesaving surgery to remove a bright yellow silicone shoe, which would never digest properly.

We went upstairs to the kitchen. Peter set about making lattes. I took Gouda and Graham out to the deck.

 “Where’s your shoe?” I asked Gouda.

She ran to the end of the deck and disappeared behind the smoker. She emerged with that missing shoe in her mouth. We were so happy.

She’s a very smart dog. They both are. They got cookies.

It didn’t take the retrievers (who don’t retrieve) long to figure out how to open the Velcro on these shoes. This prompted a trip to Joann Fabrics where I purchased three yards of one-inch-wide Velcro. I use this to double bind the shoes to their paws.

But even with the extra Velcro they can still figure out how to get those shoes off. It’s not unusual to see one or both dogs running through the house with at least one shoe missing. Often Gouda has one in her mouth.

We embarked on a deeper search for dog shoes. There must be some foolproof shoes out there, shoes that can outwit Golden Retrievers. How hard can that possibly be?

Last week we went to the REI store. They have trail shoes and boots for dogs. Unlike TigerToes™ or YOULY™ shoes, which come in sets of four, the REI Ruffwear™ trail shoes come in sets of two.

At $34.95 for two shoes, these must be great.

After much deliberation, we settled on a set of large trail shoes in blue, yellow and green for Graham, and a pair of medium blue shoes for Gouda. We decided to put the REI shoes on their front paws and continue to use the YOULY™ yellow shoes for their back paws, then decide if it’s worth buying more REI shoes. So, we spent $70 for four shoes, pretax, then another bunch of money on new (adorable) collars and a $30 membership fee, as we correctly assumed there will be more dog shoe purchases at REI in our future.

I want to say these are great shoes. They are good looking. They go on easily. They come off quickly. I hear my dogs clomping and mincing through the house, even without my hearing aids. But are they hardy?

Graham chewed off the Velcro ties on both shoes the first time he wore them.

We’re getting good at sewing Velcro back together.

This afternoon I plan to order a set of REI trail boots for each dog. The price? $39.95 for two boots. Pretty soon they’ll have more shoes than me and we’ll be broke.

But we might have scratch-free acacia floors in The Treehouse.

My next quest—after I find the Dremel and the Water Pik—will be to find the Holy Grail of dog deodorizers. Because they smell and despite my attempts to keep them clean, there are days when they overpower the fresh wood smell of The Treehouse.

 I wonder what my mother would think.

(the floors are safe when they are sleeping)