Doggone good footgear

Trail hounds know that two of the most important aspects of backcountry camping are taking care of your feet on the trail, and getting a good night's sleep in camp. This holds true for two-legged hikers, but also for their four-legged companions.

Hiking dogs tend to have resilient feet, but those pads of theirs, while tough, are susceptible to cuts, bruises and abrasions. So hikers venturing into particularly rugged terrain — or hiking over abrasive surfaces (such as crusty snow and ice) — might want to give their canine companions some quality footwear. Ruffwear's Bark'n Boots have long been the wilderness standard for dog booties, and the latest incarnation is the best we've seen yet. The boots are now built on a molded footwear at last, just like human boots, to create a 3-dimensional fit to the dog's foot. And underfoot, Ruffwear developed a new outsole with industry leader Vibram. That's right, your dog can wear Vibram-soled boots, too. These tough rubber outsoles protect the dog's feet from abrasion and bruising, while providing good grip and traction on most surfaces — a vital fact since dogs rely on their claws for grip and traction, but when covered in Cordura boots, the claws are unusable.

We put the Bark'n Boots on a pair of canines who regularly romp in the rough basalt and sagebrush country of Eastern Washington. In fact, the week before the start of testing, both dogs severely tore pads on the sharp desert rocks near Wenatchee.

It took several days for the dogs to grow accustomed to the boots — we found letting them get used to having just their back feet covered first helped. But once accustomed to the boots, they were unhindered in their wilderness ramblings. They also were uninjured from that point forward.

Finally, we found the boots were great first-aid tools. If a dog's foot has to be bandaged, the boots were excellent protective covers for the bandages. Not only do they keep the dog from chewing the bandages, they keep the bandages from being shredded by the terrain.

The Bark'n Boots are available in seven sizes to fit virtually any dog. Just measure your dog's foot at its widest point (have it stand on paper, then mark the sides of the feet) and order the appropriate size. The boots run $59.95 for a set of four — much less than the cost of a visit to the vet! See www.ruffwear.com.

With the dog's feet taken care of, you'll want to make sure it gets a good night's sleep, too (or it will be tossing and turning, keeping you awake). Enter REI and its new dog product line. The REI Adventure Dog Dream Bed is a self-inflating sleeping pad made specifically for dogs. My 65-pound Lab found the medium to be perfectly sized. The 1.75-inch thick self-inflating pad is enclosed within a tough, puncture-resistant nylon cover. Even when Parka decided to dig at the bed to scratch it into a more comfortable position, she didn't damage the inner pad. The Adventure Dog pad measures 27 by 36 inches and weighs 2.5 pounds. The medium bed retails for $50. www.rei.com

— Dan A. Nelson, special to The Seattle Times

Freelancer Dan A. Nelson, of Puyallup, is a regular contributor to Backpacker magazine, and an author of outdoor guides with The Mountaineers Books. For the purpose of review, gear manufacturers lend products, which are returned after a typical use of four to six weeks. There is no payment from manufacturers and they have no control over the content of reviews. Contact Dan with gear-related questions at gearguy@adventuresnw.net.