Muttluks All Weather Dog Boots

 Initial Report – May 21, 2004

 

 

Tester Information:

Name: Jason Boyle
Age:  26
Gender: Male
Height: 5’ 6”/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Email address: c4jc@hotmail.com
City, State, Country: Waldorf, Maryland, U.S.

Backpacking Background:

I have been camping and backpacking for about 15 years.  I started with the Boy Scouts when I was 11.  I first started hiking mostly in the southeastern United States (Florida, Alabama, Georgia).  Later, I went to college in Connecticut and became versed in the New England outdoors.  I currently live near Washington D.C. and hike and backpack in the Mid Atlantic Mountains.  I have been section hiking the Appalachian Trail and have completed all of the Connecticut and Maryland sections, and I am currently working on the Virginia section. I used to carry everything and the kitchen sink, but I have become weight conscious in recent years and have attempted to lighten my load.

 

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Muttluks

Model: All Weather Dog Boots

Size: Medium, 7.25 x 3.0 in (18.4 x 7.62 cm) measured from toe to the end of the cuff
                        and from side to side at the widest point.

         Small,      6.5 x 2.875 in (16.51 x 7.3 cm)

Year of Manufacture: 2004

URL: www.muttluks.com

Listed weight:  None given 

Measured weight: Medium 4 oz (113 g) Small 3 oz (85 g) for all four shoes
**Disclaimer: the closest my scale will measure is in whole ounces**

MSRP: Medium $35.16 Small $33.36 US Dollars

 

Dog Testers:

 

Name: Cody Boyle

Breed: Mixed – Black Lab/German Shepard

Age: 5

Weight: 58 pounds (26.31 kg)

Boot Size: Medium

 

Name: Maggie Boyle

Breed: Mixed – Springer Spaniel/Border Collie

Age: 3

Weight: 46 pounds (20.87  kg)

Boot Size: Small

 

Arrival:

            The dog boots arrived in a light brown Fed Ex envelope.  Actually, a note arrived first saying that I had a package, and my wife graciously went and picked the package up for me.  Inside the envelope were two sets of dog boots one small set and one medium set.  Each set was in its own mesh bag that had a hangtag specifying the size of boots in the bag. 

Sewn to the top of the mesh bag is a rectangular piece of fabric that advertises the type of boots.  Muttluks is in the upper right hand corner of the tag with the “Muttt” portion of the word in red and the “luks” portion of the word in white. Right next to the “Muttluks” is a picture of a person dogsledding behind a train of four dogs.  In the upper left had corner is the words “All Weather” surrounded by a yellow box.  The bottom of the tag says “high quality boots for dogs and Manufactured in Canada with a Canadian Maple leaf in between the two phrases.  The back of the tag has all of the same information except it is written in another language, which I believe is French. 

Also inside the bag was a trifold of advertising/instructions.  The trifold consisted of six sides of information.  The outside main panel was very similar to the tag on the mesh bag except the information was arranged a little differently.  When the trifold was opened the Muttluks story (history of the company) was on the left panel and a paw-fitting chart was on the center panel. The center panel opens to reveal a hand drawn picture of the boot with various descriptions as well as fitting instructions and washing instructions.  The outer center panel had Muttluks customer service information such as the address and telephone numbers.

 

Description:

Each boot has three basic parts: the elastic collar, the top of the boot, and the bottom of the boot.  The elastic collar is the same for both size boots; a stretchy fabric material that goes around the dog’s elbow and leg.  There is a small black tag attached to the elastic of each boot that says “Muttluks” on one side and the size of the boot on the other. The bottoms of each boot are made of the same material also; a “water and salt resistant” leather which according to Muttluks: breathes naturally, repels water and retains character even after exposure to the elements.  The tops of the boots start out the same with a breathable waterproof “Hydroflex” coated fabric that is bright yellow in color.  The toe protectors however are different.  The small sized boot has a “Cordura” fabric toe protector and the medium sized boot has a leather toe protector.  Each boot is held in place by a Velcro loop and closure system. The Velcro is sewn to the boot itself through the Hydroflex coated fabric on the topside of the boot.  Part of the Velcro is used to make a loop to hold the plastic buckle in place.  The top of the Velcro is covered with a 3M Scotchlite reflective material that is supposed to help with nighttime visibility.

           

Initial Impressions:

The boots seem pretty cool.  I have flipped them inside out to examine the stitching most of it looks pretty good. No major pulls or sloppiness. I will continue to examine the insides again after the dogs have put some mileage on them.    The shoes look exactly as I expected based on the website.  When I applied for the test I used the printable sizing chart from the website.  It was easy to use when I could get my dogs to stand on it and I was able to order the correct size boot for my dogs.

            Since neither dog had worn shoes before it was quite comical trying to put them on.  I followed the Muttluks Fitting instructions printed inside the trifold pamphlet.  The instructions basically consist of sliding the boot over the dog’s paw and tightening the Velcro strap as tight as possible, then taking the dog outside to help them acclimate to the boot.

I started with Maggie and slipped one boot on over her right front paw and tightened the boot down.  I was afraid to tighten the Velcro too much, but later found out that I needed to make it much tighter.  After the boot was on, Maggie would not put that foot down, so I proceeded to put the left front paw boot on.  She did not like that and proceeded to prance and jump and eventually kicked them off. 

The process was similar with Cody except that he just laid down on his back and let me do what I wanted with his paws.  After the boots were on he did not want to get up.  He just laid there until I said “outside” then he did his best effort to hop around because he knows when I say that we are going to go play.

  The Muttluks instructions mentioned taking them outside to acclimate to the boots so that is exactly what I did!  I grabbed their favorite ball and headed outside.  Each dog lost at least one boot on the way down the stairs. So I had to start over.  After three tries, I finally got the boots tightened down and they staid on down the stairs.  I still did not have the boots tight enough as at least one came off of each dog as they chased the first throw of their ball outside.  This time I tightened and retightened all the boots and they stayed on through a game fetch.  The dogs ran and walked awkward at first, but seemed to adjust to the boots.  I am interested to see if they become completely comfortable in the boots.

 

Testing Plan:

I plan on taking the dogs for multiple walks and hikes in these boots.  Our normal walks are on the streets of our neighborhood on asphalt roads.  We also hike at our local state parks and on the Appalachian Trail.    I will examine the boots for the following characteristics:

 

Durability:  How well do the shoes hold up, to include the leather/cordura toe protectors and bottoms and the cloth collar? How do they look after each trip?  I am concerned that the rocks on the AT will tear the shoes up especially the cordura toe protectors on the small boots.  How well do the shoes protect my dog’s pads?  How soon before the shoes have to be replaced?

 

Ease of Use:  How easy are the self-tightening straps to use?  Can the dogs get the shoes off easily?  Do they irritate the dogs?

 

Thanks again to BGT.org and Muttluks for the opportunity to participate in this test.