Snowy adventures are fun, but not all dogs are built for the snow. If you have a short-haired dog like Poppy that gets cold easily then you know how hard it can be to keep your pup warm and dry in the snow. Even if you have a dog with a lot of fur, you might struggle with snow balls building up on their legs or ice getting stuck in between their toes. So, we purchased these gaiters to keep Poppy comfortable in the snow. We’ve had them for over a year now and have worn them on our hikes ranging from a couple of inches of snow to several feet of snow. These are the best solution we have found to keep Poppy’s paws and legs dry.
Fit: 5/5
We ordered a size medium at first (based on the size chart provided on their website), but because Poppy has huge feet for a dog her weight, skinny ankles, and thick, muscular thighs, unfortunately she didn’t fit into the medium. Her front feet were too large to fit into the medium booties and the gaiters didn’t fit over her back thighs, but the length was correct. Backcountry Paws were understanding when I contacted them about this and it was an easy process to return the medium in exchange for a custom size. Their customer service was kind, fast, and friendly and I had the best experience communicating with them.
We sent Backcountry Paws the measurements for the width of her front and back feet (Poppy’s front feet are bigger than her back feet), the width of her back thighs (the widest part so that the gaiters could fit over them), the width across her front chest, and the length of her front legs. The custom-made gaiters we received fit her perfectly and she was comfortable moving in them. If you have a dog with strange measurements like Poppy, you will likely have to order custom gaiters.
Design and features: 5/5
The gaiter sleeves are made of 70 denier ripstop. The material has an internal water-proof polyurethane coating and exterior water-repellent finish.
The gaiters cover the dog’s front and back legs and each gaiter can be attached/detached via buckles (4 buckles total).
The gaiters are fully adjustable via sliders. There are 8 sliders total to ensure the gaiters will fit your dog perfectly: one slider across the dog’s front chest, one slider across the top of the dog’s shoulders, one slider on each side of the dog’s shoulder, two sliders on the dog’s back, and one slider at the top of each rear gaiter sleeve.
The boots are sewn to the gaiters and are made of soft, flexible, rubber that provides traction in snow.
Felt-type material lines the inside of the boot and provides some cushion and insulation for the dog’s feet.
A single, Velcro strap is used to secure each boot in place.
The gaiters come in 4 colors (a dark gray, light blue, orange, and olive green) and 4 pre-made sizes (small, medium, large, and extra large).
Their gaiters can be purchased on their website: https://www.backcountrypaws.com/product-page/gaiters
New to Backcountry Paws gaiters this year:
Wider seam tape to provide a large barrier in the boot for water protection.
New buckles that help push snow and debris out when clasping the buckles together.
Leg labels so you know which leg to put in each gaiter.
*We did not have the opportunity to test these new features because we ordered our gaiters the previous year. However, I am glad to hear they took their customers’ feedback and used it to improve their product!
These gaiters do take more time to put on your dog compared to regular dog boots. Once they are on your dog, you have to adjust them using the sliders and make sure they fit securely and comfortably. If your dog does not like to stay still while you put apparel on them, you will likely struggle to get these gaiters on. However, even though they are more time-consuming to get on, the benefit is that your dog will be comfortable and you can’t lose a gaiter like you can a regular dog boot. Taking the gaiters off is also much easier and faster than putting them on.
Functionality: 4/5
These gaiters allow Poppy to enjoy the snow and be outside for a longer period of time during winter. They keep the snow out completely and do not restrict her movement in any way. She can do her zoomies in these gaiters and unlike traditional dog boots, it is impossible to lose one of the gaiters since each gaiter is attached to the entire system. If your dog somehow manages to kick off one of their gaiters, the best thing about these gaiters is that it doesn’t go anywhere; the rogue gaiter remains attached and will hang off your dog’s back.
We have had these gaiters for over a year now. We’ve used them for a full winter season, and we are entering our second winter with them. Poppy has managed to slip out of one of the gaiter sleeves a hand full of times. We have found this only happens when she runs full speed in the snow. When she is sprinting, she lifts her legs/feet very close to her body. If there is snow packed around the Velcro of her boot, the gaiter is weighed down and makes it heavier, and she manages to pull open the Velcro boot strap and a foot can come out of the gaiter. Since the gaiter is attached to the entire system even if a leg does escapes outside, we just put the gaiter back on and tighten all the straps down again. No searching for a lost gaiter! We’ve seen so many lost boots in the snow and it is reassuring to know we cannot lose one of these gaiters. From our experience, she has only been able to get a leg out of a gaiter a few times when she is moving fast, so this shouldn’t be an issue if your dog is just walking around. Otherwise the gaiters are secure when she is walking at a normal speed. Compared to other boots, these gaiters stay on better than any of the other products out on the market.
The boots at the bottom of the gaiters provide good traction in the snow. They don’t work very well on ice, but I don’t know of any boots (human or dog) that do provide traction on ice so we didn’t take any points off for this. We have noticed that snow does build up around the Velcro strap on the boots which can compromise the effectiveness of the Velcro. Our solution to this issue is to wrap some stretchy, self-adhesive athletic tape over the Velcro. This prevents snow from getting on the Velcro and has worked well for us.
One last issue that we struggled with are the seams in the boots. The seams are not sewn flat. As a result, the seams rubbed the top of Poppy’s toes and also her dew claw causing blisters. This is why we scored the gaiters 4 out of 5 points. In future versions of this product, I hope Backcountry paws will sew the seams flat. In the meantime, we have addressed this problem by buying seam tape and taping the seams down to the wall of the boots. Poppy also wears socks inside the boots. These two things have solved the problem for us.
Quality: 5/5
These gaiters are well-made using quality materials. We also love that they are made in the USA by a small business. After one winter of using them and a year of having them, these gaiters look like new and we are ready to take them out again this winter. We have hand-washed the gaiters a couple of times and this hasn’t affected the performance of the materials. These gaiters are our go-to piece of gear to protect Poppy’s feet and legs during our snowy adventures.
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