Dr Buzbys Large ToeGrips for Dogs - Instant Traction on Wood Hardwood Floors - Anti Slip Relief -

TLDR: These give old dogs new life and are well worth every penny, buy them. These are the original patented products, not a knock-off. Be sure to actually measure nail circumference before ordering and keep those nails and fur on the bottom of the feet as short as you can! Our ~13-year-old rescue, Rocky, could barely stand or walk on the wood and tile floors in our new house. On the day we moved in, he slid down half a flight of stairs backward while trying to get to the second floor (luckily he slid slowly and was not hurt). Later that same day he got stuck laying down on the kitchen floor because he couldn't get any traction to get his feet under him and stand. It was very much 'Bambi on ice" but more sad. I began looking for options and found a lot of products from which to choose. Most of them involved adhering something to the pads of the dog's paws. Rocky is very tolerant of us touching (most) of his paws, but he does not like things on his feet. I knew sticking something to the pads would just give him something to chew at for a while and not help with the traction issue. I then found Dr. Buzby's ToeGrips as well as several other similar products. Both Dr. Buzby's and another Dr's products claimed to be patented. I decided to do some digging through Google patents and it turns out these are the only two products that are in fact patent-protected for this purpose, with Dr. Buzby's having been first and the other somewhat similar (but clearly inferior - more on that below) product coming along later. Why does a patent matter? Because it means you are getting a genuine product that has been researched and invested in instead of a knock-off product made of who-knows-what materials. Purchasing the genuine product also rewards the folks who actually did the work to develop the product as opposed to rewarding someone who simply tried to copy it by producing an inferior product for a quick profit. If you want something that works, go with the original. If you want to waste money, buy the knock-off. But if there are two patent-protected dog toenail cover products (what an amazing time to be alive!), what makes Dr. Buzby's better? The design. These slip over the nails and hold tightly for quite some time, even after walks around the yard and through the woods. But they can be removed as easily as they are put on - which we have to do about every 3 weeks to get Rocky's nails trimmed. The other patented design requires you to first shape the dog's nails with a dremel/rotary tool (Rocky is not having that) and then glue the cover onto the nail. If you need to take them off, just get the dremel back out and cut them off(?!?). Those are the actual instructions. Do Dr. Buzby's ToeGrips sometimes come off on their own? Yes - but that is more of a feature than a bug. It is much easier to put one back on (or use one of the extras that are included in each package) than to have to cut them off. All of that said, Dr Buzby's ToeGrips are not magic - you do have to follow instructions to ensure success. Be sure to order the correct size by first measuring the circumference of every nail (yes, all 16 - you may need two different sizes). We found this to be easier than expected - just grab a paw, wrap a piece of dental floss around a nail, mark it and measure the distance. Doing this once for all nails took less than 5 minutes total and allowed us to pick the correct size ToeGrips for Rocky. If you do not do this, you likely will not order the correct size and it will either be impossible to get them on or impossible to keep them on. Second, put them on as shown in the instructions that come in the package - make sure the ToeGrip is making contact with the floor otherwise it can't do its job. It is also important to keep your dog's nails trimmed to an appropriate length. Cleaning up any long fur on the bottom of the paw is also very helpful. The combination of those three things has completely changed Rocky's life in our new home. So - yes, there are lots of products out there that claim to do what Dr. Buzby's ToeGrips do. I have not tried all of them, so I cannot say that none of the rest work. I can say with absolute certainty that these do work, incredibly well and instantly. Literally, as soon as you put them on, your dog will be able to walk more easily. They are worth every penny. If you have an old dog who is struggling to get around on slick surfaces, you have found the solution! Read more

FORTY DOLLARS... for this?! A tiny zip lock bag with 20 little rubberbands in it. These things can't cost them more than a nickel or so to manufacture. You get 20 of them, which would make the markup 3900%! OK, OK, OK, price markup may not be as much of an issue if it's a quality product. Well, it kind of does in this case because of the limited quantity you get, combined with the "lose-ability" of them. How it all went down... We have a 12-year-old French Bulldog that's about 27 lbs., so we ordered the Medium size. We soaked them in rubbing alcohol as recommended, but they were still a huge pain in the tail to put on. They seemed to be on relatively well, per the picture in the instructions. They made a slight difference in his gait. (His back legs still slid around a bit.) The problem is, they don't stay on. After an hour, 4 were missing. Tried a couple of times to reattach them (after searching for 35 minutes to find the ones that fell off). 2 different ones fell off after another 1/2 hour. So, we took to the internet to do some research, and there's Dr. Buzby recommending that we use superglue -- SUPERGLUE -- on our dog's claws to keep them on. Wait... what about the potential irritation it might cause with his paws? Well, she's a vet, so it must be OK, right? WHAT A <BLEEP>ING NIGHTMARE. Have you ever tried to put sticky-as-all-get-up superglue on a fidgety dog's claws? I have now. It's no picnic. After trying to do three of these dang things I gave up. Add another $3.99 for the bottle of nail polish remover we had to buy for the clean-up. Bottom line: a) Too expensive... WAY TOO expensive for the limited quantity of these you get. b) They're hard to impossible to apply. And, c) they worked marginally well for him... when they'd stay on. It's a shame to see a veterinarian playing on our love for our weakened pet to make a HUGE profit. Read more

The concept itself really works, but the execution needs improvement—mainly because there is no true “one size fits all.” I have a 76-lb Labrador. I initially ordered the medium size and had to return it immediately because it was far too small. The large size fits much better overall, but even then, he has about 3–4 nails where this size is still too small and the caps pop off within minutes. Because of this, the pricing becomes a major issue. Paying $40 per pack is excessive when the fit is inconsistent and multiple pieces are unusable. A more reasonable option would be a multi-pack—ideally 30 pieces for the same price—and one that includes mixed sizes. For example, a pack with 20 Large and 10 X-Large would be far more effective and practical for real dogs, not just “average” sizing. If I had to guess, these are likely 3D printed and probably cost around $0.25–$0.40 per piece to manufacture. While I’ll give credit to the marketing team for successfully selling each piece at roughly $2, at the end of the day, dog comfort and consumer affordability should matter just as much. At the current price point, this simply isn’t sustainable for many pet owners—especially when multiple replacements are required due to sizing issues. The idea is solid, but the pricing and sizing strategy need to better reflect real-world use and the best interest of the dogs. Read more