Hi Boys and Girls,
Are you getting excited for the race to start? I sure am. I’ve been reading everything I can on this blog and on Iditarod.com. I’m trying to learn about all the mushers. I hope you are exploring the site to see what you can learn.
The week before the race starts, there is a teacher workshop where teachers from all over come to. There are workshops, speakers, field trips, and presentations by the Target Teacher on the Trail finalists. It’s a very busy and fun filled week for the teachers who attend. Every teacher receives a large dog bootie filled with goodies. My human makes booties and Zuma asked her to make them for the workshop. I really wanted to help this year and guess what, my human said okay. I was so excited. Since we (the K-9 reporters) get requests for bootie directions, I thought I would share what I learned. 
First we had to pick out the material. My human uses 330 cordura for the ones she makes. Zuma told us that the material should be bright because that’s what teachers like. My human let me pick out the material. I went though everything she had- black? NO! Blue? NO! Purple? Maybe! Neon Yellow—YES, YES, YES!!!!! I wrapped it around me and went to show her what I had selected. She thought it was the best color ever. Then is was off to work. Here is what we did to make the booties:
We cut the booties into strips. Small booties should be 4×11 inches, mediums 4 ½ x 11 inches and large booties are 5 x 11 inches. We are making large booties so they can hold lots of goodie
We then sewed one side seam (1/4” seam). My human uses a serger to make a finished edge. You can also use pinking shears. Both the serger and pinking shears are used to stop the material from fraying.
We then serged (you can use pinking shears instead) across the top of the bootie.
We then sewed on the Velcro/velstretch. The velco or hook is cut in 2 ½” lengths for all sizes. The velstretch is cut in the following lengths- small- 4”, medium-4 ½”, and large- 5”. You can look at the picture to see how it’s sewn on. Once the Velcro/velstretch is sewn on, you need to sew a straight stitch about ½” on the other side of the seam.
Trim excess threads. Turn right side out
Booties are ready to wear.
Wow doesn’t that seem easy! My human and I were able to finish all the booties for the teachers. Maybe your teacher is going to the workshop. If so, ask to see the bright yellow bootie I made just for them.
See you on the trail,
Gypsy
Click here to learn more about the Teacher Conference.
22 Comments
Gypsy, I know my students will like learning all about booties! I was lucky enough to attend the Teacher Conference a few years ago! Thanks for sharing!
Your welcome. I hope you enjoyed the conference and can attend again sometime. Gypsy
WOW thats amazing how long did it take for you and your human to to make the booties? did you have fun with? I hope you did.
<emFrom start to finish it would take a couple of hours to make 50. We have lots of fun making the booties. I hope the teachers enjoy the booties that I made for them. Gypsy
Gypsy,i remeber reading a story about clothing that sled dog’s would wear. that’s amazing.The dog’s were such bright colors but i could see why,you wouldn’t want them getting lost and to keep them nice and cozy!
Are the booties hard to make?
They were a little difficult at first but once you make a few they are very easy. Gypsy
This is great! It is very informational and descriptive. I would love to try this on my dog,Brock. He’s a huge French Mastiff! It sure would be an adventure!
This is so cool! The booties would be great for my dog.She is a yorkie.She gets cold a lot.The booties would be perfect. Thaks for the idea.
It sound so interesting. Maybe I will make them for my dog. I have twins they are collies and only 3! I think if i make them some they will tear or bite them off.Their names are princess and chloe.Well I’ll try it anyway. I dont no what size to make so I’ll think about it Thanks for the idea!
Good luck. Your collies would probably wear the medium or large booties (if they are large collies), small if they are the minature collies. We do sometimes bite at them and try to take them off. We eventually get use to wearing the. Gypsy
This is so cool! The booties would be great for my dog.She is a yorkie.She gets cold a lot.The booties would be perfect. Thanks for the idea.
The booties will have to be really small to fit your yorkie. Hope you’re able to make some for her. Gypsy
Do dogs like the booties?
Not usually at first but once they start running they forget about them.
Why do dogs need the booties?
Booties help the dogs paws from getting cut up from ice and from snow getting impacted between their toes.
I learned a lot about how to make booties!
I might try to make some sometime.
How long does it take to make a pair of booties? I’m sure the booties will look cute on the dogs!
My human says it takes her about 4 hours to make 100 booties, from cutting the material to turning them and stacking them.
Hi Gypsy! I liked that you picked neon yellow to make booties for the teachers. I bet all the dogs wearing this colour would be spotted easily. Is it hard for the dogs to run in the booties?
Hi, The Neon Yellow is really bright and you would spot the dogs easily. Once we get running we don’t even know the booties are on our feet. Just like you wearing shoes.
Hi Gypsy,
I have never heard of Cordura, what type of material is it? Is it waterproof? I like the neon yellow, do you use it for a certain reason or are other colours used? My dogs have jackets, but not booties. I think they would hate them, maybe you could teach them to like booties.
ZF4A
Cordura is a material that is used to make back packs. The bootie material is a light weight cordura that is flexible and durable. Zuma said that teachers like bright colors so I thought the yellow would work the best. It certainly is bright! Cordura 330 comes in a variety of colors. Many mushers have team colors and they like to use those colors for their booties too.
Gypsy
I thought that the bootie makers made tons of different sizes. I didn’t really know that it was only in small, medium, and large. How much do the cute little booties cost, because they are really amazing material called Cordura? I could buy them for a dog named Stella, because her owners keep her outside all the time even when it is very cold. So, my mom’s nice friend lets Stella into her house sometimes to warm her feet, and give her some food.
There are many sizes of booties and many different kinds depending on the type of dog and what the dog needs booties for. The booties talked about in the article are for sled dogs. Thanks for writing. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy. I like the neon yellow colour. Is that your favorite colour? Does every team have a different colour? I am sure that the booties keep the dogs feet nice and warm on the ice and snow. We used to have a dog who didn’t like stepping in the snow. I bet these would have kept his feet warm. I like how you put goodies in the booties, for the teachers.
My favorite color is blue. I did like the yellow though. Teams decide what color they want their booties to be so you will see many different colors out on the trail. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy,
Looks like you had fun making a booties! How did they get the name booties? And at first didnt dogs only wear booties on a hurt paw but now they were them all the time? I also love seeing all the dogs run off with different colored “feet” at the begining of the race! If a bootie gets torn do they get a new one so they dont hurt their paw? Thank you!
~Grace and Mackenzie
Booties are a lot of fun to make. Dogs wear booties when the conditions of the snow or ice are dangerous to their paws. The booties are changed throughout the race.
Dear Gypsy,
It must be really cool making booties. But I have one question, was it challenging making the booties and if it was did you have to ask for a little help now and then?
Your Friend,
Tyler McNulty
Lincoln Central Elementry
When I first started making booties, it was a little challenging. The more I made the easier it became. I did ask for help in the beginning and now people ask me for help
Dear Gypsy,How did you know how to make the booties was it hard to do?By using the velcro do you often think the booties will come off during the race,and do you know how they came up with the word “booties?” Your Friend,Madison
Hi Madison, It took a little while to learn how to make the booties but it really isn’t hard. A very strong velcro/velstretch is used. It’s tough to pull it apart. However, Dogs do occasionally lose their booties on the trail. I don’t know where the word bootie came from. I could guess and say it came from the word “boot” and was changed to bootie. Gypsy
Dear Gypsy,
It thought your article was very interesting and started to wonder if there was anything else the race dogs could wear to keep them warmer? Thanks!
- Aryana
The dogs also have dog coats to wear if needed in very cold weather.
Dear Gypsy
Has there ever been a race where the sled dogs didn’t wear booties?If not why?
Dogs do not always wear booties. It depends on the trail conditions.
Hi Gypsy,
Was it challenging making booties? Did it take a long time to figure out how to make them?
Josh
Once I learned how to make them it was pretty easy. My human helped me figure it out so it didn’t take too long.
Hi Gypsy,
I was wondering why did you start making booties?
My human has been making booties for about 10 years now. She thought it would be a good idea if I learned how. that way I could help her out sometimes.