Pawz Dog Boots are a dog's best friend.

Halladay spent the beginning of his first winter trotting around in the most expensive dog boots we could find. Like many first time pet parents, we thought expensive = best. We giggled like little school girls the first time Halladay wore the boots, because he spent several minutes walking around like Bambi, acting as though he had just discovered the use of his limbs for the first time. It was nothing short of awesome.

Sadly, the awesomeness was short lived. A couple of days after wearing the boots Halladay began ripping out the fur on his paws, causing me to think he had dog Trichotillomania (it does exist). Soon after he developed a pretty grotesque hot spot that began oozing puss.

A trip to the vet told us that he likely had allergies to the boots, so they were tossed into the miscellaneous dog box, never to be seen again. Worst $60.00 (plus the vet visit) ever spent.

After that experience we were paranoid and promised Halladay we would never subject him to the evilness of booties again.

Fast forward three years to a pretty cold winter, and we've now found ourselves with a schnoodle who walks slower than a snail due to the freezing temperatures and salty sidewalks. We haven't let go of our hatred for fabric booties, so we thought we would give Pawz Dog Boots a try.

Made of natural rubber, these booties are disposable yet re-usable. They don't have any padding inside which is very helpful for dogs who can't quite get the hang of normal booties. Truthfully, they look like empty water balloons. For $12.00 a box (which includes 12 booties) it seemed like a no-brainer.

Ronald McDonald booties

After watching Wookie and Halladay bust out their fanciest robot moves, they figured it out eventually and we were ready to head out into the great outdoors to test them out.

I wish I could have taken photos of them romping around in the snow in these bright red booties, but it was like -45 C with the windchill (I'm not at all kidding) and I kind of like my fingers. All I can say is that it was an absolute success, and now a week later, Halladay hasn't had any kind of allergic reaction to them.

If your dog is need of a little foot protection and they aren't crazy about regular booties, give these bad boys a try -- you won't be sorry.