I adopted a 14 month old boxer x great dane yesterday to keep Mollie my Ridgeback x staffi company, all meetings went well and he was brought to us yesterday at 4pm to stay.
Once the initial excitement was over between the two dogs, we decided to take them both down to the local field, through the natural reserve, pass the side of the golf course and back again, total of about 1hr 15 mins. He constantly chased Mollie round who was catch/fetching her ball. He had a whale of a time, his recall was great and was just a bundle of pure energy.

When we got back home I noticed him limping abit so I checked out him paws and to my horror his pads were very pink, not bleeding but looked alot like blisters without the top skin. I thought he has stood on something but it is on all four paws and worse on his back paws. its not the whole of the pads but just like circles. On one of his front pads it was as if the top layer piece was hanging off.

He was not licking them but was finding it awkward when trying get down our two back steps to the garden. I made sure they were clean and dry before going to bed.

This morning I went down to him and he struggle to get up out of his crate and very wobbly indeed, just like he was trying to position his feet so they did not hurt understandably.

After is few minutes he seemed better, we took them both round the corner to the playing field so he was on grass at least it was abit softer for him. He played reasonably well but nothing compared to how he should. Seemed happier running than walking. After about 15mins OH took him home and I took Mollie out for her normal walk.

When I got back I bathed them again to make sure no infection gets in and dried them which he rolls on his back and lets me do with no wimpering or signs of pain.

Just been home for lunch and to let them out for 30mins and he again was having problems, seems ok in his self apart from being abit wobbly.

The lady before says the vet has told her that they will harden with more walking so I dont know what problems she has had in the past.

Catch 22 - do I walk him to toughen them up or do I avoid walking him and risk them doing it again and the problem of pent up frustration from lack of exercise for a dog of 7stone?
Have I done anything wrong by walking him for over an 1 hr last night....I just feel so bad/guilty at the moment.
Has anyone come across or heard of this problem before.....do you think a vet visit is in order?

Did you get him from a rescue, and had he had a health check prior to you getting him? Was anthing mentioned?

Personally, I would take him to the vet anyway - it's one fo the first things I do, firstly to register them, and also so the vet can give them a once over.

I think he's too young for this but my dog has Pemphigus, there is 3 strains of it and one of them attacks the pads and nails of their feet. I'm pretty sure it isn't this but it's worth mentioning to your vet. They don't always think about it as it's a fairy rare disorder, it took my vet nearly a year to diagnose my dog! It's a nasty disorder but can be maintained (never cured) by steriods.

Most likely is he's been in a kennels for so long his feet have gone soft and he did way too much running around. Either way I'd be taking him to the vets to get something for the pads. Would love to see a picture of him he sounds lovely!

No not a rescue but a lady who needed to rehome him as she could not met his needs at the moment, believe me she was in tears when she left him yesterday and she texted me over 20 times last night to make sure he was ok and settled. She has not done it lightly, we originally was going to adopt him back in Nov but she changed her mind as she wanted to give it another chance and regig things round but things did not get any better for him and was spending to long alone. So she got back in touch and things went from there as it was the best for him.
I know he has had all his injections, flea'd wormed etc and has been given everything he needs, I have not registered him yet as I wanted to make sure him and Mollie were compatable and I did not expect to need a vet less than 24hrs after he had been dropped off. He is due for his vacs in April so was going to do all together. This may have to be brought forward.

Could it be he has not been walked enough to toughen his pads and us walking/running him has caused blisters?

My boy had all sorts of problems with his feet when I first got him, his pads were like puppy pads, so soft through lack of exercise, he never took the bottom off his pads though. If your dogs has been running very hard i can see how this would happen.
It still needs treatment though I should think

Sounds like it, we do get alot of the long term kennelled dogs have sore pads just after being rehomed as they are exercised on grass while kenneled then obviously they get more hard surface walking once rehomed. Maybe she didn't give him enough exercise which would also explain why he's so manic now, he's properbly so excited to be out and about with his new girlie. Bet you'll find he'll calm down once he's getting the right amount of exercise for a dog of his nature.

If he hasn't been getting much exercise on hard ground its understandable his paws will be sore for a while till they toughen up,

they should be ok after a while & if you can run him on a sandy beach it would be ideal + the salt water will help harden them up

Thank you for your replies so quickly, I have got an appointment tomorrow evening as they are a vet down today.
Will get some photos on if I can figure out how to
I feel he would have had the best vet treatment as she has quite a few horses of her own and you get a feel for people, she is definately a animal person. The main reason was the lack of time to exercise him and I did not realise the damage we could do by exercising him, thought I was doing the best for him by getting him proper exercise but I suppose with only a limited history I could not have known.

You weren't to know! Honestly I'm sure most of us would of done exactly the same. When I adopted my recent addition in October I took him straight out to the beach with my other dogs, not thinking he'd spent his whole life locked in a cage in a breeding farm so he'd never been to a beach before!!! Poor little mite looked terrified when he saw the sea and ran back and hid under the van..but not for long luckily because the rest of the pack showed him what fun could be had (he's a terror for eating dead craps now!!!)

Oh how sweet, could be worse could be live ones
Thank you making me feel a bit better, it really has helped until I see those eyes looking at me from the doorway trying to get down the steps.

Also another thing I have just thought of, every time I acknowledge him by a hello sweetie or sit he has a little wee, spent the last 24 hours following him round with a mop. I have not shouted at him or anything for it, is this just nerves and a settling issue that will resolve itself once he has get used to his surrounding?
I does wee on command when outside before bedtime etc.