Mandana wears shoes every time she leaves the house, even for quick potty breaks. They protect her feet from hot/cold pavement, chemicals, gum, glass, thorns, foxtails, etc. and it’s also a huge help in keeping mast cell triggers from permeating our carpet & furniture.

Because she wears them so often we go through a lot of them. I think we average about 4-6 sets in a year. She usually has three different sets at a time that we swap out (2 different colors of Grip Trex and 1 set of Polar Trex that we only use for ice/snow or really wet conditions). Even with a discount, Ruffwear shoes are expensive and I’ve found that her sizes (3” in the front & 2.75” in the back) are often sold out and are only restocked a couple times a year. So we are going to be trialing some other brands to see if we can find an alternative that’s hopefully more affordable.

QUMY is definitely one of the big sellers on Amazon, so we decided to start with those. I ordered her a size 7 and they seem pretty comparable to the 3” Grip Trex. If I like them I’ll probably order one size down for her back feet and that will give me two sets.

Here are my first impressions:

- The mesh seems almost identical but the other fabric & leatherette areas seems lower quality. The rubber seems pretty comparable but the tread is notably less. Maybe it wouldn’t be a problem on a sidewalk but it’s practically nonexistent if you are comparing it directly to the Grip Trex.

- Theoretically the wider opening would make them easier to put on. That might be the case if your dog has long fur, but it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference for us. If anything, the long strap & loose construction took me longer to put on and get situated properly. Maybe that will get better with practice.

- There are two things I really like about them and think might be better than the Grip Trex. The first is that the rubber tread extends slightly higher on the front of the shoe. On the QUMY, Mandana’s nails hit the tread but on the Grip Trex they hit the grey leatherette area. That is the exact spot where her nails poke holes into the Grip Trex and the number one reason we have to throw them out. Even though the rest of the fabric is cheaper quality that might actually make the QUMY last as long if not longer than the Grip Trex.

- The second thing I really like is how the side of the shoes are constructed. Both shoes have fabric that bunches up on top of the foot and that’s unavoidable with most dog shoes. The Grip Trex has a continuous piece of grey leatherette that extends along the side. This adds structure to the shoe but it also make the sides stiff and they have to be broken in so they bend easier when the dog takes a step. QUMY cut out a section so that the problem area is mesh and then the two separate pieces of leatherette meet together with every bend. I’m not sure if this affects how it feels for the dog but I wouldn’t be surprised if the additional flexibility in this area is more comfortable.

- Something I don’t like is the cheap fabric and construction they use for the center gusset. It feels like the cheapest plastic drawstring bag you can imagine and the seams on the inside are exposed and not sewn down. It doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem as I expected because once the shoes are on the dog this loose fabric overlaps so much that it’s all kind of bunched up anyways. The seam that runs along the inside of the shoe also feel slightly more raised than Ruffwear and you can see some of the glue adhesive for the rubber sole on the outside. Ruffwear has superior quality when it comes being seamless, but I haven’t used the QUMY shoes yet so time will tell if this makes any difference.

- I’m also not sure how I feel about the leg portion of the shoe. It comes up really high and there’s a lot of loose fabric (which again might be beneficial if your dog has long hair). I’m tempted to put vet wrap over them or maybe experiment a little with cutting & sewing some of the excess for a better fit. The Grip Trex has a pretty minimal cuff area and it’s coated with a nice neoprene material that I imagine might keep the shoe from rotating/flipping as much. I use vet wrap on her legs for most of our longer outings so we’ll have to wait and see if that alone is enough to keep the QUMY in place.

- I’m also wondering if the strap will make any difference to her dewclaws. This is one of the main drawbacks to Ruffwear boots. Their hook/loop strap almost always lands right on the dewclaw which can cause irritation and swelling if you are careful and horrible bloody injuries if you are less considerate. The longer strap and wider hook area on the QUMY means I can choose where the strap goes. That could mean making sure the strap doesn’t put pressure in the dewclaw area but I won’t know until I’ve been using them for a while. It’s possible there’s only certain strap configurations that will keep the shoe on and in proper position.

That’s my first impression of the popular QUMY dog shoes. I’ll post an update after we use them for a while.