For starters, I’m going to toss out a little disclaimer. This blog post is being written by the owner of 3 winter hearty breeds who are indoor dogs. I am not a veterinarian or any kind of expert and can not offer any medical advice. Many things in this post may not pertain to and is not intended to address issues relating to small dogs, hairless breeds, outdoor dogs or cats. I will be sharing my experience and personal advice/opinions.
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With all the snow being dumped out east and the cold temps here in the Midwest, it seems the perfect time to review some winter weather precautions we follow around here.
We love to go for walks. In the winter time when the temps are colder and there is lots of snow and ice we usually implement a few extra safety measures. We start with some foot protection. I usually have some nice warm boots with rubber soles to help protect my feet so why shouldn’t my dogs have some kind of protection? Because my dogs are a bit fussy and they hate wearing boots, I’ve found that Musher’s Secret Wax works best for us. This helps protect their feet from all the salt and chemicals that get spread on the roads and sidewalks to melt the ice.
Because my dogs are getting older now I also have to be sensitive to my dogs becoming less tolerant of the colder weather. This means that sometimes we have to cut our walks shorter than what we use to do. I have to pay attention to my dog and how they are responding to being outdoors.
Once we get back home I like to dry off the dog with a dry towel. That is if they’ve gotten wet from the snow. Be sure to check the dog’s belly. Check for ice that may have formed and little ice cubes. I also like to rinse off the paws. Just because we’ve applied wax to the paws it does not prevent the salt and chemicals from forming on the outside of the wax. Be sure to dry off dog after.
This leads me to caution you on chemicals you may use to melt ice on your own walkways. Be sure to read the label and know if what you’re using is toxic or harmful to animals. Shovel as much snow as you can to clear walkways and use as little de-icing product as possible.
Tip for today: Watch for 'Part 2 of 5 – Winter Car Rides' within the next few days.
I think your post was awesome! I like to hear about other people's routines in the extreme weather.
ReplyDeleteThank you. When I started thinking what to write about it was just going to be one short post but there is so much more to winter care that I had to split it up into 8 short parts.
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