Winter Paw Care

Posted on January 8, 2010

Isn’t that some weather out there!? Yesterday morning our walk lasted two minutes, exactly the time until I could not take the dog’s limping and my fingers freezing, anymore. If you love to take your dogs out at least once a day I’m sure you have also been looking for solutions to beat the cold, the snow and the salt on the streets.

So, as with all dog clothing I have not been fond of the idea of dog boots. But watching my pup limp come the first snow (and salt) changed my mind a little. So we tried the first pair we could find (I don’t think it’s called a pair when it’s for four legs, is it?) and I wasn’t happy. And Mac sure wasn’t. I wish I would have had a camera. I didn’t know if I should laugh or feel bad for him. Anyway, I know it’ll take time to get any dog used to any kind of boot, but those just didn’t seem right. They were all stiff and weird.

Now while I will continue my search for other boots I still need to get my dogs out of the house, even though it is 6 degrees out there. That’s what I signed up for when I got a dog.

Here are some other ideas I found to protect your pooches paws without having to go out on a shopping spree first:
1. Trim the fur between your dogs toes! That’s especially important with long haired dogs. The hair that reaches beyond the level of the pads will accumulate snow and ice which will make it difficult for your dog to walk.
2. Keep you dogs nails trimmed! Nails that are too long will cause the toes to spread while walking. That way, more snow and ice can accumulate in between your dogs toes, making it cold, wet and uncomfortable for him.
3. Wash your dogs feet in warm water when you get home! Either with a bowl or cloth clean his feet and make sure there is no salt, ice or grit stuck between the toes.
4. Use vaselineor other soothing balm (like the ones from happy tails or musher’s secret)! After you cleaned your dogs feet treat the pads with vaseline to help heal cracks and chaps. Then, before you go out again, apply vaseline again to protect them from the moisture and other irritating things on the streets. (And if you ski you probably know to apply some vaseline to your face to protect it from the chilly winds we got going on right now, too)
5. Check your dogs feet regularly for cracks and injuries! That should be a no-brainer if you do the steps mentioned before.
6. Eventually, if all doesn’t help, consider the booties again. I’m sure there are great ones out there, I just haven’t found them, yet. (Leave a comment if you got a tip on good booties, I might feature them on the blog next Tuesday)
7. Play indoors on those REALLY cold days! Read my last post on indoor games here.

I hope you are all getting good through the icy weather. Feel free to share your tips on winter paw care in the comment s below!

*EDIT: A lovely friend just gave me a great idea. You got a puppy with already cracked paws, but the vaseline or balm you put on the pads comes right off when they start running around? The solution: Socks! Kids socks, baby socks, whatever fits your puppies paws. Put them on before they go to sleep. They will probably come off at some point, but for the time they stay on… well, they stay on *