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What is the best way to protect your dog’s paws from snow, ice and salt in the winter?
I love my dogs so much. Probably more than I love my hubby, well, definitely more than my hubby. He always complains that I say hi to my dogs first when I come home. Ha! And I must admit that I probably am a bit on a slightly over-protective side when it comes to my dogs’ well-being, mentally and physically. That’s where one of my big concerns begins since I live in the northeast where we are bombarded with snow and ice through the long winter. I have somewhat accepted that I have to deal with snow, ice and what comes with living with it. And my dogs just love snow, playing in it, running through it but what I have issues with is salt. Don’t get me wrong – I know salt is important to keep us safe so we can drive on snow, ice covered roadways. What I have problem with it is what it does to my dogs’ paws and what could happen if they happen to ingest while licking the salt off their paws. I have been searching how I can protect them and still provide daily walks and give them mental stimulation and exercises.
Here are some great options to protect your pooch all winter long.
Booties
Some dogs love it or hate it but if you can find booties that works for your dog, booties will
give the ultimate protection in any kind of weather, even against hot pavement in the summer.
Just start with rear paws so they can’t attempt to take it off and you don’t spend hours
putting them on.
Over the years, I have tried many different brands of dog booties. I haven’t found perfect booties for my dogs but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work for your dog. I tried booties that looked like that had tall socks attached to the top, sounded great – gives some added warmth in the frigid temperature. It unfortunately didn’t work for my dog because of his dew claw and kept getting caught when putting them on. I tried another booties that had these cool double straps but didn’t work either because of its stretchy material and didn’t get tight enough around my dogs’ legs. I tried another one and that was the best fit but
kept rubbing on my dogs’ paw pads and they were getting scraped up inside. I even tried the one that looks like a balloon and honestly to this day, I don’t know how anyone can put that on – for this one, I needed extra help and still couldn’t but it could just be my shortcoming. I may need a youtube video showing me how this is done.
Paw Balm
Rub some paw balm on their paw pads before taking a walk in snow, ice or salted streets. It creates a waxy barrier against harmful salt. When returning from the walk, wipe the paws with wet wipes or wet paper towel and wipe dry. My one dog thinks it is yummy and tries to lick it off before the walk so I learned to apply quickly starting from rear to front paws. Paw balm also helps their paw pad hair from freezing up in a frigid weather.
Bucket of Warm Water and Towel
In a light snow or salt condition, you can soak their paws in a bucket of warm water after the walk and wipe dry to get rid of salt from their paws, if any. Moisturize with paw balm afterward to keep the dry skin at bay.
What is the best way to protect your dog’s paws from snow, ice and salt in the winter?
For my dogs, it’s between paw balm and bucket of warm water to beat the salt on the street that works the best. I’m still waiting for that perfect booties to try on my puppies. Someday, someone will come up with something brilliant, I know it.
How do you protect your pooch from harsh winter condition? Is there something that works for you that you want to share? I would love to hear any suggestions!
