Paw care in winter: tips for healthy dogs

Paw care in winter is particularly important for dogs. Snow and slippery roads with road salt, grit, and the like put a lot of strain on the paws. You can find out here how to make the winter walk most pleasant for your dog.

Prevent pain: trim paw fur

Romping, running, digging – that’s a lot of fun for the four-legged friend in the snow. But relaxed winter excursions also have their downsides: Ice crystals form when your pet moves in the snow, which, however, can no longer fall off due to the dense fur and freeze to form unpleasant “lumps of ice”. Dogs with thick bellies and paw hair are particularly affected. As a result, the ice lumps naturally cause great pain when your four-legged friend steps on them. So if your dog suddenly lies down and tries to bite the snow blocks out himself, he could be in pain. You can prevent this by removing the long hair between the toes and around the ball of the foot before going for a walk carefully cut away. This way the snow can’t settle so quickly and your dog can romp around carefree.

Paw massage for soft pads

“Paw massage” – sounds strange but is helpful. Snow and ice, especially road salt and grit are a challenge for the sensitive pads of your four-legged friend. To protect against inflammation and pain, you should apply lotion to the bunions. Vaseline, milking fat, or special paw ointments are best suited for this. Applying lotion before a walk protects your dog from ice and snow. The ointment makes the bunions softer and more resilient. This also makes it harder for salt, grit, and sand, as well as snow and ice, to get stuck between your toes. After the walk, you should first wash the paws with lukewarm water and remove the bedding residue and the ice. Make sure the water is really only lukewarm. Afterward, you can spoil your darling with a pleasant paw massage. The ointment soothes the stressed bunions, cares for them, and provides them with moisture.

During the walk

If your dog stops during the walk and does not want to continue walking, he wants you to understand that he is uncomfortable and that he is probably in pain. That’s why it’s advisable to check your pet’s paws regularly and immediately remove anything that bothers him. However, you should not pull out frozen chunks of ice by force, but put your hand on them briefly to melt them away.
To reduce the inconvenience for your dog from the outset, dog shoes can also be used be a good alternative. However, not every dog ​​is a friend of foreign objects on its paws, so you should try out beforehand whether your darling can handle dog shoes. It’s easy to do by putting children’s socks on him and letting him walk around in them at home. If he immediately pulls the socks off with his teeth, he probably wouldn’t accept the dog shoes either – but if he doesn’t have any problems with them, dog shoes could be a good choice.

Paw care in winter is the be-all and end-all

Good paw care in winter is essential for the health of your four-legged friend, but unfortunately, this is often underestimated by owners. The stress on dog paws in winter is great, roughened and hard pads are a risk of inflammation and pain. Because where the man wears thick boots, the dog can only rely on the care of his master, so that the winter walks are as pleasant and fun as possible.