Snowy walks

sillysmiles

Walking in the snow with your dog-how do you know if he is getting too cold?

Bells21

I suppose knowing your dog and looking for subtle signs of discomfort, tail down or held low, tense body etc. A little coat for smaller, skinnier or short haired dogs and make sure to look after their paws!! They can get ice burns on their paws and the paws should be rinsed off when they come in from walking in gritted areas. Also check between the pads and digits to make sure there's no build up of snow/ice. A few shorter walks during the day rather than their usual longer ones I would assume would be better.

tk123

Bailey got all ice balls in his pads this morning and was NOT happy about it. I'm going to bring a towel to rub them down on our next walk or even his boots if it gets bad again. it took us AGES to get home this morning because he had to keep stopping and have the ice taken out. I only clipped the fur at the weekend too!

Choc Chip

tk123 wrote: »

Bailey got all ice balls in his pads this morning and was NOT happy about it. I'm going to bring a towel to rub them down on our next walk or even his boots if it gets bad again. it took us AGES to get home this morning because he had to keep stopping and have the ice taken out. I only clipped the fur at the weekend too!

Aw! We used to have a little pony who had to have his hooves picked a few times a day or he would end-up with ice stilts in his hooves. None of the others did so he must have had funny shaped feet...

sillysmiles - I just judge on whether they're happy about the proposition or not - we had a foster lurcher who would refuse to go out for a pee in a bit of cold rain. Not a hope she'd have thanked you for a walk in the snow.

On the other hand, I've 2 hairy dogs with big thick undercoats. One is from Scotland and he LOVES snow. I can't wait to get home and go out with them in it!

sillysmiles

Home all day and off now until Monday. He loves being out in the snow. He has to stand on a mat when he comes back in the house anyway so I had a look at his pads after his walk this morning and it was grand.
The cat on the other hand.......... she's a different story!

Knine

My terriers have a double coat and originated from a fairly cold in winter part of the UK. They are loving this weather. So are the kids.

mymo

I get too cold before my two do, smaller dog gets snowballs around her legs if the snows damp, was fine early this morning.
My dogs are both breeds from the cold, love the snow.

If they weren't, had short coats etc like above, I wouldn't take them out for long.

Just a tip anyone with a short legged bitch, be careful where she pees, mine got a burn from peeing on the grit few years ago, it was a dark grey grit different to normal, poor dog was squealing had to rub snow on her rush home and wash her, her paws were burnt too.

tk123

We got out at lunchtime and then again a couple of hours later to meet our friend for a quick walk.. parked packed so I was glad we had our walk at 7 with the place to ourselves! Both of them shattered lol


EDIT - I never know if I should put a coat on them?! They're not shivering but Bailey has that muscle injury so maybe I should be keeping him warm when he's out!? Trimmed the paws again yesterday and he still got ice in them! Luckily the warden came to open the gate near us or it would have taken ages to get him back around to our gate!

mymo

Snow is now too deep for small dog, she has to bounce and gets tired, nearly to deep for bigger dog too, up almost to his shoulders, above our knees.
Very tiring walking in it, snow seems to be stopping now at last, big drifts in places.
I had to dig a path for cats to get out this evening. I'm getting fed up now.

Bells21

mymo wrote:

Snow is now too deep for small dog, she has to bounce and gets tired, nearly to deep for bigger dog too, up almost to his shoulders, above our knees. Very tiring walking in it, snow seems to be stopping now at last, big drifts in places. I had to dig a path for cats to get out this evening. I'm getting fed up now.

Feeling the exact same, had to dig out a patch for the dogs so they could do their business as it's just far too deep for them. We've had a mini avalanche come off our roof, thankfully we were all inside but was very scary.
Getting the dogs out for toilet breaks takes forever by the time we get suited and booted and then getting them dried off and warm when they come in! I'll not have a towel left at this rate.

muddypaws

House full of huskies and we're the only place in Ireland that got no snow

Bells21

muddypaws wrote:

House full of huskies and we're the only place in Ireland that got no snow

What?! I've a feeling feet of it going spare if you'd like it lol!

muddypaws

West Sligo we got nothing before this morning, then it snowed all day today but teeny tiny flakes that were blown away as they fell.

mymo

We had that fine 'snizzle' too, all yesterday and last night, snowing here on and off since Tuesday evening. 26cm outside front door, drifts over 2ft in places, it's starting again now.





You can have our snow Muddypaws, novelty is wearing off now.

Just to add, the pic of Tiffi is in the street, cars were using it yesterday, with difficulty, no hope today. Opened front door and few inches of snow fell in, Oliver ran out, daughter went after him, that ruler is in her footprint!

Choc Chip

The novelty has absolutely not worn off for me! I'm stuck at home but I've thrown snowballs for the dogs, sledged down the compacted snow (thanks tractor drivers!) and made snow angels. I've thrown myself in the snow repeatedly and I've used snow instead of ice for my Friday evening drinks. I've dug out my warmest snow gear and I would happily spend the entire day outside sitting in the snow.

I love this weather. I know it's inconvenient and that people can't make important meetings or medical appointments, but I can't change that and if it has to snow then I'm going to make the most of it. My husband and I (with no kids) spent 2 hours building a life-size snowlady this morning. She has pockets in her skirts.

I don't want the snow to melt. I feel like I'll have to go back to being a grown-up.

Cherry Blossom

We just got a dusting of fine snow yesterday, none at all today. Roads are absolutely fine to drive at normal speed, no ice either.

em_cat

Choc Chip wrote: »

The novelty has absolutely not worn off for me! I'm stuck at home but I've thrown snowballs for the dogs, sledged down the compacted snow (thanks tractor drivers!) and made snow angels. I've thrown myself in the snow repeatedly and I've used snow instead of ice for my Friday evening drinks. I've dug out my warmest snow gear and I would happily spend the entire day outside sitting in the snow.

I love this weather. I know it's inconvenient and that people can't make important meetings or medical appointments, but I can't change that and if it has to snow then I'm going to make the most of it. My husband and I (with no kids) spent 2 hours building a life-size snowlady this morning. She has pockets in her skirts.

I don't want the snow to melt. I feel like I'll have to go back to being a grown-up.

Same in our place, no kids, but love the snow however, Mr C not so much. It has been a nightmare getting him to go for walka in it. He seems to fear it, maybe cause he was a stray at some point. Made us really miss our ****zu x who died last year, her name was Emma so the storm from the south made us tearful & she loved the snow so much that refused to come in until she was covered in ice balls.

tk123

Baileys Vet appointment was cancelled because the business park is impassible! I’m so happy because I was worried about driving through an area where I was guaranteed to be pelted with snowballs!
We’re waiting to see if my friend can make it down for a walk. If not I think we’ll skip the walk and just play in the garden every now and again as he’s been a bit lame the last few days from it... so the rest would do him good! I’ve been biding balls and toys in the snow for them to dig out and they love it!

Knine

I'm in Dublin 15 and it is really bad here. The snow outside my driveway is as high as my car so no hope of getting out.

The kids and Terriers are loving it though and I must admit I had great fun too. The dog was out playing on the road with my kids because there were no cars.

Choc Chip

Knine wrote: »

I'm in Dublin 15 and it is really bad here. The snow outside my driveway is as high as my car so no hope of getting out.

The kids and Terriers are loving it though and I must admit I had great fun too. The dog was out playing on the road with my kids because there were no cars.

Are your terriers holding up in it OK Knine? Mine had to come home yesterday because he was getting cold. I think the snow being so high and up round his tummy was chilling him (and he has much less coat round his tum and his bits).

Half an hour to warm up and he was ready to go again mind you. :pac:

muddypaws

Emma finally arrived, and seems to be sticking (get it) around, so maybe we'll get to go out and have proper snow play this afternoon. :D:D:D

Knine

Choc Chip wrote: »

Are your terriers holding up in it OK Knine? Mine had to come home yesterday because he was getting cold. I think the snow being so high and up round his tummy was chilling him (and he has much less coat round his tum and his bits).

Half an hour to warm up and he was ready to go again mind you. :pac:

Yeah they were not bothered by the cold. One of the reasons why I advise people never to clip as it destroys the double coat. I regularly strip mine which meant their coat was perfect for the weather. They would stay out in it all day if they could. I did inbetween their paw lads last week to stop the little ice balls.

They made little tunnels in the back garden to run through.

No sign of a thaw here yet

EPAndlee

I couldn't get my terrier to stay inside. He was out for hours yesterday with a football happy out. Went for a walk down the road yesterday. He's pretty sick of it now tho

Choc Chip

Knine wrote: »

Yeah they were not bothered by the cold. One of the reasons why I advise people never to clip as it destroys the double coat. I regularly strip mine which meant their coat was perfect for the weather. They would stay out in it all day if they could. I did inbetween their paw lads last week to stop the little ice balls.

They made little tunnels in the back garden to run through.

No sign of a thaw here yet

I strip rather than clip... He is neutered though and don't know if that impacted his tummy fluff. He's plenty on top and he's normally grand in snow but defo got a bit cold yesterday after an hour or two.

kylith

Finn's not having any of it. Since he has no fat and little hair he's going out into the garden for about a 5 minute loon, then he's back at the door looking to curl up on the sofa again. He's tucked up under his blanket now.

Bells21

We are still well and truly snowed in, some thaw setting in now. Snow still too deep and now too soft for ours to be walked in but they are tiring themselves out by trying to dig us out. Bursts of activity here and there, plenty of food balls, snuffle mats and pick pockets on the go as well as some training.

tk123

Yooo we went out but stayed in one spot.. got some (more) great photos lol. My friend's daughter had brought a sleigh thing for sliding down the hill - we robbed it and took turns going down lol

griffin100

My BMD is loving the snow!!