During the cold months of winter, your dog is extremely vulnerable to weather related injuries. This article will provide dog health care tips for winter weather to help you keep your dog safe, warm and comfortable for winter.
Winter is especially harsh on dog paws.
How do you prevent dog paw injuries?
For starters, you need to know about the common sources of paw injuries. During the wintertime, salt your dog comes in contact with on roads, sidewalks, and driveways could really harm dog paws because the chemical can create blisters on the paws.
When blisters form on dog paws, you will notice your dog limping because the blisters are painful. If your dog must maneuver outdoors, do your best to keep your dog on the snow rather than the salty pavements to reduce paw injuries.
It is also important to acknowledge that salt imposes a threat to dogs in the form of ingestion.
Often dogs will lick their paws to ease the pain of blisters. To prevent your dog from digesting salt, always clean your dog’s paws with warm water when he/she enters the home. You should also purchase pet boots for your dog to wear outdoors to best protect sensitive paws.
Another challenge winter weather imposes on dogs are ice balls within fur. For example, ice clumps on the hair of dog paws can cause severely sore paws.
To prevent ice balls from harming your dog’s paws, you should have the inter pad hair trimmed short and neat for winter to prevent ice balls and excessive salt from accumulating on dog paws and paw hair.
To help your dog keep in the best of health, practice the following good habits during the winter:
- Schedule a winter veterinarian appointment for dog to make sure there are no medical problems such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease or hormonal imbalances that could jeopardize the health of your dog in cold weather.
- Only take your dog outside when necessary. When outdoors, make sure your dog has shelter against the elements as well as thick bedding inside the shelter. Also include soft, warm bedding for your dog indoors to relieve him/her of any joint pains.
The Following are products to protect your dog’s health:
- Dog Sweaters. This line of clothing can help your dog keep warm and dry inside and outdoors.
- Dog Grooming Products. These products will help your dog maintain proper fur insulation.
- Pet Boots to protect sensitive paws. We also recommend using Pet Safe Ice Melt.
- Use Automatic Pet Waterers. This will make sure your dog has a source of fresh water at all times.
Here at My Pet Store and More, we educate customers on how to better care for their pets. We offer quality products with the best prices around. We provide friendly service with the ability to help guide customers to find exactly what they need.
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Source: http://www.dogster.com/dog-health-care/winter-paw-care-tips
http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/pets/articles/d59
http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/index.php?nic=cold