Questions about cold weather

Katlover13

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#1
I have just adopted a rescue dog. It is the first dog I have had in a long time and I am unsure about what is safe for him in this cold weather. When I walk him he sometimes starts limping and I think it might be because of the cold. When we walk it is for no more then about 10 minutes or so. I don't want him to get frostbitten feet. We live in Northeast Ohio and the temperature has been in the teens and twenties for the last few days.
 

Snark

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#2
Is he short or long coated? Do you put a coat on him? Are you walking on snow, or salted sidewalks? Maybe he needs boots?

Riley gets a coat (sometimes a fleece coat under a winter coat if it's really cold) but Murph and Mick have thick fur and don't care about cold weather.
 

krissy

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#3
Both my dogs limp in the cold. Random feet. Summit does it a lot more than Kili, but he's also a lot older. I stop and use my mitt to dust his foot off because there's never any snow built up in it. And then he walks off like nothing ever happened. Weirdo. He has boots but he hates them and will try to sneak them off. When I just had him I could keep tabs and prevent that from happening, but now if I'm walking both dogs I can't and I don't want him to lose his boots.

Honestly though, it has been so cold the last few days that I am not walking them at all. Two days ago we went for our morning walk... it was -27C before the windchill. I forced the dogs to walk 2 blocks before admitting to myself that it was too cold and turning back. Even with layers on we were all cold, and any uncovered areas (for me just my face, for the dogs it was face and legs) were painful after just a minute or two of exposure. Too cold. Kili is driving me nuts from lack of exercise so we've just been working on tricks and stuff.
 

Laurelin

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#4
Mia holds up her feet when there is ice or sometimes snow but no limping really. I'd probably get him looked at if he were mine.

We don't walk every day lately because of the wind mainly. It isn't that COLD out but when wind is up really high it's just miserable. Mia's feeling a bit restless, I can tell.
 

Katlover13

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#5
He is a Shiba Inu mix so he has medium length fur. I got him a fleece coat but it's his feet I worry about. I wouldn't walk him on the colder day but he doesn't do all he needs to do if we don't walk
 

iriskai

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#6
My two will limp or favor feet if there's salt down or snow builds up between their pads. I don't use boots on them, but I do make sure to try to put a good layer of Musher's Secret on them before we go out and check their pads when we come back in (sometimes put a little MS on then, too. Keeps their pads from cracking). I honestly don't bother walking them in this kind of weather. They're miserable, I'm miserable. We're happier inside when it's in the teens.
 

Southpaw

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#7
Mine are all doing the limping thing even just from running out quick to pee. Actually the only one who doesn't seem affected at all by the cold is Cajun. Even with all the fluff that Happy has, she enjoys being outside and stays out there a good 20+ minutes, but even she comes inside 3-legged. Apparently all the fluff in the world isn't helpful if it's not on your legs/feet. :)

We just don't go for walks when the weather is like this. I would probably get some booties for him if he needs to be walked for potty breaks or something.
 

AllieMackie

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#8
Boots. Boots are the best thing for dogs on chillier days that need exercise. Finn's a good hibernating dog, but we both get a little shack wacky after awhile, so his Muttluks get put on. He hated them at first, but quickly made the realization that his feet don't freeze off as long as they're on.

He has the tall ones to keep his feathery legs from getting too snowy.



There's also paw balm you can get that works wonders. Up here in Canada we have Musher's Secret and Invisible Boot. They apply and dry in seconds and protest the feet from salt and to a lesser degree, cold.
 

Laurelin

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#9
Mia is still not a great hibernator. She is actually more active in winter vs summer (but summers here get 100+ for a lot of them). Some days she can skip outside running time but man today she is being horrible. I know it was because I was out 12 hours while we drove to texas to see my grandma and then yesterday we only did indoor stuff/yard stuff, but we did a lot of it. But we hiked Weds and Tues while I was off work and monday had agility in the evening after work.

She'll sleep a large portion of the day these days but she still gets restless pretty bad in the afternoon/evenings. Regardless of weather.
 

Dizzy

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#10
It may be the cold, but if it was ME and he was new to me, and limping after or during walks, I'd definitely be getting him checked over to make sure there's no joint problem going on.

If that's all ok, then I'd assume he's just a wuss and get him kitted out for the cold weather :D
 

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