Gun Dog Forum

Some of you must have much more experience of this than I have. My spaniels feet and featherings are collecting ice balls as I work them in the snow. Snow isn't usually too much of a problem here but this year it's been snowing on and off for over a month now. So far I have trimmed back the hair on the dogs paws and legs and I've tried rubbing vaseline or olive oil into the remaining hair but still ice balls form after a while.

Any advice on how to prevent this happening would be much appreciated.

Bill T.

A thread on this was just active in the Health and Nutrition forum. Look here:

viewtopic.php?f=88&t=26623

Trekmoor wrote:Some of you must have much more experience of this than I have. My spaniels feet and featherings are collecting ice balls as I work them in the snow. Snow isn't usually too much of a problem here but this year it's been snowing on and off for over a month now. So far I have trimmed back the hair on the dogs paws and legs and I've tried rubbing vaseline or olive oil into the remaining hair but still ice balls form after a while.

Any advice on how to prevent this happening would be much appreciated.

Bill T.

Buy a tin of Musher's Secret. It also makes a great gun wax.

Use it from the bottom of the paw to the dewclaw area. It dries and does not stain.

Shave there feet it works really well.

mcbosco wrote:

Trekmoor wrote:Some of you must have much more experience of this than I have. My spaniels feet and featherings are collecting ice balls as I work them in the snow. Snow isn't usually too much of a problem here but this year it's been snowing on and off for over a month now. So far I have trimmed back the hair on the dogs paws and legs and I've tried rubbing vaseline or olive oil into the remaining hair but still ice balls form after a while.

Any advice on how to prevent this happening would be much appreciated.

Bill T.

Buy a tin of Musher's Secret. It also makes a great gun wax.

Use it from the bottom of the paw to the dewclaw area. It dries and does not stain.

Exactly correct.

If the waxes don't do it, you can try dog boots.

Or, Bill, you might add weight



to help them get better traction.

Happy Burns Night a month in advance - send haggis!

MG

Thanks for the advice folks. Nobody seems to have heard of Mushers Secret in the U.K. The English think it's got something to do with mushy peas ....... a favourite dish down there ! Yuch !! I'll stick to haggis !

Bill T.

Use a moustache trimmer to trim the hair out, then wipe down with vaseline.

Here is the kind of trimmer that I'm talking about
http://www.remingtonproducts.com/ForMen ... ystem.aspx

mushers secret works good . sometimes you have to touch it up a little while hunting. I got mine from gun dog supply.

Musher's Secret is amazing~ you might have to mail order it from the US. For the rest of their coat I use a horse product... Show Sheen or Vetrolin Shine to keep the ice balls from building up so bad in their fur

Our sponsor just uploaded a video on this: http://www.gundogsupply.com/mushers-secret-video.html

Greg Jennings wrote:Use a moustache trimmer to trim the hair out, then wipe down with vaseline.

Here is the kind of trimmer that I'm talking about
http://www.remingtonproducts.com/ForMen ... ystem.aspx

X2. My way also.

When I lived kin Montana I had Springer's and snow build up could get pretty bad. I clipped the hair out from their toes and pads with cuticle sisorrs. Helped but they would still get snow balls. Ont thing I recall about it was it really had to get cold for the balls to form, simply freezing didn't do it. Wish I could remember how cold but I don't even know what I had for breakfast! That Mushers Secret looks like it's really worth trying!