dog's paws and ice water

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Novice123
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dog's paws and ice water

Post by Novice123 » Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:34 am

Currently in mid-March our neighborhood sidewalks are full of ice cold water and slush. I noticed my neighbor was walking his Pit Bull on the sidewalk in front of our house. He is a nice guy, no criticism of him is intended. Is it O.K. for the dog's paws to walk it through ice and slush? What about hunting my 'imaginary' dog in 20 below weather on snow packed fields? I say 'imaginary' dog as an inside joke because I will get my puppy in June this year. I plan to have my dog out every day in the snow during winter, which is actually a necessity for us as we don't have indoor toilet for a dog! The slush and ice cold water that is about 6 inches deep on our neighborhood sidewalks looks really cold for a dog's paws. After I take my dog for a walk through the slush and ice cold water, I would bring him/her in to our basement to warm up. Is walking a dog in those conditions cruel or harmful?

cjhills
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Re: dog's paws and ice water

Post by cjhills » Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:04 am

The icy slush does not seem to bother dogs a lot. It is at least 32 degrees. I would hope it is for a short distance and some dry ground.
Running my dogs, GSPs ,in the snow when it is twenty below does not bother them. In fact they seem to enjoy it. Their feet do get cold on the plowed roads. Fortunately the bird seasons are pretty well winding down before we get alot of real cold days. I did not run mine long on the 42 below day we had this year. They do enjoy running in the snow that is so deep they disappear with every jump....Cj

averageguy
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Re: dog's paws and ice water

Post by averageguy » Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:05 am

My dogs have never had a foot problem with ice water or slush and are in it daily when it is around. But we live in the country and there are no salt or chemical sidewalk treatments within miles of where my dogs live and run. Not sure how likely your dog is to encounter that on your neighborhood sidewalks, nor do I have experience with how it might affect its feet if it does. That is the only possible concern I would have/research.

shags
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Re: dog's paws and ice water

Post by shags » Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:17 am

At my house the dogs are run almost every day regardless of winter weather. The exception to that is if it's deemed too nasty for us people. This past winter we skipped a couple days due to high winds and horrible wind chill factors, and a couple of days because it was just too icy to be safe.

We've had no problems with torn up pads. The dogs don't mind any winter conditions, sometimes the worse the better in their opinion. Deep snow is awesome...tires the dogs out working through it.

I'm not so sure I'd leash walk dogs on sidealks with 6 inch deep water and slush. That's because I am the clutz who trips on stuff and goes head over teakettle and lands face down in the mess. I'd take to the road instead.

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OhioVizsla
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Re: dog's paws and ice water

Post by OhioVizsla » Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:15 pm

I take my dogs out every day of the year, even in sub zero temps. The only thing that bothers their feet/pads is crossing a road that has been salted and has slush when the temps. are well below freezing. They limp immediately and will continue to limp until I can get it brushed it out. I will carry them across if it looks bad. One thing is for sure, they'll let you know if it bothers them.

cjhills
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Re: dog's paws and ice water

Post by cjhills » Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:29 pm

One other thing. If you hunt in extreme weather you need to watch for hypothermia. Especially if it is wet. Don't get too far from some source of heat. That you can get to quick if the dog starts shivering …….Cj

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greg jacobs
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Re: dog's paws and ice water

Post by greg jacobs » Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:48 am

cjhills wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:29 pm
One other thing. If you hunt in extreme weather you need to watch for hypothermia. Especially if it is wet. Don't get too far from some source of heat. That you can get to quick if the dog starts shivering …….Cj
For sure. Was hunting in a pouring rain on a day that was sitting at 32. One of my dogs wasn't running well and his back was hunched up. Got back to the rig to warm him up. While sitting their a wirehair came in with not good control of his back legs. We called it a day. That drenching rain was really taking the body heat out of them. I've hunted many times below 0 wirh no problem but when it's that cold they seem to stay pretty dry.

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