Nihonken in the Snow

not4dagamesnot4dagames
edited January 2014 in General
Got slammed with what's considered a massive snow storm for the DC area. 5inches :) ...

Anyway my dog is lifting random feet off the ground when walking outside, i think its frost bites or cold feet, but I'm not so sure because at the dog park when snow is on the ground he is running laps around the other dogs unaffected. It may be due to the salt on the ground. Anyone else experience this or have insight. Just trying to get a theory drawn.

thanks guys

Comments

  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    yep- cold feet! :) or if he just does it initially and hasn't been in snow that deep, its just "Eew! cold and wet!" and then once he's busy with something else (like playing with the other dogs), its not important to him anymore.

    My guys get cold feet standing on ice or stone in the single digits, but are good to go above that (though Sage never seems to get cold and will happily sit in a snowbank and watchdog while the snow piles up on his shoulders.) If he gets salt on his paws, just wipe them off when he comes back inside. If his paws get chapped from the salt, wet/dry/wet/dry etc, a good product is Musher's Secret paw wax. It protects and moisturizes the pads so they dont crack- use it as a balm as well as a protective- I dont know if its worth buying boots in DC - you wont need them often enough. Salt burns, so wiping the paws off is important. If you de-ice your steps of walkway, you can use PawSafe deicer (theres a few brands) in place of salt- looks like little turquoise beads.
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    Ok perfect yea I have mushers. Yea , cold feet... Aww man ill probably get boots just to prevent the cracks I heard of
  • cdenneycdenney
    @not4dagames I'm in NoVA by Tysons Corner we got hit with it too. My girl is okay in cold she lifts her paws when they get salt burned (moving from salted sidewalks to snow and back) the chemical reactions stays on her feet. At places like Webers pets tore or Wylie Wagg you can get little rubber booties that look like giant ballons to protect their feet.
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    Nice! Your 15mins away I'm in the bethesda/silver spring area! I'll have to go et some.. And your right I think it's the chemical reaction. That is exactly the process. Salt snow salt snow feet in the air. It must be a combination. @cdenney I never heard of those store what are they near?
  • zandramezandrame
    Musher's is great - like body butter for dogs. Good all year round for soft paws. I actually just ordered a pound of it today from Foster and Smith! :>
  • LosechLosech
    Conker's feet were fine until it got into the below zero temps. He would hold paws up every now and then, but as long as he kept moving he was good. When it was -30 or lower (in Alaska) he would hold one foot up, then another, and walk all funny, but I never had him out for long when it was that cold anyways.
    Musher's Secret is great. Also, Bag Balm works good too. Basically the same thing, pretty cheap if you get it from a feedstore.
  • cdenneycdenney
    @not4dagames I worked in Gaithersburg today abd it only took 30 min so you're not far. I'm sure petsmart has them to but the closest store would be the wylie wagg on 7/Leesburg pike probably
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    @cdenney - Gaithersburg is about 20 away, and Tysons' the same. I think ill head there on Sunday. Hope it doesn't snow too bad on Saturday. Gotta get to the dog park otherwise my pups go crazy!

    @Losech thanks for the advice. It usually doesnt get that cold on this end, but anything is possible. Ill have to check out a feedstore I keep hearing about those stores.

  • sunyatasunyata
    B&N were fine with the snow on Tuesday when it was 'relatively' warm. Yesterday and today, they are NOT okay with it. (Granted it was ZERO degrees this morning in Arlington.)

    I have just been limiting their outside time to quick potty breaks and wiping their paws off when we come back in.

    We are looking forward to the heat wave on Saturday... 36 degrees!!!!
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    Arlington! Nice Thats close to. It's cool to know of other nihon ken outside of shibas in the area. I thought my friends were the only one's with Shikoku here!! Do you go to shirlington DP?
  • CrispyCrispy
    I have a Malamute and a Shikoku. Now, if I didn't have the Malamute, I would think the Shikoku does really well in the cold and the snow. He never complains and actually REALLY loves the snow. I've never seen "cold feet", but we don't get too cold. Never in the negatives. If it's below 20, I'm probably not out for terribly long (no more than an hour) because I am wimpy and human.

    He isn't like my Mal, though - who will just sit in the snow and enjoy the snow for being snow. I do notice that TK spends a lot of time RIGHT in front of the heater when we get back.

    The worst thing for us isn't the cold, but the salt that businesses put down. The city itself appears to use paw-safe salt, but the salt businesses throw in their lots and the side walks is really volatile and burns their paws. :(

    TK in the snow.

  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    edited January 2014
    @crispy beautiful shikoku.

    Just got in from the DP. A border collie mix was trying to Herd all the dogs in the DOG PARK. lol So funny. My pups just weren't having it. Oh and they did well in the snow!!
  • cdenneycdenney
    @not4dagames you've never mentioned what dogs you have.
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    @cdenney lol I didnt did i? I have a Shiba Inu and Shikoku Inu. Wanted to get a feel for this board before I started posting pics etc. Even though I did get one adverse reaction to my combo, everyone else has been great. I guess its about time I posted some pics. lol
  • cdenneycdenney
    Well we do periodic meetups our next is probably in a few months but for those few of us that are NoVA local we sometimes meet at Reston DP Once every few weeks or so. You should come out sometime
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    Cameron Baron?
  • cdenneycdenney
    Yup
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    Oh sure I went there before, keep me posted. Also where do people post meetup ideas I have a great one in mind
  • cdenneycdenney
    Just post a new thread calling location. So mid East coast Meet up Nov 3 etc. Then on face book I would add it to the east coast meet up group
  • sunyatasunyata
    @not4dagames - I have two Shibas... So no Shikoku here. And neither of them are really dog park dogs. However, we have been to the Reston park a few times with no major incidents since it is a smaller park and much less crowded (with less crazies!).

    We should all get together for a C&O hike one day when it warms up!
  • not4dagamesnot4dagames
    @sunyata SOUNDS LIke a plan to me! Whats a C&O hike? Are you apart of the DCShiba group? If so we may have met before.

    im sure @Cdenney would come to!
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