Cold Weather Care Tips

Since we just got about three feet of snow, I fig­ured it might be a good idea to post some cold weather dos and don’ts.

POTTY MISTAKES

• DO every­thing in your power to make potty habits out­side hap­pen.  I can not tell you how many peo­ple call after a bout of bad weather because their dog re-trained him­self to pee on the liv­ing room carpet.
• DO shovel at least a 10x10 area, and keep this area clean.  Don’t let snow pile on top of poo.  Your dog will know it’s there and may not want to walk in the area.
• DO reward your dog for going potty out­side just like you would train­ing a puppy.  Be happy and use treats, praise, and pet­ting.  Don’t sound like a teenage girl at a Bon Jovi concert.
• DO super­vise at all times and man­age it so your dog doesn’t have the oppor­tu­nity to go inside.  Use a crate and if your dog doesn’t potty out­side, put him in the crate for a few min­utes and then back out­side.  Keep flip flop­ping him until he goes and then reward him.
• DON’T pun­ish, yell, or rub his nose in it unless your goal is to make your dog want to potty in secret away from you.
• DON’T walk your dog on roads that have been salted (if pos­si­ble).  The salt can be absorbed through foot pads and can cause stom­ach upset and dry cracked pads.
• DO wipe off your dogs feet every time you have to walk him on salted sur­faces.  Use a sheet on the floor and walk your dog around sev­eral times if your dog won’t let you wipe his paws off.  Then call a trainer to help you so you can in the future.  Believe it or not, not all train­ing is obedience.

FROSTBITE

• DO dry your pet off.  Dogs and cats can get frost­bite.  Keep your pet as warm and dry as possible.
• DO use warm (NEVER hot) water com­presses or soak feet for imme­di­ate treat­ment.  (You must have a con­stant sup­ply to warm up your pet.  If you can’t con­tin­u­ally warm your pet until tem­per­a­ture is nor­mal again, then DON’T start.)  The affected area will be extremely painful as it warms up.  Then very gen­tly and com­pletely dry the entire treated area.  DON’T rub or mas­sage it.
• DON’T use a heat­ing pad or hair dryer.
• DO go to your vet ASAP even if you think you have com­pletely treated your pet.  It can take sev­eral days to see the extent of the damage.
• DON’T give your pet any pain med­ica­tion with­out your vet’s expressed permission

HYPOTHERMIA

• DO dry your pet off.  Dogs and cats can get hypothermia.
• DO use warm tow­els to wrap your pet.  (Putting dry tow­els in the dryer for a few min­utes usu­ally does the trick.)
• DO use warm water bot­tles wrapped in tow­els.  DON’T con­tact your pet directly.
• DO use a hair dryer, espe­cially if your pet is wet.  Just make sure you are not using it on any areas with frostbite.
• DO go to your vet imme­di­ately.  Hypother­mia can be life threatening.

COMMON SENSE

• DO pay atten­tion how long your pet is outside.
• DO walk your dog on a leash, espe­cially near roads with cars who might have trou­ble stopping.
• DO play with your dog, use inter­ac­tive toys, or train to phys­i­cally and men­tally stim­u­late your pet so they don’t drive you crazy and start bounc­ing off the walls because they’re stuck inside more.
• DON’T bring your pet with you in the car.  If you get stuck or (heaven for­bid) in an acci­dent, you will have your pet to worry about too.
• DON’T let your dog walk or run on ice.  They can slip and break them­selves just like we can.
• DO make sure you have plenty of sup­plies.  Just add dog food and cat lit­ter to the list when you buy milk, bread, and toi­let paper.
• DON’T get bend out of shape if your dog does some­thing “nor­mal” that he has always done, but it’s not cool when he’s cov­ered in wet snow: like jump­ing on the sofa.  (Sim­ple way to man­age that would be to have the behav­ior on cue, when he’s invited he can jump up on the sofa.)
• And last but not least, if you see your dog lick­ing his paws, look to see if there is some­thing stuck in them, and dou­ble check for cuts.  Hard­ened snow and ice can be sharp on pads.