Snow & Icecold

 
In the winters the wether is never pleasent, much rain, Icecold and the last years also a lot of snowdays. Snow is fun, you can play with it, but snow can cause problems if you don't watch you're dogs. Watch you're dogs good when their in the snow. If they have iceclogs between the toe or under the paws, try to get it away carefully. The last years we have experienced a lot of extreme wheather, during winters but also during the summers. When it snows there is falling more snow than ever sometimes, the paws of dogs are experiencing a lot of snow, and shelties with their long hair have snowballs under their axil and her bellys.
The last years we had a lot of snow. We could walk for days through the deep snow, what sometimes was 30 cm deep.
 

 
Heap of snow
 

The long walks in the snow, with the long hairs of shelties, can causes some problems. The snow will attach to long hairs, so if their are long hairs under the paws. The shelties can get a heap of snow, that changes fast into Ice under the paws. This is going to hurt a lot.

Sheltiepaws can get frozen too. So take care of the heap of snow what is attached to you're sheltie. In the winter we groom our shelties always, and we cut the hair on the paws very short, so that it is almoast not possible that snow is attaching there, but you always have to check if there is snow. Every 10 minutes we check our shelties under the paws

 
  If they have a heap of snow, we try to crush the snow. The remains we melt away with our hands. If the paws of you're shelties are cold, you can massage the paws, then the paws will be warm again.

Photos of shelties with a heap of snow. It can attach everywhere, there weres long hair, there can be snow attached.

 
Once I did get a hint to put vaseline on the hairs with my shelties, if it was snowing. But with snow above the 20 cm, there is no vaseline so good that the snow will not attach to you're sheltie. Shelties are walking with 20 cm of snow with their belly in the snow. These snowballs under their belly, on their behind, you have to take it of you're sheltie when their going to big or to many. They can be to heavy for you're shelties. The snowballs will come back every five minutes.
Big dogs have less problems with snow. They can get snow under their paws, you can take that away. Because their hight they will not have so much snowballs on their body as long haired dogs.
 
Every sheltie has their own Snow fun! Savannah likes to put her nose in the snow. Paige and Phoebe like to play heard in the snow
Not every snow causes problems. You can play also good in the snow, like Ylanie, Phoebe and Prudence. On the right: Whisper takes a dive in the snow! She always does that and why? I think it is very soft.

 

Eating snow

Our shelties love the snow so much that they have fun for 100 shelties. Some of our shelties are going with their heads in the snow, to shuffle the snow.

Because of the cold temperature can dogs get stomache/bowel problems. They can throw up from the cold snow and they can get diahrea. Dogs who are not used to snow, wil eating snow. 


From warm to cold

When it is getting colder outside inside we put on our central heat. If dogs are laying all day for the heat, be carefull when they go outside. First let you're dog lay a while not near the heat, before you make a long kold walk.


Salt on roads

Dogs with not much hair can have an allergic reaction of the salt they put on the roads in winter days. The most sensible places are the paws or the scrotum, these places can be getting itchy and red. You can help you're dog through wash it of after the walk, just take a wettish cloth and go gently over the thin hhairy parts of you're dog and dry it afterwards with a towel.

Older dogs with jointproblems, can be stiff with colder weather. Older dogs can get sick from to cold weather, so be carefull with our oldies.

One of our older dogs, we did carry her before we had the doggyride.
 
© Copyright Jacqueline Bosch