A Dog’s Best ‘Pawtection’ From Cold Weather and Salt

Elara Mosquera abcnews.go.com Walking your pooch during winter months is a daunting prospect for many dogs and their owners as the animals’ feet are tormented by ice and burning salt. Catherine Miller, a professional dog walker and founder of Pet Nanny NYC, says the best “pawtection” are dog boots. Metropolitan and suburban sidewalks and roads are coated with salt during the winter season, so it’s important to be aware that most de-icers are toxic to dogs.  Without proper protection, dogs commonly will stop dead in their tracks, or hobble on three legs to avoid stepping any further on salt ridden roads. “Hands down dog boots are the best winter protection. It protects dogs from frostbite and salt. Now I know a dog is a dog, and let them be a dog, but when you’re in a certain kind of environment that is man made and potentially dangerous, we should protect them from that manmade problem, ” Miller said. Often you hear people say their dog doesn’t wear cushy footwear simply because they won’t walk in them or they gnaw at their footwear like there’s bacon inside, but the owner is probably not consistently applying the training  needed, and may just feel frivolous having a dog with shoes on. “Dogs tend to not to like wearing the boots at first, so acclimate them to wearing them by putting them on your dog for short periods of time in the house. Praise them and gradually increasing the length of time as they get used to them,” dog expert Caesar Milan points out on his website. to read more: abcnews.go.com