Many people know how to make sure their dog stays safe in the summer: give them a bowl of water, keep them in the shade and don’t keep them in a car on hot days.
But do people know how to keep their dogs safe in the winter?
You wouldn’t think that there is much to keeping your dog safe in the winter, but apparently there are more guidelines we should be following to keep our pooches warm and cosy.
As the temperature drops during the colder months it is crucial to keep your dog’s core temperature high to avoid hypothermia and frost bite.
For this the website Smart Dog Owners, who wrote a guide on how to keep your dog safe this winter, recommend buying your furry friend a coat or sweater to keep the harsh cold and wind out.
Longer haired dogs, like Golden Retrievers and Newfoundlands, won’t feel the cold as much, but it is definitely worth investing in a winter coat for your smaller or less hairy pooch.
Your dog’s skin tone can also play a massive part on how fast heat is lost from their bodies.
Dogs with lighter/pinker skin tones are more likely to lose heat quicker than a dog with a darker coat, as dark coats absorb and retain heat better.
Your four-legged friend has paws that are extremely susceptible to the snow and cold that winter brings, so protecting these extremities is another crucial matter.
For protecting your pooch’s paws you can buy little booties to put on.
These booties don’t just protect your dog from the cold: they also prevent slipping and sliding on the pavement as they provide traction between the paws and the ice and snow.
Balms and dressings are also available for purchase to help your furry friend stay up on all fours.
But these should be put on just before you take your pooch out for their walk, as they can cause slipping on laminate and wooden floor in your house.
All these freezing prevention steps sound like they can rack up quite a bill.
So if money is not always available there are YouTube tutorials and DIY pages that will show you at home methods of keeping your pooch warm and safe.
Image courtesy of Dmitriy Procenko via Flickr, with thanks.
