When It Gets Cold
The brrrrr is on! Ice storms, heavy snowfalls, and plummeting temperatures can make outdoor exercise for dogs quite challenging.
For tips on keeping dogs safe during cold winter months, I reached out to a trio of professional pet sitters who live in cold states. They include Amanda Waring and Jayde McEdwards from an Anchorage, Alaska-based pet services company called Hooman For Hire, and Joni Sullivan, co-owner of Joan of Ark Pet Sitting based in Rockland, Massachusetts.
“During winter, Anchorage temperatures can be negative 13 degrees – and that’s without a wind chill factor – so it is important for all of our staff always to check weather apps and be prepared before heading to clients’ homes,” says Amanda, a former veterinary technician.
When preparing to take clients’ dogs for walks in the winter, Jayde always fits ice cleats to her boots to reduce the risk of her slipping on icy paths.
“I have walked up to three dogs at a time, but I know these clients’ dogs and I use a hip leash for more stability and control,” says Jayde. “Fortunately, these three dogs listen to me very well.”
In Massachusetts, winter can sometimes stretch all the way to late April or early May, reports Joni. “Our winters can be long and filled with blizzards, drifting snow and ice,” she says. “Our company has an extreme weather policy that other pet-sitting companies might consider. If the temperatures are too low, we take the dogs out for quick potty breaks and bring them back in the clients’ homes to play indoor games like ‘use your sniffer’ to find treats in the kitchen.”
How to Survive the Cold
The trio share these snow-surviving pet care tips:
• Dress in layers and sport sunglasses when driving or walking dogs outdoors. The reason? When the sun hits snow, it can be very bright and tiring on the eyes.
• Mittens or gloves? The trip prefer wearing gloves because it is easier to handle a dog’s leash and open unused poop bags.
• Consider applying pet-safe wax on dog paws to prevent ice buildup and slippage during wintery walks.
• Keep an inexpensive bag of cat litter or old car mats in your vehicle that you can use in front of your tires to give traction on icy roads.
• Know your dog’s limits. Be aware of your dog’s tolerance for cold weather and adjust accordingly by shortening walks. Pets with conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, Cushing’s and kidney disease have harder times regulating their body temperatures.
• Understand that senior dogs and ones with arthritis may have more difficulty walking on snow and ice, making them more prone to slipping and falling.
• Recognize that short-legged dogs may become colder faster because their bellies and bodies are more likely to come into contact with snow-covered ground during walks.
• Never walk dogs on frozen ponds, lakes or rivers. These frozen bodies of water could crack open, plunging the pet and you into frozen water.
• Always wipe a pet’s feet, legs and belly to remove any deicing products, antifreeze or other toxic chemicals from their bodies after walks. Keep antifreeze and deicers in areas inaccessible to pets.
Signs of Hypothermia
All three are trained in pet first aid and remind pet sitters to be on the lookout for signs a client’s dog or cat may be suffering from hypothermia. These warning signs include:
• Shivering. This is a natural response by a pet to try to keep his body warm while outside.
• Drowsiness or stumbling while on a walk.
• Gums that turn from healthy bubble gum pink to light blue – a sign of hypothermia. Gums that progress to pale signal the pet is going into shock.
Inside your home, make sure your dogs and other indoor pets are safe from space heaters or unsupervised heating pads that could spark a fire.
Adds Amanda, “Keep pet-safe heating pads on low settings because pet bodies are smaller than ours and can absorb heat quicker than us.”
Learn more
You can learn more on ways to keep your cats and dogs safe by visiting http://www.propethero.com. Consider taking our veterinarian-approved online pet first aid/CPR course. Enter this code: CPR – ARDEN MOORE and receive a 10 percent discount! And, if you are interested in becoming a Pro Pet Hero instructor, please click on the BECOME AN INSTRUCTOR button on the home page for more details.