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Winterizing Your Dog: Tips of Warmth & Safety

Reminder to Keep Your Pet Warm This Cold Season

By Belle V. RosePublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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If you, like me, have a four-legged family member that you love and want to do the best to keep them comfortable this winter weather, here’s how we can show them our love without worrying about the cost.

Warmth

Snug as a Pug in a rug.

If you have a pet living outside in this winter not-so-wonderland, please, please, PLEASE bring them indoors IMMEDIATELY. If you don’t want to be in this freezing weather, neither do they. Clear out a space in the garage, basement, kitchen, living room, anywhere in your home that will be warm and dry for your puppers.

If your dog is already an inside dog, keeping your pet warm may still be necessary. Much like you, your doggo may need some extra layers to cuddle up in or to. Especially, if to save money or wood, you keep the thermostat turned down, depending on your electric bill or if you heat your home via woodstove/outdoor furnace. Hey, I ain’t judging. You have a system, which probably includes bundling up in sweaters, sweatpants, and warm socks/slippers. Now, just think like that for your furry friend. Maybe, a dog sweater, an extra blanket, a heavier blanket, if they don’t have or use a dog bed, even throwing their blanket in the dryer for several minutes, so it’ll be cozy to cuddle up to.

If you have a bundle of blankets that have been folded in your closet for dang near eternity and you don’t mind giving one or two to your dog, go for it. Thrift stores also carry blankets of many sizes and thickness. Not only blankets, but clothes! If you are also like me and enjoy trying “simple enough” DIYs, grabbing a human sweater (from the thrift rack or your closet) and doing a little nip and tuck to it, viola! Your very own made-with-love sweater for your woofy (:

Winter Coats

Dashing through the snow.

While, it's true most dogs naturally have a winter coat, most short hair breeds and even some long hair breeds with poor circulation for maintaining body heat need that extra layer of warmth when going out to do their business, regular outdoor walks with you... anything that involves being outside, cover your fur babies, up!

Amazon, Walmart, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx carry different dog coat sizes for deliciously discounted prices, but it's best to buy online, due to not always being stocked in stores. But, if you are a DIYer and don't mind a challenge, YouTube and Pinterest have some awesome tutorials and patterns for dog coats using old hoodies, fabric, and baby clothing. Highly recommend to save some bucks and time. (:

Footwear

Hark the herald of pitter-pawing feet!

This brings me to footwear. Again, while it is true most dog’s foot pads are thick and will protect them from a lot of surfaces (much like human skin), most pet parent’s don’t think about keeping their woofer’s paws maintained. In this frigid temperature, cracking is prone to happen. Don’t worry! By using trusty old bag balm or coconut oil (1/4 teaspoon per every 10 pounds of body weight) on the pads of your dog’s feet will aid in healing, keeping them conditioned, and healthy. Canine boots are another option if your dog has real sensitive feet.

The above stores that I mentioned in the coats paragraph also carry dog booties for decent prices or you can also choose the DIY route, however, in my experience with booties, my dogs always loses them in the yard no matter the season. Ever tried searching for size medium dog boots in waist-high snow? No dice. So, I highly recommend keeping your dog's feet conditioned with the products mentioned and not leaving your dog out too long on the negative number days. (:

Reflective Wear

Shine bright like a diamond.

I can not stress the importance of having reflective or LED gear: collar, leash, jacket... any gear that people are going to see and immediately be aware that something out of the ordinary is in their line of vision and to then proceed with caution. Especially, in a blizzard. If you live near a street or just want to see the location of your dog from the window, adding a clip-on light to the existing collar acts as both a homing and warning beacon. It gives a piece of mind, believe me.

Amazon carries a pack of five water resistant lights for $8.49 with Prime shipping. That's less than two dollars per clip-on light!

Get those here.

If you want a collar, Dog Pawty promotes dog safety and offers their regular priced $28.99 glow-in-the-dark, you pick-your-color dog collars for free, all you pay is shipping. I bought two last year for both my Aussie (pink) and Pitty (green). They are so nice! Both collars have a slow, fast, and solid light function. Plus, the color of light matches the collar. Best of all is the light and battery pack are easy to remove for washing. The one thing I will note is they aren't very sturdy to hook a leash to. I mainly use mine for visual safety and keep their heavy duty collars for the dog walking. (:

Get them here.

Comments?

Have any other safety tips you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them! Please leave me a comment and remember to keep both you and your dog warm (:

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