Sort of H&FR--walking dog in bitter cold

[elletr13]

I wanted to ask this here since the pets board is a bit slow.

There is a windchill of -10 tomorrow here on Memphis. At 6:30 AM when I normally take the dog on his morning walk, it'll be 12...no telling what it will feel like!

I know others are dealing with much colder temps, so I'm looking for advice. We're bypassing long walks the next couple of days, but we'll still have to walk him a little to do his business since we live in an apartment and don't have a yard he can just run out into. How can I protect his feet? These kind of temps are not common here, so we don't have any booties or anything... Is there any sort of DIY method someone could recommend to help him get through a 15 minute walk or so? He's a lab-pit mix.

Thanks!

[labbie]

When it's cold enough for them to salt the roads, we swear by Musher's Secret, which I learned about from the nest pet boards way back when. It protects the pads and prevents iceballs from forming- it's basically a wax, so I bet if you googled it you could figure out an equivalent DIY thing you could use tomorrow.
I'm wondering if Vaseline could also work, but I'd want to make sure it's okay for dogs first (don't see why it wouldn't be, but ya never know).

[elletr13]

Thanks...we do have some veterinary balm someone gave us. It is similar to Vaseline...I'll read the label and see if it will help any

[badgergirl66]

I'm no help. We are getting wind chills of 45-50 below zero. I'm scared to take my dog out. I'm putting her boots on and a sweater. And then trying to be outside for under 4-5 minutes. She's a poodle/golden mix so she does have a lot of hair at least.

[incognitotoday]

Balloons. Don't laugh. But there's a brand out there called Pawz. See here pawzdogboots.com/

They're basically a thicker material of what a balloon would be. If you don't have these Pawz, try double layering of balloons with added Siran Wrap. Can't hurt to try.

I swear by these booties. My dogs won't walk in "dog snow booties" literally. They will stand still and not move. These Pawz things they walk in and the salt/ice doesn't bother them. They are Poodle/Maltese mixes.

Hope this helps. Stay warm!

[elletr13]

Thanks all. We don't have any boots on hand since temps like this are so rare here! He did ok this morning--got his business done fast I'll look into these recs. to have on hand in the future.