Winter Wonderland or Winter Nightmare? Keep Dogs Safe This Winter!

As temperatures are reaching extreme lows nationwide, it's the time to step up our game when it comes to keeping our dogs safe. You can follow these simple steps to avoid your dog from being harmed during these harsh winter months.

1. Don't push them. While some dogs LOVE the cold and could spend all day laying in a pile of snow, not all dogs are built the same. Don't assume that your dog can handle the cold just because they're a dog. Know their limits and know when it's time to turn back during a walk.

2. Keep them bundled up. You know how we have to be covered in pretty much every jacket we own before taking the dog for a walk when it's snowing? Well, a lot of dogs prefer to be nice and cozy, too!

3. Check their paws. After walks, be sure to wipe down their paws due to wipe away chemicals like anti-freeze or even salt (which is used to melt snow) which can burn their paws. And check those paw pads for any cracks as well!

4. Protect their paws. To stay on the safe side, invest in some booties for your pup to keep them even safer during walks. They'll appreciate that extra layer and you'll appreciate having one less mess to take care of.

6. Stay poison-free. Anti-freeze, while being an effective tool in snowy weather, is deadly to animals. What makes it even more dangerous is that it has a sweet taste to it, making it more likely for animals to ingest it. Keep anti-freeze locked away and quickly clean any spills to avoid a fatal accident.

7. Provide extra warmth for seniors. As the winter months hit hard, senior pets' pain levels may rise as the cold causes their arthritis to become unbearable. Giving them a warm place to retreat to may make this time more bearable for everyone. Try putting a heating pad under a blanket on their bed to give them some much-needed relief.

8. Give them shelter! There are many times dogs have frozen to death while being stuck outdoors. If you don't bring them inside (for whatever reason), the least you can do is give them shelter outdoors like a dog igloo or dog house with a heater.

9. Know when it's too cold. See the below infographic on how to determine if it's just too darn cold for your dog.

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