Tips from a pet expert for keeping your dog healthy and active in cold weather

Now that Fall has arrived, the weather is getting cooler and we are heading towards those wintery months when the world gets cold and snow arrives. This is also a time of the year when we might find ourselves not wanting to head outside. But that doesn't mean we can skip those daily walks with the our dogs.

Just because it is colder, it doesn't mean that we can stop taking our pups outside. That being said, I know that our staff pup is not a fan of getting her paws wet so snow is definitely not her favorite thing. So we wanted to get some tips for ways to keep our dogs active and healthy during the winter months.

Thanks to Jessa Paschke, who is a Pet Parent Partners Behaviorist for Mars Petcare, we have some great insight into what we can do with our dogs over the winter months.

Tips for how to keep our dog active and healthy when the weather turns cold

According to Paschke, "It’s important to continue keeping up your dog’s activity levels in the winter to meet their energy and exercise requirements to keep them happy and healthy, despite the colder temperatures that may otherwise persuade pet parents to stay indoors." And this makes perfect sense, as our dogs still need the same level of exercise as they get during the warmer months.

So what are some of the tips that she had for pet parents when it comes to ways to keep our dogs safe when taking them out in the winter months?

"o Winter weather can be very harsh for dogs, just like humans. Keep your dog’s time outside limited to more frequent, short walks and bathroom breaks rather than more infrequent and longer trips outside.
o Following your walks, make sure to wash and dry your dog’s feet and stomach, ensuring all the ice, salt and chemicals that could be treating the ground are removed from your dog’s body.
o When it’s extremely cold, protect your dog’s paws from cold air and salt. You can consider either rubbing a topical mask or petroleum jelly into their paw pads or even putting on booties to protect their paws.
o For dogs with longer coats that are groomed frequently, you may wish to consider keeping their fur longer in the winter months to provide more warmth.
o While dogs should always be on a leash and have their ID tags on them when outside, it’s important to be especially vigilant in the snow and ice to ensure they don’t get lost in dangerously low temperatures."

- Jessa Paschke

Considering the evenings and nights are already cooling down for a lot of us, it makes sense to think ahead to those harsher winter days when we won't want to be outside for a 30 minute walk with our pups. That being said, whatever we need to do for our pups is what we plan to do, even if that does mean standing outside in freezing weather while they frolic at a dog park.

Do you have any cold weather tips that you use for making sure your dog stays healthy and active in the winter months?