The Guide to Winter Dog Care

As the winter months descend, you might notice that your walks are getting colder and darker. Neither you nor your dog are likely to be enjoying them as much as usual. 

Keeping your pooch safe in winter is sometimes more important than making sure they get that nice long evening walk they’re used to. It’s cold, dark and the ground can become icy and slippery, so shorter walks are inevitable.

If you’re getting home at five in the afternoon, it may already be too dark for your evening walk, but there are some ways to keep both you and your pet safe during these strolls. Just as you should be wearing brighter, reflective colours, so should your pup. You can buy reflective leads, collars, and jackets for your pet to make sure they can be spotted. If it’s too dark to see into the distance, you should keep them on a lead to keep them safe.

There are also a range of collars you can buy that flash, so no matter how dark the streets you’re walking down are, you will always be able to see exactly where your dog is, as will other pedestrians and traffic.

During the summer months, long coated breeds like Doodles and Doodle mixes or Shih Tzus can be cut short to keep them cool, but even in winter, your pooch should still be groomed – it might just be a little different to their summer regime.

Winter isn’t often the best time to get anything quite so drastic, but you may want to keep their paws trimmed or anywhere that might collect too much moisture and therefore be susceptible to frost. Ears and beneath the stomach can should be cleaned and dried off after walks to prevent this.

However, the brush type you use to groom your pup may depend on their fur. If your dog is short-coated, a soft or rubbery brush will help to get the dirt off and keep it clean. Slickers are great for wire-haired dogs to make sure none of the dirt evades you, and a pin brush like the Rufus & Rosie Pin Comb is good for curly-coated breeds like poodles.

Grooming dogs in winter may look a little more like making sure their coats are clean and dry after walks. If there’s snow or mud on the ground, it can collect between their toes and give them a chill long after their walks.

Clean, dry feet will help to keep your pooch nice and healthy. You can use grooming wipes, like the Pet Cleanse Daily Fresh Cleansing Wipes, if you only need to clean their feet and a towel can make sure they stay warm and dry.

Additionally, winter dog paw care might also involve a soothing balm after you clean and dry their toes off. Just as we tend to get chapped lips in the winter, our beloved canines can get dry skin around their paws and nose, so soothing balms like The Spa Cracked Paw & Nose Balm can help to moisturise their skin.

To survive the winter months, there are some essential things you need to make sure you have on hand to stave away the cold, including:

 Winter can be hard on your pet, but with the right care and a few treats thrown in here and there, they can continue to be pampered even through the harsh weather. Keeping them safe on walks is just the first step in surviving winter with your canine companion. Caring for their health, keeping them warm, dry, and free from being needlessly dirty from the dark, boggy walks is paramount to keeping them happy and healthy.

You can find everything you need and more to meet all of your pooch’s needs - and then some - with our massive range of dog products this winter!