WINTER-PROOF YOUR PET
A SURVIVAL GUIDE

With a warmer-than-normal fall season and a brutal start to the winter with record-low temperatures and rainfall, we thought it might be best to give you these tips a little earlier this year. After all, it is projected to be an unusually cold and wet winter.

During this time of year, it’s always difficult for New Yorkers. While it can be a beautiful time with snow falling, unfortunately being stuck inside, trying to clean that rancid salt and dirt from our shoes and boots, and keeping your furrever one calm, healthy and fit when it is too cold and wet outside can be extremely frustrating.  

Each winter presents its own challenges when it comes to caring for our dogs, whether it’s because of too much snow, colder-than-normal temperatures, or a mix of the two. To help you through what is allegedly a tough winter ahead, I have put together some tips and tricks from our sister publication, Pet Lifestyles Magazine. 

Kate Perry, owner of Kate Perry Dog Training & Daycare Center, one of the best trainers in the country and a columnist for Pet Lifestyles Magazine, has some fun, innovative indoor tricks and games for when it’s too cold to walk outside and to prevent your dogs from going stir crazy:

• Maintain your regular schedule as much as possible. Dogs love a good routine, and in fact, they depend on it. Even if it’s cold out, stick to your dog-walking routine when possible. But shorten the time outside! For the more athletic pooches and owners: Do stair master exercises in your stairwell.
• Use the fire exit stairs to run up and down with your pooch. Great exercise for you and your dog.
• Another good option is having two people standing on separate landings and working on your RECALL/COME command.
• Protect your dog from the cold with a waterproof fleece-lined Velcro coat, the best coat to put on.
• Protect paws with Musher’s Secret, which helps protect a dog’s paws from salt, chemicals, and ice build-up. Just rub it into paws and between toes. If you prefer boots, Kate recommends Pawz Dog Boots, which are waterproof and allow dogs to feel the ground naturally.
• Be sure to wipe down paws, legs, and bellies to remove salt and dirt.
• If it’s too harsh outside, create indoor fun! A snuffle mat or puzzle toy is perfect for physical and mental enrichment as dogs search for treats.
• Pet-safe brand Busy Buddy twist-and-treat toys provide hours of boredom-busting, as can a frozen KONG with snacks provide a challenging, yummy project for your dog.
• Set up an indoor agility course with tunnels and other fun obstacles. You can also hide treats around the home for fun nose-work.
• Socialization is essential every day! Set up play dates in building lobbies or at a friend’s place. Cold weather can lead to isolation, which is not good for social animals like dogs. Everyone needs their buddies!
• One of Kate’s favorite activities is teaching dogs to spin on a towel after coming in from wet, snowy days. It’s fun and very practical to wipe their feet off without you having to do it. (And especially for those dogs that don’t like their paws being touched.) You can then combine both a spin and rollover trick on the towel. And voila! Your dog has dried itself off on the towel. This trick is featured in Kate’s book, Training for Both Ends Of The Leash, which is available on amazon.com. It’s an easy-read and a lot of fun.

A HEALTHIER POOCH
During the winter months, you often run into health or wellness issues with your dog because they can’t exercise as much or don’t want to be outside in the freezing cold for more than a few minutes at a time. Try these tips for a healthier pooch during the winter months:

• Make sure that your building is using pet-friendly snow melt or salt. If it isn’t, or you walk your dog around the city streets, you should consider a barrier for their paws, like pet boots (i.e., PAWZ Boots) or wax (i.e., Mixlab, Mushers, etc.). You should also contact your building’s management to see if they will switch to pet-friendly snow melt.
• Be careful when walking through puddles, curb “ponds,” and snowbanks because of potential dangers hidden underneath. The temperature of the water can do actual harm to paws.
• If it’s cold for you, it’s cold for your pet. If it’s really cold, ensure they have a coat or insulated barrier like a fleece or heavy sweater.
• If their activity level is less because of the weather, you should monitor calorie intake like humans. You may want to consider feeding them a little less food or cutting back on treats so that they can maintain that runway figure!
• If it’s a dry season, use olive oil in their food and consider extra bathing with a conditioner. You need to keep their coat shiny. Along those lines, also monitor nail length, as you may need to get them trimmed more often.

Living in New York City is hard enough for our pets, but these tips will help you through the year’s colder months. As a rule of PAW, always remember that if it is too cold for you, regardless of their fur coat, it is too cold for them to be outside for long periods. It’s better to rug up and stay warm than be too cold! 

Bear in mind during this tme of year, our fellow New Yorkers travel with their furrever ones to snowy parts of the region for skiing and other winter activities. The same rules and suggestions apply when it comes to travel during the winter. You always want to make sure that you are taking the aforementioned essentials on the road with you to ensure that you don’t end up at a local vet or animal ER. One last suggestion: if you are traveling to ski regions, and the forecast calls for a heavy wintery mix or excessively cold temperatures, please consider having a family member or friend stay with your furrever one in your home. The last thing you want to put your pet through is suffering in a place that they are not familiar with. While this can be a costly idea, it is also something that can save your pet’s life.  

For more information on Kate Perry and the Kate Perry Dog Training & Daycare Center,
visit kateperrydogtraining.com