Be careful in the snow!

[beckysmyth92]

Hello everyone

So... it finally started snowing in Northern Ireland a few days ago! I was so excited to get out and see how much Dakota loved it! which she sure did!

I was walking her around our usual route and Dakota was so excited she was trying to run the whole time and roll around! Unfortunately she got so excited she spun around and hurt her leg she fell down once she hurt it so I picked her up and carried her home and set her down (still with the lead in my hand attached to her) to open the door and she bolted towards the gate! She still wanted to go and play regardless of her fall! It broke my heart taking her in and i examined her leg and found no cuts or anything digging into her, she was walking around as normal.

The next morning (today) she has raised her leg several times but then put it back down again, she is baring her weight on it and walking around as normal so I dont think its fractured. However I am quite concerned and would appreciate any advice?

If Dakota is still raising her leg from time to time tomorrow Im going to take her to the vets tomorrow night as they run an open surgery.

Be careful in the snow with your fur babies!

Becky

[Judy Fox]

We have snow here in Cheshire and it froze over quite quickly so we have not taken them out for a walk. We have, however let them go into the garden but we have supervised them as I don't want them to slip. They do love paddling round in the snow though and ploughing it up with their noses. We let them out with us yesterday while we were clearing the paths round the garden and outside the front gate. They sat and watched us.
I am sorry Dakota seems to have hurt her leg but she may only have pulled a muscle or something like that. Hope it is not bad.

[Victory]

She could have pulled a muscle, or sprained a joint. yep they do that just like we do. I always keep mine on a tight lead the first couple of times it ices over, they can seriously damage a knee if they twist it during a fall on ice, (again just like a human) Also don't cut their nails in the winter, let them grow out this helps them with traction.

I'd keep her calm and make her rest for a couple more days. Watch to see if the weight bearing improves, then slow walks for a while, watching for re-injury. Like people they have to learn to walk in the snow/ice every year, cause they forget.

[Rory's Dad]

Double edged sword for us with the nail growth. We have 60-70% hardwood in the house, so Rory, always getting up in a flurry to greet the door, slips and slides all over the place.

Outdoors, i agree he needs the traction of a bit extra nail length, but indoors it prevents the pads from connecting with the slippery, hard surfaces.

Just for comparison, Rory sprained a knee jumping off a couch at about 9 months. Daughter's bad as he usually isnt up on furniture and jumped off to answer some noise and hit the floor with no traction. He reinjured the same leg slipping down our hardwood stairs (i carry him up and down now, but are going to install carpet), and again on an escape attempt which the vet diagnosed as a cartiledge strain. Said she heard a slight clicking. She felt it would heal fine as he was still only about 13 months at that time and still had growth plate room.

No further injuries, but it does seem to be stiff when he getting up and now with the cold, a bit more. He also seems to be hamming it up again, because he gets extra attention. Maybe too much credit, but after a while dealing with this, i tell him to put his leg down, and he does.

BTW, the leg is not sensitive to touch in the least. I can rub the entire leg, hip to toe, and nothing. I pull it into full extension, and nothing.

Their stiff rear legs don't give them much leeway for over-extension. We haven't seen any serious injury (ligaments, etc), but certainly be careful of it. The tight lead advice makes sense, as done restricting stair or furniture usage. Definitely have it checked, but sounds like one of those minor injuries all 'kids' are prone to.

[Piff Poff]

We have had snow on the ground since the beginning of October and will have it until at least April, we have no choice but to get on with it and hope we all come through it unscathed. The worst times are when it warms up a bit and it starts to melt as then it freezes into ice which makes walking for us all very difficult. I uses yaktrax, Henry just has to rely on his paws, we have just had a coiple of days of +3 and 4, but we're back to -17 ish, no doubt winter still has some -30 or ,ore surprises in store for us lol

[Andrea]

Hi!

I have a twelve year old chow who loves cold weather. But one morning we were walking on this street that had lots of icy puddles and she stepped into one of them and after a couple of minutes she lay down and could not stand up as if her paw was hurting. I carried her out of the street and she immediately started walking and was fine after that so I figured it might have been the cold that gave her a little pain on her paw or something. Anyways that was last winter but last night it happened again. It is -14 degrees in Pittsburgh right now and I am wondering if it is the cold on her paws and her age. Any thoughts??????

[applebear]

Hi Andrea, it could be it's too cold on her paws. I have a chow/husky and he LOVES snow and since he takes a lot after the husky, he is built for it pretty well. But when it gets down to those temps, even he starts lifting his paws and I then know it's def too cold because it's not normal for him not to want to stay out and romp more. Your girl could be feeling the effects of age as well...I'm not sure if it's the same for dogs [I'm guessing it is to at least some extent], but I know cold makes my joints [esp knees] hurt.

[Andrea]

Thanks for your answer! My husband actually wants to buy little boots for her. Any experiences on that?

[beckysmyth92]

Thanks for all of your responses! Dakota is walking about fine now and not raising it at all she's back to her usual self zooming around the house from time to time! She actually stood on her back legs to reach the counter in the kitchen and stole half a bread bun! When I attempted to take it from her she ran around the house as if it was a game! When I raised my voice she dropped it from her mouth and looked sorry lol!

Thank you for the advice about keeping the nails longer during winter I will definitely take note of that!

Have a lovely weekend!

Becky

[reddog]

Thanks for your answer! My husband actually wants to buy little boots for her. Any experiences on that?

The thought of buying your girl booties brought back memories of my beloved Chloe. She dearly loved to be out in the snow and going for long walks. Now and then she'd get what I would call an "ice cream paw". (Have you ever gotten an ice cream head ache from eating really COLD ice cream) She stop walking and hold up her paw and refuse to walk. I'd take my gloves off and hold her paw between by hands until she'd let me know the paw was feeling better. Sometimes she'd have a couple of these during a walk. A friend of mine suggested I buy her some booties. I'd thought about that but I decided not to get them for her. The reason being somewhat selfish on my part was because her paws would be warm and dry I'd have to endure the cold longer.

[Piff Poff]

If you get boots for your furbaby, get ones with velcro so you can cinch tight. Then enjoy your baby trying to walk without putting feet down