With the advent of the first cold weather, summer chores about persistent insects and thermal blow are replaced by winter ones: hypothermia and risk of frostbite, cracks in the paws of paws, exacerbation of inflammatory processes, colds, allergic reactions and poisoning caused by the reagents that sprinkle the sidewalks. All this can be warned if you know how to protect your dog in the cold.
It is important to wear a dog not only beautiful, but also warm
Healing in frosty weather: who is at risk?
Dogs feel cold differently, which is affected by many factors. The breeds bred in various climatic zones have different levels of adaptability to frost and different types of coat. So most immigrants from the northern regions (Husky, likes, samoyed) can live on the street and sleep in the snow on the street because it is so comfortable. The breeds bred south will prefer not to walk for a long time, but the dogs are most sensitive to the cold, in which the coat consists only of the outer hair, there is no undercoat or it is weakly developed (some bolones, Yorkshire terriers, bare rocks).
The size in this case matters. Large dogs lose heat more slowly, while small ones begin to freeze much faster. Representatives of the same breed can carry the cold in different ways, depending on the conditions of content and care.
How to reduce the likelihood of hypothermia in dogs
Organize suitable conditions of detention and minimize sharp temperature changes. Watchtower dogs that are adapted for year-round life on the street, even at-20, should not be taken home for the nightch sharp temperatures increase the risk of colds. A more correct solution would be to insulate the booth, tuning the entrance, a good bedding from hay and an increase in the calorie content of food. They begin to prepare yard dogs by winter in the autumn molting. Give vitamins and additives for the formation of a high-quality undercoat.
Dogs that live in an apartment adapt worse to low temperatures. They often have a seasonal molting and undercoat is not fully developing. In addition, their body sets thermoregulating mechanisms to maintain constant body temperature in such conditions. Having left the warm house to the street where-10-30 ° C the body experiences a temperature shock, as a result of which chronic diseases are aggravated and new inflammatory processes develop. It is for this reason that it is customary to wear home dogs, and when when when you should immediately move in the cold.
Pay attention to food. The winter diet should be more high-calorie than summer. The amount of meat, offal and animal fat should be increased. Food is given warm. If possible, pour warm water. In frosts or during active physical activity, add another meal in the form of a standard portion. If the dog feeds on Kirkland dry dog food, for the period of cold weather, switch from a regular diet to high-calorie. At night, when it is impossible to regularly add water, in a suitable container, the dog leaves snow.
Follow the rules of care. Sometimes the owners who decide to make a fashionable haircut or a short exhibition trimming to the Schnauser are to blame for the hypothermia. In addition, in winter you should not comb the dog with a pudder and other tools that reduce the number of undercoat.
Choose suitable clothes. Most winter overalls, jackets and ponon protect mainly the dog’s back and chest, often fetter movements and do not give the opportunity to keep warm on their own. In addition, they do not protect the most vulnerable areas of the body, save from hypothermia, but not from frostbite. When choosing winter clothes for a pet, it is worth giving preference to models that capture cereals as much as possible and do not constrain movements. When it comes to short-haired hounds (Greihound, Wippet, Levrek) It is also important to insulate the long neck and ears. Models of clothing for these breeds have a very high knitted collar, which, if necessary, can be lifted to the crown. It is advisable to choose a convenient headdress with smooth-haired breeds and dogs with stopped ears.
Follow the health status of the pet and determine the duration of the walk individually. Healthy animals with a normal metabolism are freezing less than puppies, elderly, sick and exhausted dogs. There are no specific boundaries of frost resistance. You always need to look at the state of the dog, its activity and the desire to walk.
Winter protection of dog paws
Nature made sure that dog paws freezed in the cold not first of all, placing a network of blood vessels in a special way. There is constant heat transfer between the arteries and the veins, which allows minimizing heat on the external environment and maintain the optimum limb temperature.
Of course, with a long stay in the cold, you can earn frostbite, but more often the owners face other problems: the skin on crumbs dries and cracks, and licking the paws after a walk can cause allergies or poisoning.
• It is important to supplement the winter diet with fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E);
• make sure that the dog receives enough liquid;
• before walking, lubricate the pads with petroleum jelly, or with a special cream for dogs based on wax (in no case moisturizing);
• wear boots if the dog is normally treated with shoes;
• Upon arrival home, paws are rinsed with warm running water to wash off the reagents that sprinkle the sidewalks in large cities, antifreeze accumulating on the sidelines, and small grains of sand.
In some breeds between the fingers, the wool forms the so-called brushes. They are designed to protect the paws, but sometimes their presence is not justified. If snow clips or ice blocks form during walks on brushes, which injure delicate skin, they are recommended to be cut briefly.
Another trouble that lies in wait for the dog in the cold is ice. You should walk as little as possible in dangerous areas to minimize the risk of dislocation, stretching or a fracture.
Fraud in dogs: 8 steps to the right walk in the cold
Fraud is called tissue damage caused by hypothermia. Under the influence of low temperatures, a spasm of blood vessels occurs, blood stops going to cells, they die. The longer the dog is in the cold, the more cells will die and the more difficult it will be to restore damaged tissues, and sometimes it is impossible.
Open areas of the body are most susceptible to frostbite: genitals, tips of the ears and tail, the skin between the fingers. There are 4 stages of frostbite. It is impossible to determine the degree of damage immediately after a walk, so it makes no sense to dwell on the description of each process individually. It is more important to say what the owner should and should not do:
1. Five minutes after each walk, check the vulnerable areas. If they remained cold – this is the first sign of frostbite;
2. Do not walk in the cold for too long;
3. During the walk, the dog should move, the more and more active, the better.
4. Increased humidity and windy weather increase the likelihood of frostbite. So, if the dog calmly withstands walks at a temperature of up to-15 ° C, then under adverse conditions the lower limit can already be-5-10 ° C.
5. Return home at the first signs of freezing: the dog is stomping in place, squeezes his paws and presses his ears;
6. Do not hope for warm clothes. It does not protect vulnerable places from frostbite and does not exclude the need to actively move.
7. It should be very attentive to walks of pregnant and nursing bitches. Walking must be minimized. It is advisable to wear the dog so that all the dairy bags are protected.
8. If the dog is accustomed to go to the diaper, you can not go out into the frost at all, but you must definitely replace the walking with active games at home.
Do not worry that the dog does not walk long in frosty weather, even if it is an active breed that needs good physical activity. Everything she needs will catch up with the first warming.
It is not enough to know how to protect the dog in the cold. The situations are different and each owner must be able to provide first aid to the affected animal. Here you need to remember three important rules. At the slightest signs of freezing, you need to go into a warm, dry room or return home. For heating, only dry heat can be used: wrapping and very light massage. No local heating pads, rubbing with irritating solutions and even more hot water. If you suspect frostbite on the affected areas, apply an ointment or panthenol ointment and a dry warming bandage. If the frostbitten part of the body worries the dog, you can give a weak painkillers, for example, analgin (ketorol, ketans and others; worsening blood coagulation, contraindicated). The next step should be a trip to the veterinarian or calling a doctor to the house.
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