Friday, January 3, 2014

Salty Paws Solution

Booties.

I live near Prospect Park.  I took advantage of the snow day to bring my dog to the meadow to romp in the snow (which he loves - he's truly a sight to behold).  I saw at least three people on the sidewalks carrying their dogs (one definitely over 60 lbs) to avoid the salt stinging their poor paws.  I would have done the same exact thing.

BUT, my dog was wearing booties.  And I did my homework - the best booties are the ones WITH VELCRO.  All other ones will come off.  My dog has houdini-ed his way out of many a bootie.  True, running in 2 feet of snow in a meadow will knock off any kind of doggie footwear, but I take off the booties when we get to the meadow because there's no salt there anyway.

If your dog has paw sensitivity issues, there is definitely hope.  My own dog would cower and hide when he sensed I was even thinking about coming within a foot of his paws.  With a little desensitization and counterconditioning, we worked through it, and now I put his booties on by tapping each leg one by one and saying "Lift." It can be done.

And now, here's a hilarious video of dogs wearing booties for the first time.  Don't worry, they get used to it.


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