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Keeping paws warm and pets happy
"There is no way that I'm going to be seen wearing boots!" Nipper scowled indignantly, wrestling his paw from my grasp. "It's unnatural, you don't see dogs running around in the wild wearing boots!"
"Cocker Spaniels don't exist in the wild," I reminded him, "Your natural habitat is the sofa, so you're wearing boots!"
"Lady," he said, pausing to scarf down the Snausage I'd given him as a bribe to hold still, "You are not the boss of me! This is animal cruelty; in some states you could get arrested."
"Go tell it to Oprah," I replied, wrestling the fourth boot onto his left hind foot. "Plus, don't talk with your mouth full. I'm the Mommy and what I say goes. So, c'mon, let's go take a walk."
He refused to stand up, so we didn't get very far.
But what's a responsible dog owner to do? It's cold and snowy outside. There is salt and chemical de-icers on the sidewalks and roads and that has to be hard on their paws. I wear boots, so shouldn't he? Plus, they're way cute.
"The ones who pull sleds need to," said Cheryl "Sissy" Stupprich of PetSuites, the pet resort and spa in Erlanger. She's been a professional groomer since 1994 and has worked with literally thousands of dogs. "But house pets, who go out into the snow for 10-15 minutes to use the bathroom, not really."
The biggest reason, in her opinion, to put boots on a dog is to help provide traction. Sand, rather than salt or chemicals is the best way for a pet owner to achieve this. She does suggest that when you get your dog groomed in the cold weather, not to have the fur cut out from between the pads. "There's a reason for it," she counsels, "Hair is a natural insulator from the cold, sort of "nature's snow boot."
So, dogs don't really need boots, she said, "But if it makes you feel better as an owner, go for it."
Jean Pritchard, D.V.M. of Fort Thomas Animal Hospital agrees. "I think that in general an average pet doesn't need them. The main thing is to keep the paws dry. The longer that moisture is left in contact with the area between the paws the more chance you have to allow bacteria to proliferate.
A dog's pads, she said, are tough and thick. The biggest problem is that people get motivated to do a lot.
"Nobody ever asks me about boots for cats," she quipped, "Only dogs. That's because cats are smart enough to take one look out the door and come right back in!"
