Dog Walks in Winter: How to Deal with De-icers
"Salted" paths can make for painful terrain.
The weekend forecast from the National Weather Service calls for chances of light snow Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Lower Merion-Narberth area. Though the predicted amounts are modest—less than half an inch each day at most—plenty of sidewalks and roads might still get de-icing treatments. Some such products can cause problems for a dog out for a walk after a storm. Winter-walking guides at dogster.com and at petside.com say that rock salt and de-icing compounds can damage paw pads after prolonged contact and can be harmful to pets who lick at them. Some suggestions: What problems, if any, does your pet have during or after winter walks? How do you try to mitigate those problems? Please tell us in the comments section below.
