Tips for safe dog walking?

zaksmum

It's been totally iced up around here since heavy snow fell last Tuesday and the slight thaw means we now have a layer of water over thick ice. The streets are treacherous underfoot and I just can't manage to walk my dogs at all. Fortunately my husband will take them for short walks, but I really miss being able to get out and about with them.

Anyone got any tips for safely walking the dogs in these dreadful conditions?

xxlaurissaxx

If you have walking boots wear these. I feel safe walking in mine, but then again, I try to avoid pavements and just go to fields and woods where there is still thick snow. Are you able to avoid icy areas and go to fields/woods etc. xx

picklepick

Really good boots! Speaking as a professional dog walker... i see loads of people slipping and sliding about all over the place but my boots stick firm. They're proper snow boots, not a fancy brand or anything. Got them off ebay for abut £7. Try searching for snow or moon boots on ebay.

Mine look a bit like these...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Ladies-Warm-Snow-Winter-Boots-SIZE-35-37_W0QQitemZ110478877210QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWomen_s_Shoes?hash=item19b90de21a

The sole is exactly the same and the grip is amazing!

Also try a walking stick. Not an old man stick, but a hikers stick. I've even seen a lady by me thats using a ski pole to help steady herself!

MileySmiley_2

zaksmum wrote: »

It's been totally iced up around here since heavy snow fell last Tuesday and the slight thaw means we now have a layer of water over thick ice. The streets are treacherous underfoot and I just can't manage to walk my dogs at all. Fortunately my husband will take them for short walks, but I really miss being able to get out and about with them.

Anyone got any tips for safely walking the dogs in these dreadful conditions?

Last week I was unable to walk my dog for 3 days as it was bad so I know how you feel, I did exercise her inside though, don't laugh but I used a lasergun thingy from the Wii and she ran all over the place chasing a little red light, not ideal I know but she had lots of exercise from it and we all had a bellyfull of laughs...just a thought!:D

AlmightyCorgi

Hi

I'm one of those really clumsy people that will fall over no matter what shoes / boots i wear so i only take my dogs over to the fields / forest while its like this and i cant do that every day.

What i do when we cant get out is play alot of games with them (hiding things in buckets etc, getting them to sniff things out) and do lots of training, anything that makes them think, from simple things like sits, downs, waits etc to sending to different things in different directions. Daft as it sounds you can tire them out by making them think about things just as much as you would if you take them for a walk.

zaksmum

I've got a pair of Reebok walking boots but even wearing those I'm still slithering all over the place...I think it's the layer of water that's formed on top of the ice as it started to thaw.

I do normally take the dogs to a nearby field but to get there means crossing side roads that are just completely iced up. Even the park is ok actually on the grass, but the paths are lethal.

Good idea though about getting the dogs to chase the laser thing. I have one I bought years ago in Tenerife, which they love to chase, but I always worry they might look up at the wrong moment, as the laser can hurt their eyes.

I suppose it'll just have to be indoor play, or the back garden, till conditions improve a bit.

SailorSam

And if the dogs go onto a frozen lake or canal that breaks, no matter how much you love them. don't go and try to save them. How many times have you read that the animals managed to get themselves out eventually, but the owners died.

LITTLEMISSFLOWER

Im eight months pregnant and had the same problem but im also very clumsly at the moment:eek:

I find it hard to stand up without ice. lol


Anyway ive been driving to the local pets at home car park after it closes as its all been gritted and ice free. there is a loading bay there which is very big and as noone has been in there is full of thick snow we have been there most evenings last week and this week and he has found a rawhide chew, a ball, a kong in the packet.

Happy days. however we did get told off saturday night as i had blocked the entrace with the car which has a bar across and pets at home had a lorry doing a delivery.:eek:

he only had to wait a min while i moved but the face on it im sure he thought i was mad.:rotfl:

msflowerfairy

Do like the europeans do, and wear a pair of thick socks over you boots/shoes. The fabric sticks to the ice and snow,and gives great traction.
I tried it myself and it works a treat, although i did look a bit daft, but i was safe, and that is all that matters!

zaksmum

SailorSam wrote: »

And if the dogs go onto a frozen lake or canal that breaks, no matter how much you love them. don't go and try to save them. How many times have you read that the animals managed to get themselves out eventually, but the owners died.

That is, of course, sound common sense. But how many of us could just shrug and say, "Oh well. There's my poor dog dead, then" and walk away if they were to fall through the ice?? I don't think I could.

ka7e

Last week my dog slipped on ice that had formed on a flooded path. The water was only a few inches deep, but the ice actually cut her face. Luckily it missed her eye, but she had cuts above and below it and her fur froze as we walked home!

She loved the thick snow and was fine on the icy paths but has slipped a few times now it's slushy.

The snow seems to make a lot of dogs really hyper, too. Combined with hidden dangers (low fences, branches, general junk) some dogs run the risk of cutting themselves or tripping over buried hazards.