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Outfitting Your GSD For Cold Weather Outdoors.

3K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  RocketDog 
#1 ·
How do you outfit your dog for cold conditions including snow and ice conditions when you and the dog just gotta go out for that walk.

Cruz and I generaly take longer walks maybe in the 1 to 1.5 mile range. We take longer when the weather permits. I just don't want him getting injured by ice and snow or severe windchill while out. Today, the windchill was in the one degree area and we had gusts in the 10 to 15 mph range. I know it's not the most extreme, just wondering how anyone who ventures out like myself outfits thier dog.

I need to get some balm for his paws. I was thinking about some kind of vest or coat. I looked at some of those dog boots, but I can almost be certain it would wear me out getting those on him. So I'll just stick with the balm. The boots are kinda cool though.

Pics would be wlecome if you have any of your dogs outfitted for cold weather.
 
#2 ·
I know some people put jackets or the dog version of horse blankets on their dogs, including dogs who have plenty of dog fur, like GSD. And just like lots of horses, i dont think certain breeds of dogs need them. My friend has a pitty and she gets a fleece in the house and a jacket and booties for outside, but that is because she actually needs it because she shivers when she is outside and even inside sometimes when its really cold.

Zelda gets mushers secret or she wears booties when i walk her in town, only because of all the salt on the road and side walks that releases chemicals and hurts her paws.
I would prefer mushers secret, but unfortunately i have to apply it ever time before i go out and its just getting to expensive so i got booties for her and she does okay in them, getting them on can be a pain especially if she is super energetic- but its all worth it in the end!.

Other than that Zelda is a snow dog and would be out there longer if she could!
 
#3 ·
I have never seen Hans react to the cold like he's the least bit uncomfortable, no matter how cold or how long we stay out. I don't think he needs a jacket, but if I put him in his kennel, I will put a pad down for him so he doesn't have to be directly on the ground. However, I've seen him plop down in the snow and just lay there like it's no big deal. Makes me shiver to think about it!

Our Cowdog, OTOH, has a really short, slick coat and appears to be freezing nearly to death at 50 degrees. I do have a jacket for her. :) Poor girl. She has a heated pad in her kennel, a heated pad in her box on the porch and spends every night in our basement.

Nobody spoiled around here. :D


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#6 ·
My rough collie has strangely sensitive paws, and we use Musher's Secret for her. I actually got it to help her figure out how to get traction when we swapped out the carpeting for hardwood floors, and I haven't yet gotten to take her anywhere lengthy while using it since it's been snowy, but I've heard a lot of great things about it.
 
#7 ·
Boots are my only "winterization" for my gal....when it gets to about 0-15 below F. I think I might use them more often as the chemicals the city lays down on the roads are pretty nasty on a dog's paws and pads. The sessions I have with my pooch either at the dog park or in the backyard when there is fresh snow also allows for the use of the boots as the iceballs which form between her pads are pretty nasty. I did just recently buy some Musher's Secret and will be testing that out to see if it reduces the formation of iceballs....I'll be impressed if it does.

SuperG
 
#8 ·
Interesting. I know the GSD is pretty resilient, but I really don't know thier threshold as far as cold weather goes. I can pretty much read my dog in hot weather and won't push him to hard to far. The cold is alittle sneakier.

I've thought about the boots but man Cruz's feet are so darn big and I don't mean lengthwise as much as overal girth. But he is, compaired to other GSD's, has shorter hair. I've seen him shaking after playing in the backyard in the snow. But he seems fine on our long walks. We stay off the sidewalks and streets as I'm lucky in that I live across the street from a very large field with grass around it. I think it's alittle easier on his feet. The one thing that really makes me wonder is the windchill factor. I know it can be piercing. I know in cold weather, the core body temp is highly important. Thats why I was wondering about the body jackets.
 
#10 ·
Putting a coat on a GSD in temps above zero F is akin to putting a life-jacket on a fish. They are happiest when the mercury is hovering below freezing. Not to say toss em out in the cold all day long without a warm place to take a break now and again. My old guy Banjo would spend hours outside when the temps were in the teens. I put a lounge chair cushion down for him and he'd lay on that and survey his realm for 90% of the day in cold that would be dangerous for a well clothed human.
 
#11 ·

We bought a coat for Rayden when he was ill with cancer. He didn't grow any undercoat that winter and was easily chilled. It wasn't very heavy but it seemed to help him a lot



Singe likes to go swimming at 15F so I don't worry about him getting cold. After his swim, he had ice falling off his coat but was completely dry underneath. I had to drag him out of the water or he would have stayed in the lake all day.
 
#12 ·
Our GSD has shoes...but he only wears them when it's below freezing and/or muddy and/or we have salted the sidewalk, etc. And he has a light jacket too so that he can run around in ice-snow storms and rain. Makes it easier to keep my house clean :) Take boots/coat off, much less mud/ice/snow to contend with. As a general rule, he doesn't get decked out unless the weather is bad as we don't allow him to stay out too long if we think there is danger of frostbite and/or frozen pads. We don't blanket our horses...they come/go, fine. I do worry about his ears though when we get that below zero weather; just don't allow him to stay out that long, maybe just long enough for a 10-15 minute run, and back in the house.

I'm BAD, sometimes, I open my front door, and throw his frisbee from INSIDE my house, and that way, he brings it back in, and gets a few seconds of heat on his paws, and back out again :) My husband saw me do that the other day and said, "you've got to be kidding me".

I only do if for about 5-10 minutes...airs out the house too. I am not standing out in 15 degree below zero weather to throw a frisbee ok? It's that, or he gets worked on the "stairs" inside the house. I swear I'm going to buy him a treadmill yet for bad weather days.
 
#13 ·
Gsds are built for cold weather! I have lived in very cold climates (once in WI the temps never got close to 0F for a week!) and although my rottie mix Chama had to wear a coat, neither of my gsds showed any signs of being cold.

Yesterday Rafi and I were out for almost 3 hours and with the wind chills temps were down around zero. He was absolutely fine.

I do use Musher's Secret for Rafi's paws when there is salt on the roads and the temps are below 15 but other than that he's fine (and his coat isn't anywhere near as thick as my gsds' coats were). If we're in the country or hiking I don't even need to put the MS on his paws--it's just to protect them from the salt.
 
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