my boy is incredibly hairy and has plenty of feathering and frilly knickers, my question is how do i break the snow balls off his coat without pulling his coat out... or giving him hot aches by using warm water.... come back from a walk today and his snow clumps were bigger than tennis balls.... we've never had snow like this near us, so naturally i have no clue. i know with the bobbos you put vaseline in the hooves to stop snow impacting but i dont know what to do to protect my boys coat and his skin, cant imagine it can be very comfortable either!

Daisy had snow balls attached to her legs today as well. We have six inches in the garden and she is a Westie so could hardly see her at times. She loves the snow. Just let them defrost we had pools of water wherever she left one behind.

Don't know about legs as mine has smooth weatherproof all-terrain ones (sheepdogs eh) but I trim the feet short as I can and slap vaseline all over his paws in between the toes especially, in Feb he got ice balls between the pads which can't have been good!

Hmmm.... wild thought - re legs on a hairy legged dog... baby oil? Don't quote me.... it was just a wild idea....

I was reading blurb on something the other day and it said it could be used to stop snowballs but I can't for the life of me remember what it was! I do remember thinking to myself that it could be useful when my boy is in full coat!!

I let mine defrost on their beds near the radiator, my really hairy boy gets snowballs all up his legs :(

In the warm by a fire or radiator and using a dog blaster with slight heat gets them out when you get home.
Not sure about preventing them in the first place, but would be interested to know if there was something.

To be honest, unless you have a very wussy doggy, do they even notice the ice and snow balls on their legs? Ummm no, the sheer joy of something so novel, and snowball fights, and the wonder of it all, and the fact their noses have been switched off by it, and it's fluffy and (yeah cold but) and don't you feel like a kid again yourself when you see them going mental in it?

A few ice balls between the pads can hurt. But have you noticed they only seem to limp on the way home? Panting with glee.

boots from country mun ..my beardies love thier boots have more trouble getting them off!

I was going to ask much the same myself today--it's so frustrating that as much as they all love the snow, the snow balls stop them in their tracks after half an hour at most--I removed some the size of a large grapefruit, and it's obviously bothering them because they voluntarily 'ask' me for help. I have given them a good trim just for the winter snow so we can play out, but I can't say it's made that much difference. What I did discover is that trying to break the balls apart is a bad move, it compacts what's left, thereby potentially forming a lovely ice clump and mat. It actually seems to work better giving the  snowballs a sharp tug straight off the feathers and undercarriage while it's still relatively soft--once the dogs get chewing on them they just turn to ice and you've no chance of breaking them free. All I can do is give them all a towelling when they come in, a hot dinner and then get them into their fleece coats, which they adore--does look very funny, though, like pyjama tops!

Actually that's not a bad idea MsTemeraire...I wonder if you can use a mister to spray a light oil, like almond oil?

well, i had to take the boy a quick walk before i got chance to read these responses...... slapped vaseline on his feathered legs.... NEVER AGAIN LOL! makes a bloomin mess, doesnt work, dog wouldnt leave his legs alone either lol.... had to wash them off with fairy liquid as nothing else would cut thru the grease lol, oh well, live and learn! his legs have become soooo matted nd he is normally kept immaculate as his coat takes ages to grow, so i like to keep on top of it all, wish he was a toy then could carry him out to empty but he is a 10st leo and im in a wheel chair so its a bit out of the question lol... its such a shame cos he loves it soo much and naturally my boy is my pet before show dog, but i just dont want to ruin him entirely :-(

I did a quick search and apparently the favoured approach is to use a product called Pam, essentially cooking oil out of a spray can. Or if you prefer not to spray anything onto your dog's coat (and this might be good for your Leo..) use your old tights to make him some leggings, which apparently work really well. There is something called Musher's Wax for paws which sounds good http://www.wildmountainonline.com/WMmain.asp?Option=Detail&ID=203&Category=Sale

That's the stuff I read about!!!! There's a guy local to me doing the Iditarod so I was reading about the race then went through the various links on websites and came across Mushers Wax. I just couldn't find it last night.

>To be honest, unless you have a very wussy doggy, do they even notice the ice and snow balls on their legs?

Alf is the least wussiest dog I know but halfway round a walk in the snow he will lie down and try to pull the snow off of his legs, he has it hanging off his front leg feathering, back leg feathering and even his tummy,  it must be really uncomfortable ..... doesnt stop him completeing his walk but he doesnt enjoy it as much.

My eldest doesn't appear bothered by it on his feathering but on his chest thats a different story, he'll stop many times and try and bite it off. I pull it off but he's still bothered by it. Not a wuss by a long shot either.
My youngest doesn't have a care in the world, though his feathering is somewhat shorter though.

I use all in one coats for the gordons. That way I've only their feet and a tiny bit of feathering to deice. They.  Are much happier in them in the snow as they can play for longer :)

I never thought of putting his "trouser suit" on !

:)  The only downside is everyone laughing at your dogs as you walk down the road!

I asked my brother in Toronto how he manages with his 2 goldies during the heavy snow he gets.  His vet recommends a little oil in the hands and rubbed over the "feathers" on legs and tail and tummy - it can be baby oil, almond oil, etc  ..... I sprayed Fry Light on my two this morning and it works (and less calories too!!)

im going to try the oil with my 2 beardies and spaniel now then, hope it works!

Right dogs oiled up and vaseline on their feet, lets see if this works as we head out for play again

I come from a country where we have snow for about 5 months out of a year so we should have the knowledge of how to deal with it :)...

I'm afraid there is no "miracle cure", dogs get snow balls and it gets rinsed off with luke warm water or melted with a hair dryer.
Brushing  the balls is pretty good way to get rid of them in certain kind of coats(like Leo).
Dog clothing is what most people with small dogs that end up "swimming in the snow" biggies just cope with it fine.
I suppose dogs growing up with the snow get used to it and the balls where as in UK it is a rarity to have snow so dogs might play up more easily.

Hair between the toes kept short is the best way to keep the paws as clear as possible
Some of the paw waxes do work for little bit but most do not make massive difference on longer walks.
Boots are the way to go for those that are really sensitive and refuse to walk.

Most of my dogs don't seem to accumulate too many snow balls, even the Goldies, but poor little Winnie (Sussex Spaniel) only has to look at snow and is covered! I've tried all the oil/vaseline methods and the only thing I've found of any use is showering her legs and belly with lukewarm water. When it's really deep I put her equafleece jumper on which protects most of her body. How would one of their dog suits do for a Leo (http://www.equafleece.co.uk/store/dog_suits.html)?

Ditto daiseymum my cocker has fur balls on legs and ears he defrosts with no harm done and a few puddles.

We all throw snow balls for him and he dives into snow drifts - loves this weather. The BC keeps liofting up one leg and another seems with non furry feet he gets cold.

Oiling my cockers worked really well - thanks to whoever suggested this.  Didn't have any baby oil or almond oil so had to resort to olive oil (extra virgin, as well!).  They are normally covered in snowballs at the end of a walk in the snow but none at all today.

> Hair between the toes kept short is the best way to keep the paws as clear as possible

Yesterdays snow was ok, we did 3 miles with no trouble at all.  Today, after the freeze presumably, the snow is quite different and collected so much in my hairy lads toes that he looked as if he was walking on heels.  Poor boy found this really painful.  He does have very hairy feet though, the one with less hair had no snow in his toes but had a Father Christmas beard and eyebrows instead.

I'm assuming the snow will be here a while so I'll trim tonight, oil tomorrow, and see how we go.  I might also take pliers as I found the only way to help him walk was to keep crushing the snow balls and it's really difficult with fingers :)

yesterday we went out for a couple of hours, one of my boys just got a few little balls on him the other was hanging in them, all on his back end, his front legs and his tummy feathers, poor soul could hardly walk he was so weighed down.  Both of them got ice compacted in their feet.  So today I got the clippers out and clipped the fur between their pads and toes and Alf went out in his waterproof trouser suit.  They still got snowballs on their feet but at least Alf could still run without hanging in snowballs from everywhere else.  Tomorrow im going to try oiling their feet, ive got some stuff called seabreeze oil from plush puppy which I use on Alf round his willy to stop breakage (of the hair that is !!) I will try that on their feet tomorrow.

Use the seabreeze oil neat, it works wonders on the feathering to stop the snow, and isnt as messy as cooking oil. Luckily I got a new bottle of it the day before it started snowing here. Also got paw wax from the bikejoring. A snowballed keeshond can be a nightmare!

Glad to say with the close double coats it doesn't happen to mine.

I used Paw Wax on pads and then Baby Oil on their furnishings and feet/in between toes, worked a treat and although they eventually got snowballs on their legs, no ice in their feet and the snowballs weren't as big and came off with shaking, just a few snowballs to deal with on coming home :-D  made a huge difference :-D

Same here Brainless. The Vallhunds love this weather and Biff,my Elkhound just goes silly when it snows, waking up at 5 am to go out in it!

Only problem I am having is taking them for decent walks, because the human is not as sure footed as they are ;)

Thank god for the head collars, and that they are very sensitive to when I slide and stop instantly.

The seabreeze oil was good on the feathering but the boys still got iced up between their pads :(

Vaseline on feet worked on all my dogs, baby oil worked a treat on the cockers hair- not one snnowball, but my beardies still got snowballs on legs and trousers. worked on beards etc though so maybe i didnt put it thick enough on legs. But even one less to de- snowball when i got back was useful.

Probably already been mentioned ... vaseline for feet. Put between toes and stops balling up between toes. I don't bother doing anything for legs and tail - an anti-tangle spray may work for these areas.