Amanda Teixeira
Winter is here! Now your dog’s coat needs special care. We will tell you what you absolutely have to pay attention to when caring for your fur in the cold season.
Dog fur is definitely hard-wearing – but it suffers from the constant alternation of dry heating air and damp cold outside. Therefore, the coat needs appropriate care in winter. Keep it shiny, warming and healthy with these tips.
Bathing is forbidden
Dogs should only be bathed seldom anyway. In winter, however, you should really only do it in a real emergency. The top coat loses its natural protection against moisture through the bath and also allows the cold to penetrate more quickly. Try rubbing dirt off with a dry cloth.
If your dog jumps into the nearest pond despite the sub-zero temperatures, rub it off immediately afterwards – otherwise there is a risk of hypothermia, since the fur dries slowly in winter.
Brush the dog daily
In particular, double-haired dogs that have a lot of undercoat and a long top coat, such as the long-haired collie or the pretty Pomeranian, need to be thoroughly brushed once a day. Otherwise the fur is insufficiently ventilated and the skin cannot “breathe”.
Dogs also change their hair several times in winter: the dead undercoat tends to become matted. The daily brush massage works against this. Wire brushes with slanting, close-meshed tines that grab the undercoat and pull out dead hair are well suited.
No trimming and shearing
Breeds like the Curly Poodle that are trimmed or shorn have little or no undercoat. They need the harsh or frizzy top coat for protection. Small corrections are allowed if the curls become matted, especially behind the ears and at the nape of the neck. You should also remove unwanted forehead hair that falls into your eyes: it can become stiff in the freezing cold.
Winter pruning for paw pads
Lush fur between the toes should be trimmed: Otherwise, grit and road salt will get caught in the hair, which irritates the skin on the paws and can lead to nasty infections. In addition, the paws can be better washed out after the walk.
Tip: Cream your dog’s paws with milking grease, Vaseline or a special ointment from specialist retailers. In this way, the bales do not become cracked or brittle.
Oils against snow lumps
Dogs that have long hair on their chests, paws, and stomach easily carry extra pounds with them in the form of lumps of snow. This not only puts a physical strain on the dog, it also hurts him. You can prevent this by putting milking grease or oil in your top coat before you go for a walk. This looks sticky but protects against snow sticking. Special dog clothing is also a good alternative.
Oil against brittle hair
The constant alternation of dry heating air and damp cold outside puts a strain on the dog’s coat. If it is brittle, scaly or dry and the hair is brittle, you should add a few drops of linseed or fish oil to the food. The prerequisite is, of course, that your dog is fed appropriately, i.e. does not show any signs of deficiency.
Always dry well
In snow, sleet or deep snow, a dog gets soaked to the skin. Above all, the dense undercoat does not withstand too much moisture and soaks up. Because undercoat under the top coat takes a long time to dry again, rub the dog thoroughly when you are dry again.
With these tips, your dog will get its beautiful, soft and, above all, warming winter coat.