Here in Olympia Wa. we really don't get too much extreme cold weather, I've been a little nervous walking Bean....my concern is her feet ! Can they get frost bite at temps around 26 degrees ? We walk everyday, but thats only 2 hours ouf  of the day...the rest of the time she's in the nice warm house, with the exception of her potty breaks & back yard patrols !

Thanks in advance

Renee'

We talked to our vet about hte same thing. My wife is over protective some time. Our temps Get into the minuses on a regular basis. My vet said be more worried about cutting the pads on ice than the cold. My wife bought Tater a camo vest anyhow.

Um.... you've SEEN the pictures of my dogs running over here in Ellensburg/Cle Elum/ Snoqualmie pass, right? You do know it gets a LOT colder over here, right? LOL.....

Seriously, 26F is NOT A BIG DEAL. Sled dogs at waaaaay below zero usually don't have problems with feet 'freezing' unless they've had some circumstance that cuts off circulation or have just run through overflow (open water).

Ice is much more serious. I'm nursing Rogan's feet right now after his toenail beds got banged up on ice all last week both out in the yard and while running. If you've got snowy crust to fall through or seriously abrasive ice conditions then checking feet may be in order. Same with salt and whatnot that they put on the roads now. But having grown up in Port Angeles, I can tell you those situations are going to be very rare and very short lived over there.

All the same, I recommend every dog owner have boots on hand just in case the inevitable happens. Alpine Outfitters could ship you a set of boots probably within a couple days since they're just 'up the road' from you.

Bo is pretty scrawny too, being a pup. We live in Eastern Ontario and have had some minus 20 (celsius) mornings already this year (his first walk of the day is with my husband at 4:30 a.m.). When it is that cold, he puts a light quilted coat on Bo and walks him FAST!

The problem I find with all the snow is that it is hard to walk him fast enough to keep him warm. So on the colder days, we all bundle up and go out in the back yard and chase him around so that he gets to move as fast as he can for as long as he can. He lets us know when he is done and goes right in. He only seems affected by the cold when he stops for any length of time.

What you're describing with Seven is what I've often heard called 'slipped pads', for obvious reasons. I've actually superglued patches of vetwrap over that type of ding to keep a dog going (with boots afterwards FWIW). But yeah, they can really chew their feet up just rampaging around in ice and crust. You can toughen up feet and nails significantly by feeding a zinc suppliment although it won't ever totally overcome GSP exhuberance. Whaddya do, lol.....

As far as sub zero weather: mushing outfitters make coats, belly protectors, and a few full-works jackets. Alpine Outfitters has a super heavy duty coat that even covers up the tender bits, and Becky has told me it worked really well for them while in some deep cold during the Wyoming Stage Stop.

I start trying to get the dogs inside as much as possible once it stays in the low teens (F) or lower for an extended period of time, but they seem to pile out the door ready to zip and zoom around the yard even at below zero. I don't like to run them in harness at those temps mostly because *I* get so darn cold... weather like that doesn't usually stay for long around here so it's a simple matter of waiting a couple days anyway.