Unlike us, dogs do not have the luxury of wearing shoes. Their paws are in constant danger of being exposed to high surface temperatures and chemicals that might result in your dog developing allergies, infections, fever and other medical problems. Therefore, taking care of a dog’s paws is a crucial part of raising a dog.
Taking Care of Hair
Does your dog walk barefoot in the cold season? If so, its skin might get dry and cracked. It might even result in snow and harmful chemicals sticking to the hair of your dog’s paws, causing several problems.
In order to avoid such problems, you must keep your dog’s hair short. Trim the hair down to the point where it cannot touch the floor.
You must also brush its hair regularly so that you get rid of dead hair, which will improve your dog’s health and blood circulation. It also helps your dog look better, so you should not skip this step.
Keeping the Nails in Check
Cutting the nails short prevents germs and other dangerous substances from accumulating on the nail area. Shortening the nails weekly not only ensures that the paws look perfect but also plays a huge role in keeping your dog healthy. The art of grooming your dog goes a long way in ensuring that it is healthy and looks good.
Wash, Wash, Wash
The best way to ensure that your dog’s paws are clean and safe from all the dangers is to simply give your dog a bath. You do not want to rub the paws since doing so might further aggravate the paw skin that is already tender, which might make the paws more susceptible to catching diseases. Simply soaking the paws for 20 seconds in water is enough to clean them.
There are a number of washing mixtures you can use to clean your dog’s paws. Here are a few examples that you can try out:
Water + Iodine
Iodine dissolved in water acts as a disinfectant with both anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Make sure you add no more than 1 tablespoon for every 3 cups of warm water.
Water + Apple Cider Vinegar
Organic apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid and malic acid, which give this mixture anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Make sure that you do not use the normal vinegar you can get from every convenience store and ensure that the vinegar you use is organic. Moreover, you must make sure that the solution is dilute since vinegar can sting existing cuts, which your dog will obviously not like.
Conclusion
Keeping your dog’s paws clean is a very important task. If you take the right set of precautions and steps, your dog’s paws will remain safe from all kinds of danger.
