Pete the Vet: How to keep yourself and your pet safe on dark winter walks
Pete the Vet: Tips for safely walking your dog.
We all know that we’re meant to take our dogs for twice-daily walks, but this isn’t always easy in the winter months. While some folk may be able to take their dogs out over lunchtime or at other times during the day, many others have to go out to work. Sometimes full daylight hasn’t yet arrived by the time they head off, and it’s already dark when they get home. Added to the low levels of daylight, the rain and wind of the Irish winter months don’t help. Many roads are too narrow for the level of traffic, pavements are almost non-existent, and fallen leaves and other vegetation add to the hazards. Going out with the dog on a leash can seem like an unpleasant, even dangerous task.
Yet those beloved pets still need to be walked: dogs that are kept indoors for too long end up becoming frustrated at their inability to express natural behaviours. They show their understandable frustration by barking, howling, messing in the house and chewing furniture, walls and doors. They’re very good at reminding us of our responsibilities as caring owners: the truth is that they do need to be taken out and about regularly, all year round.
The answer to this dilemma is to take measures to ensure that winter dog walking is safe, and even pleasant. There are three aspects to this: cosy and safety-oriented clothing for humans, the same for dogs, and then a range of accessories to add an extra level of safety and visibility.
Dogs walkers need to dress in warm, waterproof clothing, with sturdy non-slip footwear. It’s often been said that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. While the worst storms are always likely to be an almost insurmountable challenge, for most of the Irish winter, if you dress well, it’s rarely as unpleasant as you may expect.
As well as cosy and dry clothing, you should also look for enhanced visibility, with bright, reflective colours, and high-viz strips that light up in car headlights.
Clothing for dogs is scoffed at by some as a decadent Western luxury: after all, aren’t they blessed with naturally warm fur coats, and haven’t they managed for centuries without being dressed up? This may be true enough for some breeds of dog: Huskies and St Bernards have been bred for challenging and cold weather conditions. But many other dogs have fine, thin coats, and especially smaller animals (with a high ratio of surface area to body weight) can suffer severe discomfort if they are exposed to cold, wet, windy conditions. A carefully chosen jacket can make all the difference, and again, high visibility options can be included, ensuring that your dog lights up in headlights, just like yourself. If you don’t want to be seen shopping for your dog in the local pet shop, you can buy their apparel anonymously online. Most online pet shops have helpful size guides, and it’s very easy to return an item that doesn’t fit.
As well as clothing, there are a number of accessories that enhance visibility when walking dogs. You can buy harnesses and leads in bright colours, with high visibility reflective elements. You can also purchase small LED lights to attach to your dog’s collar. These have a double function: they ensure that dogs are visible to passing traffic, and the light also allows you to see your dog if they are off the leash in a dark park or field. It’s also worth carrying a torch of some kind: this further enhances your own visibility, as well as making it easier to see where you’re going if the street lights isn’t as illuminating as they might be.
If winter snow and ice arrive, the risk of accidents is even higher: again, good footwear for yourself is important, and you may even consider boots for your dog (for some people, anonymous internet purchases may again be called for). In some countries (such as parts of North America), temperatures fall so low that dogs will suffer from frostbite if their feet aren’t protected with footwear. In Ireland, it’s rarely this cold, and dogs have thickened footpads that allow them to cope surprisingly well. But every dog is different: observe your pet carefully, and if they seem to be in discomfort, then do take appropriate steps to keep them comfortable. Some dogs have sensitive feet, suffering irritation from the grit and salt on the road, and footwear can provide useful protection against this too.
When you get back from your walk, it’s worth taking ten minutes in a post-walk routine with your pet, cleaning muddy paws and bodies. Dog robes – the canine equivalent of that on-trend human sea swimming accessory – are a useful way of drying a wet dog and ensuring that they don’t decorate the walls of your home with muddy droplets by shaking themselves dry when they step through the back door.
Don’t forget cats in these darker months: they’re more prone to road accidents than dogs because they’re allowed out on their own. To reduce the risk, many people keep cats indoors from dawn to dusk (you can buy microchip-enabled electronic cat flaps that can be programmed to keep your cat indoors at specified times). Additionally, it’s worth getting a high visibility reflective collar for your cat: again, this will make them light up brightly in car headlights, giving them an extra chance of being seen by passing cars.
Stay warm, and stay safe, and make sure that your pets do too. Winter walks are different to summer strolls, but they can be equally rewarding, for people and animals alike.
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