[BCC]

Hello,
we are wanting to take the pup parade up to the mountain for some hiking, but there is still a lot of snow up there.
how long can a beagle stand/ walk on snow before it gets frostbite on the paws?
i know beagles hunt snowshoe rabbits ( i intend to get mine after them some day) so it cant be that bad, but is slow conditioning required?

thanks in advance.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Why don't you buy some of those booties for your Beag? That way his pads will be protected from the weather as well as any rocks or other stuff that may be on the mountain. Sorry, but seeing as how I'm in Florida, that's the best advice I've got. LOL!

 

[Murphys Dad]

Another option to the boots, is to get Mushers. It is like Vaseline for the paws, and it gets hard in the cold and protects them from the bites.

Oh, and take pictures!!!

 

[whtrngr]

Being from Minnesota, I have been through this. From my experience, it is not the snow that bothers my dogs, its the cold concrete and ice. My dogs LOVE the snow, they love to bounce around in it, burrow under it and pop up in other places, and of course, take off after rabbits in it. They are fine in the snow for as long as they don't get cold all over, and we have puppy jackets and sweaters to help that issue. Now when we go on walks, their feet get frozen up and they limp, but that is when we are on concrete and ice. We get around this by putting socks on them. They don't like it until they are outside, and then seem to get the idea. And it all depends on relative temperature as well. We only needed to use the socks and jackets when it was below 10 to 15 degrees. So, if you find a nice snowy non-concrete path, and it is above 20 degrees, you should be fine. But make sure that if your beagle wants to clean the snow out from between his toes you let him!
We also tried the boots, they were expensive compared to socks, and turned out to not fit will and be more of a chew toy.

 

[whtrngr]

Here is a pre-walk picture of the socks. We use a pony-tail holder LOOSELY to keep them from falling off immediately. They still slide around a bit, but usually stay on if the dog walks nicely.

 

[TwoLu]

I don't know about beagles paws, but I have rubber disposable boots for my danes. My male dane gets cracked pads if I don't use them. For some reason his pads are very sensitive. The disposable boots are nice because they are cheap, easy on-easy off and protect the pads.
Here is a link to the ones that I use:
http://soggypaws.com/store/apparel_pawzboots.html

 

[BCC]

cool!
thanks!