Running with your Dog, Winter Edition

Written by Scott M. Johnson

Well, winter is in full effect. Cold temps, artic wind chill, ice and snow, and so much salt to treat the roads. Howard has been absent from the runs lately due to all these conditions, and that saddens the pres. Since we don’t want that, here are some winter pictures of Howard to brighten his, and everyone else’s day.

Cold and freezing temperatures.

This is a bit dog dependent, both in physical characteristics and personality. Certainly, dogs with big fluffy coats of fur can stand the cold, and some rather enjoy running or playing outside. For dogs that like to be outside, but don’t have the built-in insulating fur, there are a couple of options. A dog coat works great for most pups. Chose one based on the relevant activity. Long walks should have a thicker, more insulated coat. During a long or short run, or a short high energy activity, you can use a thinner coat or sweater. Another option is to limit the time outside. A few short sprints or a quick mile can limit the exposure to cold temps and still get out the energy. Lastly, you can train your dog to run on a treadmill. (I taught Howard, but something spooked him about a year ago and he no longer will go on it.)

For Howard, most of you have seen the light sweater that he runs in. It works well during trail runs, when he is off leash, running max effort, and really cranks up the internal body temp. He actually will overheat a bit trail running with the sweater, and tends to drink more water from the streams than in summer temps. For road running, when he is on leash and must run my speed, he is limited to about 45min to an hour for freezing temps. When the temperature is in single digit temps, I won’t run him outside at all. Thankfully, he loves chasing a ball. So, he gets his energy out with a few very short chase and fetch sessions.

Road Salt

This, far beyond temperature, is the biggest factor in whether he runs on the roads with me. Running on salted roads can lead to the paws to dry out, thus causing cracking and splitting. If not managed, this can be painful. There are plenty of “dog moisturizers” on the market, but really any food grade lubricant does the trick. Just check the paws after runs and moisturize as needed. The bigger issue is that most salt used by DPWs to clear ice is very course and can also be large. Stepping on one mid run can lead to cuts and scrapes and infections. Also, having to carry a 60lb dog for multiple miles is something that neither him nor I are interested in. So I’ll avoid road running with him if the roads have recently been salted.

Beyond that, there isn’t much else I do for winter running with him. An extra towel in the car to clean his belly of salt/dirt and water so his skin doesn’t dry out and to clean off and in between his pads. Extra water and high calorie snack is typically always in my running totes for his as well.


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