Do you and your French bulldog love to enjoy the winter wonderland? The fresh brisk air, soft beautiful snow that crunches a little bit with each step, and the joy of coming inside to warm up after freezing your buns off outside is an amazing reset every time.
There are so many different activities to enjoy with your dog in winter. It’s so nice to bundle up and get outside for a little bit during the winter months despite it being a tough season to get through.
I’m going to give you a list of 5 must have things every frenchie owner should pack for winter walks. These are things I wish I knew to put into practice right away as a first time dog mom. A responsible pup parent is always prepared!
With winter upon us right now, lets take a look at what all of us frenchie moms or frenchie dads should pack with us this season so that our dogs can enjoy winter to the full!
1. Booties
If you and your French bulldog are going to take a winter walk, please protect your dogs adorable little toe beans with some booties! Whether you’re walking on the sidewalk or in the snow, booties protect your dogs paws from so much! Like what you ask?
- Salt/de-iceing chemicals
- Over exposer to the cold
- Prevents yeast infections
If you don’t put boots on your dogs paws when you’re out for a winter walk, they can get toxic salt/de-iceing chemicals on their paw pads. This can get into their bodies if you don’t wipe off their paws after your walk with them. Your dog will probably lick their paws to get it off and thereby ingesting it into their bodies making them sick.
If you don’t put boots on your dogs paws when you’re out for a winter walk, they can get frostbite, cracked paw pads, chemical burns, or even painful ice balls stuck in-between their toes.
Here is a link to our favorite booties that are sure to stay on any dog for long walks:
2.Wipes
Wipes are essential to clean your dogs paws off after a walk. When it comes to a dog breed like the French bulldog who are already prone to allergies, its an absolute must to do preventive care. The first step in preventive care for dogs feet is to keep them clean.
A lot of dogs lick their feet. So whatever is on their feet is going into their bodies. A responsible pup parent should always wipe their dogs paws after going on a walk no matter the time of year because anything could get on their paws that could be harmful to them. Of course we want to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible with our furry friends, but make sure to clean up after as well.
When wiping down your dogs paw, don’t just wipe their paw pads down in one swipe. Make sure to wipe in-between each toe (their digital pads), in between their metatarsal pad (the big one), and lastly their carpal pad (the small back one). These spots are often overlooked. So whether its moisture from the snow or random debris from the road, these things can quickly grow bacteria and/or yeast on your dogs paws. If still left untreated, it can cause infection and get worse from there.
Here is a link to our favorite paw wipes:
3. Paw Balm
Although our dogs paw pads are thick to help them avoid risks of over exposer to the cold, it’s important we do preventive care on their paw pads to protect them. Especially if you live in an area that gets snow for long periods of time in the winter, as this just increases your dogs risk to over exposer.
Paw balm for dogs is extremely beneficial for keeping their paw pads healthy and smooth, as well as creating a wax barrier from toxic chemicals that can be wiped away easily with a wet wipe.
My favorite time of day to put this on my French bulldogs is at night time. I do it before bed and then I even go the extra mile and put cute little socks over their paws to really lock in that moisture and let the paw balm work its magic.
Here is a link to our favorite paw balm we use on our dogs:
4. Jacket
This is an obvious one, we want to make sure our French bulldog doesn’t get too cold. Especially because of their short hair, they get cold very easily. Plus, they look so cute in a little winter jacket!
5. Blanket
After your walk in the winter wonderland, make sure to warm your frenchie back up with one of their favorite blankets. Then whether its on the car ride home or on the couch next to you, they can take a nice warm nap and dream about how much fun they just had with you.
Make sure to pin this for later when you go on your next frenchie adventure this winter!
