Winter in Luxembourg is not severe, but it produces a specific set of injuries that arrive every year in the same order: cracked pads in December, salt burns in January, and the dog that licked something it should not have in the car park.
Salt and de-icer
Treated pavements are the main problem in a city. Salt and chemical de-icers irritate and dry the skin, work into small cracks, and cause real chemical burns on sensitive pads. A dog then licks its feet to relieve the discomfort and ingests the residue, which causes stomach upset and, in quantity, worse.
The routine that prevents almost all of it takes one minute. Rinse the paws in lukewarm water when you come in, or wipe them thoroughly with a damp cloth, paying attention to the spaces between the toes where residue sits. Dry properly afterwards, because wet fur between the pads is itself a problem. Keep a bowl and a towel by the door in winter so it actually happens.
If your dog starts licking its feet repeatedly indoors in January, look at the pads rather than assuming a behavioural habit.
Ice balls
In snow, the hair between the pads collects wet snow that compacts into hard balls. They are painful, they change the dog's gait, and a dog trying to remove them can damage the skin. Long-coated breeds are the usual sufferers.
Keep the hair between the pads trimmed level with the pad surface through the winter, which is the single most effective prevention. A thin smear of paw balm before a snowy walk reduces adhesion. Do not use human products containing menthol or strong essential oils.
Cracked and dry pads
Cold air, dry indoor heating and abrasive frozen ground combine to dry pads out. Check them weekly by holding each foot and looking, not by waiting for a limp. Small cracks respond to a dog-specific balm applied at night, when the dog is settled and less inclined to lick it straight off. Deep cracks, bleeding, or a pad that has torn need a vet, since foot wounds are slow to heal and easy to infect.
Boots, if your dog will wear them
Boots solve the problem completely and most dogs hate them initially. If you want to use them, introduce them indoors over a week or two: one boot for thirty seconds with food, then two, then a short walk in the corridor. Fit matters, and a boot that twists is worse than none. For most city dogs, the rinse-and-dry routine is easier and works.
Coats, and which dogs need one
Not a fashion question. A thin-coated dog, a small dog close to the ground, a puppy, an elderly or arthritic dog, or a dog recovering from illness genuinely benefits from a coat below a few degrees. A husky or a bernese mountain dog does not. The test is behavioural: shivering, a hunched posture, lifting paws, or a reluctance to leave the building are all signs that the dog is too cold.
Arthritic dogs feel the cold more sharply, and stiffness is worse on the first minutes of a cold walk. Warm up slowly rather than starting at pace.
Antifreeze, the serious one
Ethylene glycol tastes sweet, and dogs drink it willingly from puddles in car parks and garages. It is highly toxic to kidneys and frequently fatal, and treatment only works if it starts very early, often within hours.
Signs in the first phase look like drunkenness: wobbling, disorientation, vomiting, excessive thirst. The dog may then appear to improve before kidney failure develops. If there is any possibility your dog drank from a puddle in a garage or licked a spill under a car, telephone a vet immediately and say what you suspect. Do not wait to see how it goes.
Dark evenings
From November the morning and evening walks happen in the dark. A reflective harness or a light clipped to the collar costs very little and changes how early a driver sees you on an unlit stretch. A light-coloured lead or a reflective strip on your own coat matters too, because drivers see the person first.
Visibility also changes recall: in the dark you cannot see what your dog has seen. Many owners sensibly keep dogs on a long line for winter evening walks even when recall is reliable in daylight.
Other winter items
- Frozen water. Ice on ponds and on the Alzette is unreliable. Dogs go through it, and owners follow them in, which is how winter drownings happen
- Grit and stones. Check between the toes after gravel paths, where sharp fragments lodge
- Shorter, more frequent walks. Better for old joints than one long cold outing
- Food. Most city dogs do not need more food in winter. A dog exercising less usually needs slightly less
- Heated flats. Dry air makes skin flaky. If your dog is scratching indoors all winter, mention it at the next appointment
The after-walk routine, in ninety seconds
Rinse the paws in lukewarm water, never hot, dry between the toes properly with a towel, and run a finger over each pad looking for splits and for grit packed in the gaps. Check the fur between the pads for ice balls and for clumped salt. Do this every time in the treated months and you will not have to treat a cracked pad at all.
Use a pad balm at the point where the pads look dull and dry rather than waiting for a split, and apply it in the evening so it absorbs rather than being licked off on the next walk. A split that is deep, bleeding or lame needs a vet rather than a balm.
Shorter, more often
In January the useful adjustment is not a heroic long walk at the weekend but three short outings a day. Cold stiffens old joints, muscles need a slower start, and a dog who has been lying still in a warm flat for six hours should not be asked to sprint in minus three. Give the first five minutes at a walk before anything faster, and expect an arthritic dog to need more warm-up than it did in September.
What a walker should be doing
Rinsing and drying paws is part of the visit, not an optional extra, and the report should say whether anything was found: a cut, a cracked pad, salt irritation, a limp that appeared on the way home. That is the whole point of having someone look at your dog's feet in the middle of a January day, while you are at the office and the pavements outside are white with grit.
General information for dog owners in Luxembourg, not veterinary or legal advice. For your own dog, ask your vet, a qualified behaviourist or your commune. How this journal is written and checked.
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