Puppy has ice in her fur

[missyB1]

I took my 6 month old mini schnauzer out in the snow this morning for her usual run around in a local filed. We only had a light snowfall but there's a lot of ice around. She enjoyed herself but i cut it a bit short as it was so cold, we did about 30 minutes - normally do an hour. Anyway when i got her home i noticed she has balls of ice all over her paws and stuck in the fur on her legs, I rubbed her down with a warm towel but couldn't get the ice off! Shes now lying on a warm blanket in her bed grooming herself. I feel terrible, could she get frostbite? Im a first time dog owner and tend to panic a bit!

Don't panic! She'll be fine. You could pop her in the bath and hose her legs with warm water from the shower. Some dogs get little balls of ice between their paw pads so check there too.

thanks Cherry a warm bath is a good idea!

I have a poodle and we have this problem too. I do 2 things to try and stop it. 1. I shave between her paw pads so the hair there is always short, and 2. I wrap vet wrap (the bandage that sticks to itself) around her ankles so snow can't stick to the hair there.

This used to happen to the cairn terrier we had when i was growing up, we used to brush them off with a towel.

Welcome to the world of miniature schnauzer owning! This happens to our two every time we get any amount of snow- sometimes the balls have been nearly tennis ball size!! The only thing that works for us is a warmish showering off of the legs! Otherwise they just sit and lick at it and it melts everywhere!

Happens to my cairn. We leave them to melt and then brush. He does not like it if we try and brush them out!

Spay oil on her legs before her walk. It stops it sticking so much

Well you live and learn I guess. I bathed her and she's fine. I tried brushing them out and it didn't work. It was the strangest thing I've seen with her so far!

I had a Giant Schnauzer many moons ago and he looked a state after being in the snow. Not helped by him 'hoovering' his beard through it. He'd end up with ice balls in his eyebrows!

Yep, we had to take my dad's poodle in the shower for a rinse, to get balls of snow out of his fur (This was in Norway, small poodle + 50cm snow = snowball dog). He was so cute though!

Hair dryer on a thick towel or newspaper. I found running bath/shower and all the drying up after too much hassle.
Or stand in a plastic bed if you have and tip out melted ice

If you don't want to give her a full bath, just dunk each foot in a mug or small bowl of warm water

Been there and got that particular T-shirt! No deep snow here yet but I've bought a doggy trouser-suit for the poodle to protect his fur against snow and ice balls/provide protection. Good point by a PP about checking for ice under the pads too.