With the lake now frozen over, it was finally time to go ice skating again! …at least for Dan and Brodie (me, not so much). And with all that fun, we learned the importance and need for doggie booties, but more on that later.
We’re lucky enough to live in a lake community that is year round with a lake that freezes over, once the weather is cold enough, and this weekend, it finally froze! Dan wasted absolutely NO time getting out on the ice and as soon as he realized that the ice was solid enough, he had me bring Brodie down for some fun in his favorite place-even if it was for ice skating instead of swimming!
And then they were off! At first, Brodie was a little nervous and we almost aborted the mission of ice skating, but then Brodie made his way out on the ice and went around with Dan. He did this as a puppy and had a BLAST, but with him being a grown-up dog now, he’s much more cautious. So we changed up the plan a bit!
At first we tried treats, but as soon as the rope came out, it was game over-he was out on that ice having the TIME of his life! Tug is his 2nd favorite thing, right after the frisbee that is! They played some tug, fetch, and chase for the better part of an hour, both with big smiles, and no complaints! (I however was freezing and could have left sooner…)
Brodie made sure to take some breaks from the ice when he wanted, but he recalled EVERY time we called him! A big win in his training in my eyes, especially because there were kids and other people out-include those in hats, which Brodie is extremely reactive to. (He even reacted to Dan until he realized who it was!)
Although breaks from the ice are important, coming back on the ice through this bush was NOT the best idea…shortly after this photo, Dan looked down at Brodie and realized he had some blood on his paw.
Don’t worry (even though Dan did)! Brodie cut himself on the ice on the side of his paw, super minor, and had absolutely NO idea that anything was wrong. He was running around, tongue hanging out, having the best time! Dan thought initially that he got cut on his skate, which is why if you are skating with your dog, you should have a lot of skill in skates and be EXTREMELY careful, which Dan was and I reminded him of that!
And I mean it, Brodie really did not care. He continued to prance around the ice, rope hanging from his mouth, chasing Dan, and letting Dan chase him. To me, that’s all that matters-that and making sure that we cleaned it out as SOON as we got home (which we did, Dan legit carried him from the car to the bathroom to make sure he was okay)!
Before we left, we made sure Brodie enjoyed his time and got to tug, fetch, and chase as much as he wanted before we left!
That small cut was the reason we finally understood the need and potential importance for doggie booties in the winter. They are there to protect pup’s paws from minor injuries like the one Brodie got from the ice. Booties could have prevented that and would also prevent it from getting dirty in the snow/mud/dirt/life after an injury has occurred. Needless to say, we went out an hour after we got home to go buy booties!
We went to our favorite Petco in Succasunna to see what they had as a starter bootie, figuring we’d upgrade later this year or next year if we get a lot of use out of them. We ended up purchasing the YOULY The Nature Lover Yellow Waterproof Silicone Dog Boots. They have a velcro strap that goes around the top of the boot to keep it on the paw. So far, we’ve tested them inside-it was super cute and he only managed to try and take one off! We’ve consistently used one for the paw with the cut for when he needs to go outside and it’s been great so far (approximately 24 hours at the moment, but still!)!
Dan and Brodie have built such a loving connection because of all of their adventures together! I can’t wait to see what adventure we go on next!
Have you done any fun or crazy winter things with your pup? Do you have a favorite dog boot we should try? Let us know in the comments!