Ice Balls! AHHH!

[Cheetah]

Ok, so today was the first MAJOR snow I had to take Shippo out in. With him being a corgi, the snow went up to his neck. He got snow/ice balls all in his armpits and on his "pants"/hind leg feathering and on the insides of his hind legs. I had to pick them all off, which was not very fun, and a bit painful for my fingers lmao...

And I even got some of that spray-on crap that is supposed to act as a snow-ice melter... It didn't work.

So, does anyone have suggestions? Does anyone else use something else to prevent ice balls on their dogs that works?

[disraeli]

Well, we don't have that issue here in Gulf Coast Texas, so I can't help...but I can say "Awww, poor Shippo." I hope he is enjoying playing in the snow anyway.

[behinderhereyes]

In MN we can't avoid it we just give Lucy a bath more often.

[Hayashi_eri]

Wow snow!! Hope shippo has lots of fun (^o^)/

[Jane Austen]

I am a little concerned about spaying any ice melting chemical on your animal. Some of that stuff is liable to have a dangerous side effect.
I don't have any answers for you except that each snow storm around New England seems to have different properties. Sometimes it sticks and sometimes not. I haven't had any trouble with ice balls on Duchess. Not that it has snowed here this season yet.
I have forgotten is Shippo a fluffy?

[Cheetah]

Yes he is a fluffy. And it's not a chemical. It's made for spraying on dog paws and fur. It's a bunch of oils, like lanolin etc. I can type out the ingredients on here if you like lol... It works on my other dog's paws to keep the ice from freezing between her paws, but it's obviously not powerful enough to keep balls from forming in Shippo's armpit fur lmao...

Ok, there are only 3 ingredients: Purcillin oil, lanolin, and sunflower oil.

[Michael Romanos]

If the combination of oils etc is edible, then it is ok.

[darci]

awwww
Poor Shippo.... Did you get pics?????

[Cheetah]

No I wasn't able to... but it will snow again after we move and I'll get some pics... maybe some action pics of him leaping over the 1 1/2 foot drifts lmfao...

[Fluffypants]

Oh no! I was going to get that spray stuff for Jackie this winter! I'm bummed that it doesn't work! Poor Shippo! Maybe you can use the blowdryer to melt them when you come inside? (a pet dryer at a safe distance, of course)

[corgimom]

Originally Posted by Fluffypants

Oh no! I was going to get that spray stuff for Jackie this winter! I'm bummed that it doesn't work! Poor Shippo! Maybe you can use the blowdryer to melt them when you come inside? (a pet dryer at a safe distance, of course)

I thought the same thing, a blow dryer for when Shippo comes in. Would Shippo be willing to wear some type of fleece coat that would protect his coat somewhat? - there are a lot of variations of fleece coats and I even saw some dog snowsuits on a site Otherwise, I am not sure what the answer would be.

[Jespah]

Unfortunately long haired dogs seem to suffer from the build-up of ice and snow like poor Shippo. We have friends whose dog suffers the same thing - we're lucky, as we do live in a winter wonderland, that Rupe and Jem don't have that type of coat.

I think Linda is right, any type of coat would possibly keep the build-up down. I know that in deep snow the snow still gets in - Rupe usually has a belly full under his coat when we come in from a romp in the deep stuff.

[sweetlychee]

Don't forget to post the action pictures to enter the photo competition that Michael has up! Would love to see how some folks take pictures of their dogs.