# Limping in snow... unknown cause?



## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

Soro limps in the snow here sometimes. Deep or hardpacked. It's not an arthritic limp... His paw is held dramatically high and he frequently pauses to lick at it. When I check it, there is NOTHING in his paws, no cuts, no ice or snow in the webbing, no nail injuries... Yet he cries when I touch a specific part. And then a few minutes later, the limp disappears and he's frolicking through deep snow again, and his gait is absolutely fine. Then when I recheck the paw, there is still no sign of injury and no flinching or crying when I touch the exact same areas. It is very inconsistent. He tears through the snow on long walks, rolls in it, plays tug of war in it, and all is usually fine but this limping thing sporadically pops up too.

No one uses chemicals (salt, de-icing things, sand, etc) here. It's just very cold and snowy. It's as if the cold itself is hurting his paw. Is that possible?

Any ideas??


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

for me,,, it signals paw freeze... like frost bite feels... sometimes the conditions of the air, level of moisture, temperature, is just right to create a harsher environment then other times when there is cold and snow on the ground.. Adele is one who is perfectly fine in snow the majority of time... but like today at 5 degrees, with wet snow and a blistering wet wind,, she got about 4 minutes outside and was lifting her paw.. so I sent her back in the house... that is what it is for me.... I had to pull a silly goose out of the water trough and it was instant bare hand water freeze in the air,, I barely got the barn door back opened and back to the house for how painful brutal the conditions were instantly on my skin... from todays weather...


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

It is abnormally cold this week... Temperatures in the negatives. Could be it! Especially since he hasn't shown these signs until now and there's been snow on the ground for weeks. It's just weird to me because I've never heard of this before. I always thought dog's paws were designed for the cold and I am aware of all the usual winter hazards like ice packed in the paws and salt on the roads. Google doesn't turn up any results. It never occurred to me that bitter cold could have this sort of effect on them. Especially not my dog, who is outside a lot and definitely does not have dainty paws.


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## Foresthund (Jul 17, 2013)

I`ve seen Raggy occasionally do the same but only if standing still,no limping will walking/running/playing so just chalked it up as cold feet. It is kind of odd because my dog doesn't have danty feet either,he's walked on thorns and accidentally glass without discomfort but I guess ice is different.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

Jake does this sometimes and it was because his paw is cold (he also doesn't like his paw being wet because he's a sissy) but anyway that's why we got him shoes because he would lift up his paw, shake it and then whine the entire rest of the walk which wasn't really a walk anymore because he refused to walk after that. I think it's just because it's just really cold and it's feels weird to him *numb-like* and it's an odd feeling


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2014)

Sounds like cold paws  For some dogs it helps to wear a coat, others need shoes. Can be painful, massage and heat the paw to get warmed up again when it happens. My dogs mostly do it if there's a big drop in temperature, like this week it went down from 2-3 to -9C over night.


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## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

Maisy once had cold paws in three feet at once and she fell over and refused to get up (shes dramatic and after she packed her third paw she fell) I had to carry her inside. She was out there for less then 2 minutes, enough time for me to walk to my car and start it.
Tonight she packed two paws in her search for a potty spot in the yard before I made her come in. Again, it was less than 2 minutes.


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Yea I would assume it's just a cold foot. Similar to how your hands start hurting if you don't wear gloves.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

How would you feel if you walked around in cold snow with bare feet? Right now my small dogs can only be outside for a few minutes before they start trying to walk on three legs, lifting up one foot and hobbling along. It is -25C (-22F) outside. It seems to bother them more than it does Kris, my Doberman. I have only seen her lift a back foot once, then fall trying to come up the one step into the house because she did not want to put her foot down. She never stands still when she is outside so her feet never get a chance to freeze. I still do not let her stay outside more than time for a quick bathroom break as worry about her ears freezing as they get really cold fast. She is not cropped.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

Kyllobernese said:


> How would you feel if you walked around in cold snow with bare feet?


Well my feet would obviously be cold 

But what confused me was the fact that Soro's BEEN handling snow fine, even doing 8 mile hikes (I'm on skis) through snow with no sign of any discomfort. It's currently around -13 outside so I guess negative-double-digits is his cutoff for getting cold paws. He hates booties but I might see if he'd be willing to entertain them in this weather.


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## chimunga (Aug 29, 2014)

Lol. Watson does this when it's cold and snowy too. I've been calling it shrimping. It's usually just one paw. Usually a front one. He limps with it a little bit, and when I bring him in from the cold, it's fine 2 minutes later. Sometimes he does it with both front paws. It looks ridiculous. He raises them both to his chest and then just falls over. When he's at that point, he won't move till I pick him up.


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## Darkmoon (Mar 12, 2007)

Sometimes it's really hard to see but there could be small cuts on the pad of your dogs foot. Both of mine will act like that and sure enough the ice cut them on the paw pad, deep between the toes. 

You can also try Mushers Secret which is a wax you put on the dogs pads that can help with cuts and feeling the cold so much.


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## Luxorien (Jun 11, 2014)

I used to put baby oil on my dog's paws in winter until I discovered that his feet are basically indestructible because he's part abominable snowman. Anyway, it's supposed to help keep their feet dry and warm. The other advice I got was trimming the fur in between his toes. Since you said there wasn't anything in his feet when you looked, it seems unlikely that ice could be catching in it, but...I dunno. It's something to try? Couldn't hurt.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

My terrier is pain-insensitive like some kind of canine superhero so she doesn't do this.

The giant dog had done it exactly once. I had just shaved his big hairy feet and he went outside with them for the first time of the winter without his foot fluff. It was maybe -10 degrees F and the ground was cold but not all _that_ cold. He promptly flopped over dramatically with all four paws in the air, giving me a piteous look. It was ridiculously melodramatic and he hasn't done it since, so apparently he's adjusted. I WAS SAVING YOU FROM ICE PACKING, YOU INGRATE.


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

You seem to have puzzled it out already. But I'll throw in an alternative, anyhow. 

What's the snow texture like? Does it have an icy crust on the top but soft underneath, like creme brulee? I ask because we got a lot of that snow in OH, and Gyp, maybe due to her paw structure or something, has a big problem with it. Her weight causes her paws to fall through the ice layer but her claws get caught and pushed upward. As far as I can tell, she gets bruising at the nailbeds? When it first started happening, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. She would limp and lay down, and her paws and everything looked fine. Being a determined border collie, she pushed through, acting relatively normal, and continued to fetch the ball. We had several episodes of this before she was actually bleeding from her claws. Then I figured it out... and felt TERRIBLE. We now avoid that type of snow for the most part. Or did. It's less of a problem in FL, hehe.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

That's another interesting perspective! I think it's the cold though. We get all kinds of snow here.... Deep, fluffy powder to hard packed ice. The roads are typically hard pack. I have seen this reaction across the spectrum.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I have equal experience with snow as GoGoGypsy ... But, since the problem occurred early, could Soro have had wet or sweaty paws that froze .... where dry paws would've been OK?


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

Dry paws all the way.


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## squiggles (Feb 22, 2013)

For dogs who hate booties you could try mushers secret. A layer of It does provide a bit on insulation.


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