French Bulldog Cold Weather Guide: How To Keep A Frenchie Warm In Winter

As with any other breed of dog, the French Bulldog has to be prepared for the upcoming cold weather. That is because the dogs do develop severe complications when exposed to the harsh cold weather.

These include hypothermia and cold-related numbness. Knowing the steps to take to mitigate these conditions is by all means highly welcome.

We have devoted the whole of the discussions that follow to just that.

In our discussions below, we shall look into the strategies, which if followed diligently, may yield the necessary support during the cold weather. How about taking the time to know more about them?

10 Effective Way to Keep Your Frenchie Warm In Winter

#1: Trim the nails short and concise

As a start, you have to trim the nails of your dog to keep them extremely short and concise.

The purpose of this is to prevent the possibility of skidding and the injuries that generally come by. You may skip this step in case you have the means to afford the winter boots.

Other than preventing the issue of skidding, the shorter nails also prove great when in contact with the ice.

They tend to confer some stability to your dogs, a fact that goes a long way in instilling some confidence in the dogs as they hop about their businesses.

#2: Protect the paws in the winter

After the nails, you now have to proceed to the paws. On this, you have to place some protections to prevent the same from the injuries that come by while in transit from one place to another one.

The harsh winter months tend to imbue some damages to the paws.

A number of paw protection devices do exist which may serve to offer this shield.

You have to take a walk to the nearest pet store or even consult your trained veterinarian to help you out in this. Be sure to find a protection unit that is compatible with the size of the paws of your dog.

#3: Try out a winter jacket

Winters can at times be excessively harsh. You cannot approach and confront normally, otherwise, your dog may be adversely affected by the harsh cold.

As a way out of this, you ought to attempt the winter coats or jackets. These are special clothing that has the ability to trap warmth.

As with the case of the paw protections above, the jacket you pick for the task has to be just the right size. The object of this is to prevent the attire from being too shaggy and to guarantee maximum warmth and overall comfort.

#4: Make use of a collar and a chip

Dogs do tend to get lost often during the winter months. This is due to the fact that tracing their roots backward might never be really easy as the snow blankets the entire area. If you have to walk your dogs out, you must arm yourself with two items.

The first is the dog collar that basically wraps the collar and neck region of the dogs to confer added warmth. Then, you have to implant a chip in your dog to aid with tracking and recovery in the event of a loss. These two are particularly crucial in case the dogs have to saunter alone.

#5: Acquire and use a potty if indoors

If you have to stay indoors with your dog, you have to acquire and train it to use the potty. A potty is a tool that is used to accommodate and hold the excrements of the dog for some time before the same might be eventually disposed of in the municipal drainage and sewerage.

Finding a potty in and of itself is not enough. You have to go beyond that to train your dog to use it well. Particularly, you have to ensure that your dog knows where to find it and how to engage its critical parts and components.

#6: Maintain minimal contact with the outside world

We have stated repeatedly that the outside world is often too cold and uncomfortable in the winter. As a plausible way forward, you have to maintain minimal contact with it for the entire duration of time when the cold and snow persist.

Staying indoors for a large part is one of the best strategies to go about this.

Complement this by warming the interiors using a fireplace or a heater. These two gadgets go a long way in upping the interior warmth and temperature levels considerably. Take care though that you do not overheat the interior as that may desiccate the skin of the dogs.

#7: Administer warmer drinking water

Dogs no doubt will have to take water in the winter also. However, this water should not be cold as that will only serve to compound the problem. Instead, it has to be warmer at least.

This way, it will hydrate the dogs but at the same time prevent them same from becoming too cold.

While it is advisable for you to administer warm water, do not make it too hot as that will only serve to reverse the gains you want to achieve. Too hot water has the ability to scald the interior parts and organs of your dogs.

#8: Do not overfeed the dogs

While there is the temptation to overfeed the dog supposedly to keep it warm, you are strongly advised against treading that path.

Remember, at this time, your dog is largely indoors and hardly engages in any form of physical activity. Overfeeding them may predispose them to the risks of obesity.

Also, such an exercise to some extent is futile as much of the food shall hardly be digested. That will leave much of them to go to waste and hence waste your money too!

Just give it a moderate amount of feeds. Incorporate plenty of roughage for the sake of easy digestion as well.

#9: Reinforce their bedding

In your effort to take care of the dogs in the winter, you should also see to it that you reinforce their bedding with the warmest and most comprehensive bedding possible.

The purpose of the warm bedding is to prevent any escape of warmth and intrusion of cold.

The bedding also has to be able to completely engulf your dogs to shield them wholly from the adverse external elements.

Must we also add that they have to be warm and smooth enough to prevent any unnecessary injuries from bedeviling your dogs? Go for the latest soft fabrics available.

#10: Carry out some winter health checks every now and then

Winters are unique and distinct from the other major seasons in that it brings along some unique sicknesses and complications.

As a last consideration, you have also to check out the health of your dog for any of these complications. That can only happen if you take it to a specialized vet from time to time.

Let the trained veterinarian carry out thorough checks to see to it that the dog does not suffer any severe complications.

At the same time, let the specialist also anticipate whether the dog might suffer any of these complications at any time in the near future.

Conclusion

Now you know the steps to take to be able to keep your Frenchie warm, comfortable, and healthy in the winter. Knowing about these steps in and of itself is not enough.

You no doubt have to go ahead to implement the same provisions. When are you planning to start out? Let’s hear from you in the comments section below…