Do Your Aussies Get Snow-packed Feet Too?

Aussie Feet in the Snow  

 

 

I have a question to share……. 

 

As you know, Wyoming winters can be most inclement. During times of bitter cold and snow, my dogs become house-bound as they truly don’t enjoy it outside – mostly because their feet pack up with snow. I’ve tried everything from trimming off all the hair on their feet, booties (Ha! That lasted about 3 minutes!!!), Pam cooking spray and even Vaseline. Nothing works and the more they try and get the snowballs off their feet, the worse it gets. However, I’ve been constantly amazed during my cross-country skiing days, that other people are out skiing with their dogs – a cornucopia of breeds – and all the other dogs are having a grand ole’ time. But not mine! Every time we would try taking our guys skiing, inevitably we would end up having to get them back to the car. I’ve asked other Aussie friends and they say the same happens with their dogs. So, what is it about Aussie feet that causes this, whereas other breeds don’t seem to be similarly affected?

 

I’ve studied wolf structure and wolves have very splayed feet so as to equally distribute their weight in snow or frost crust. Otherwise, they would fall through the snow and not be able to hunt and likely starve to death. So, could the issues with Aussies be “cat feet,” which our standard favors? Of interest, I was up at a show/trial in Montana one summer. Rhonda Silvera put on a handling clinic, mostly for Juniors, but some of us older folk attended. Betty Williams came with her daughter, Marsha, who was just beginning her 4-H show career. Betty started off saying that as a cattle rancher breeding only for working dogs, she knew nothing about the show ring or the structures most rewarded there. That began a really fascinating and lively discussion. Rhonda asked Betty a lot of questions about how she chose and/or bred her dogs and what attributes she favored. Betty said she needed a talented working dog but it had to have a structure that would hold up on the trail all day. She could not keep those that needed to come home on a saddle at lunchtime, therefore these dogs didn’t stay nor were they bred. In consequence, she was selectively breeding without really being aware of it. What Rhonda did was actually show Betty that she knew far more than she thought about working dog structure. In this discussion, I asked about feet, as I’ve had this nagging question for years. Betty said she found that her dogs with the tighter feet held up better on the trail than others with more splayed feet. So, we all concluded that this was why “cat feet” were included in out standard. However, it still makes me wonder because a good working dog would also be required to work in snow packed weather, especially in the northern most Western ranching states. So, if it could be that “cat feet” help an Aussie to better withstand a long day on the trail, could it be that this foot structure causes a detriment in winter conditions? Wolves certainly get around efficiently all year long, covering great distances in search of food. I don’t know about the foot structure of other similar breeds, like Border Collies, bred to work the frigid tundras of the Scottish moors. And, I do know that in Wyoming, herding dogs tended flocks all year long – herders often wintered in their sheep wagons under horrendous conditions.

 

So, do Aussies have a foot structure different from other working herding breeds? And, if so, how does it compare? Should it be a tight foot, good for the trail? Or should it be a more splayed foot more suitable for harsh winter work? Or, does this have nothing to do with foot structure, but rather, something else? I honestly have no idea – but have always wondered why my Aussies are miserable in the snow.

 

Any Comments, Suggestions or Solutions?