When you live in the country, and it gets to that time of year when you are constantly caked in mud, you could do worse than investing in a “Mud Daddy”.
For about 5 months of the year, my three Rhodesian Ridgebacks come back from our walk absolutely covered from head to toe. Then, they serious expect to just hop back into my car to go home …. errrr no, I don’t think so fur-faces! Added to this, we also have the winter element. As it gets colder and the likelihood of ice gets more realistic, it is common for councils to grit and salt the roads and pavements to make it less slippery for us to get about. That is all well and good for us, in our thick winter boots, but for our dogs walking directly on the treated roads, this can actually spell trouble. The salt coming into contact directly with the skin on their pads during exercise can be very irritating indeed. Add to this the fact that most dogs like to lick their paws after a walk, we then have the problem of increased salt levels in their body as the toxicity rises when they swallow the salty saliva.
During the winter, it is extremely important to keep their paws and pads clean, not just to save your carpet or car, but also to make sure their skin is protected and that they don’t ingest too much salt. If your dog’s skin does become irritated by the constant salt contact, it’s a good idea to apply some soothing cream such as Aveeno oatmeal moisturiser (Aveeno) or give the pads a spray with something like Veterinary Aloe Vera (Veterinary Spray)
With 3 big dogs needing exercise every day and the propensity to come back looking like a mud monster with 12 VERY dirty feet, I thought it was time I had a look at an easier way of cleaning them off and to this end, I discovered the Mud Daddy.
The Mud Daddy is a small tank (holds 5 litres of water) with a hose and brush on the end. With a squeeze of the trigger, water is pumped through the hose and out of the brush at the end enabling you to wash off your filthy furry quickly and simply BEFORE they get back in your car, and BEFORE the salt has time to irritate the skin.
I was hopeful that the Mud Daddy would be my new best friend and it arrived in the post today so I thought we’d go out and give it a spin and review our experience. Rhodes 2 Safety is in no way affiliated with Mud Daddy and we are not on commission either so we had no reason to “big-up” (or put down) the product. This is our honest first time experience which I thought might be helpful for other slaves to the muddy paw! Just click the link below:
Our blog all about gritted roads can be found here: https://rhodes2safety.com/canine-tip-of-the-day-gritsalted-roads-in-winter/
