- If you live in the Northeast, you’re all too well aware that a blizzard is coming. To keep cities moving as much as possible, cities put de-icing materials on streets and sidewalks. But just what is in those de-icing chemicals?
Well, the answer varies. When we think of de-icing, we often picture this:
- THOSE de-icing chemicals are more than simply de-icing, they’re also anti-icing, much like your car’s antifreeze. It then comes as no surprise that the de-icing agents used at the airports are generally Propylene glycol, like your car’s antifreeze, a substance very toxic to dogs.
While you’re not walking your dog out on the tarmac, you most likely will be walking him on city streets. Just what chemicals will those paws be making contact with? Wikipedia lists numerous de-icing chemicals:
- Sodium chloride (NaCl or table salt; the most common de-icing chemical)
- Magnesium chloride (MgCl2, often added to salt to lower its working temperature)
- Calcium chloride (CaCl2, often added to salt to lower its working temperature)
- Potassium chloride (KCl)
- Calcium magnesium acetate (CaMg2(CH3COO)6)
- Potassium acetate (CH3COOK)
- Potassium formate (CHO2K)
- Sodium formate (HCOONa)
- Calcium formate (Ca(HCOO)2)
- Urea (CO(NH2)2), a common fertilizer)
- Agricultural By-Products (generally used as additives to sodium chloride)
Regardless of the de-icing chemical your city is using, one thing’s probably for sure: it’s not something you want your dog walking in, walking back into your home, and licking off his paws.
Dog booties are a great way to keep your dog’s paws safe from de-icing chemicals (as well as from the discomfort of ice balls forming between his toes). To help your dog keep his booties on, Snuggy Boots works to clip each boot in place, holding them up much like old-fashioned men’s suspenders.
In a recent Snuggy Boots survey we conducted, 83 percent of Northeastern dog owners were concerned about their dog’s paws and winter weather…but only 24 percent of those dog owners ever used dog booties. One of the primary reasons was the hassle of trying to keep the booties on the dog.
Snuggy Boots is a DogTipper advertiser.
Top two photos courtesy Pixabay; bottom photo courtesy Snuggy Boots
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