When the weather begins to warm and the snow melts, paw problems can develop.
Many of the problems are overlooked by most dog owners.
It is likely that you believe your dogs feet are toughened up from the long winter.
That is actually only half true.
Sure their paws are accustomed to walking on the snow and maybe even ice.
What they are not accustomed to is walking through the ice-cold puddles that come with spring.
Snow helps to pad the ground your dog walks on.
As a result, your dogs paws are accustomed to the cold, not the pebbles and other debris on the bare ground.
Pebbles and debris can often bruise or even cause small cuts to your dogs paws.
Often this can only be noticed by a very slight favoring of one or more paws.
The main problems that occur in the spring are the small cuts that can develop.
All winter long the streets have been repeatedly covered with salt and other ice melting compounds.
These tend to become concentrated in the puddles that form in the spring.
These ice melting compounds can get into the small cracks that may develop in a dogs paws.
At best it will cause considerable discomfort to your dog.
At the worst an infection could develop.
To avoid these problems you should...

1. avoid letting your dog walk through spring puddles.
   
2. rinse your dogs paws with warm water after walks.
   

Being aware of possible problems will not only prevent discomfort for your dog, it could save you vet bills as well.