cold paws

Many of you will know, Romeo is a little Diva, however, i do feel like he has reason to complain this time. it has been -25 (Celsius people) here lately and windy. the roads are covered with slick ice, rocks, salt and chemicals. Romeo has started to whine about his feet. he will go ... for about 25mins, and then start to lift his paws, shake them, bite at them, lick them, and whine and whimmper endlessly until i lift him up, to the point he just refuses to walk. and honestly i dont blame him, i have stepped onthat ice bare foot before... and it burns... you cant actually feel the difference between fire and ice its that cold. That and his feet are becoming dry and cracked poor baby D:

SO. we went and looked for a solution!

Option A:
Shoes.
yep, doggie shoes. they comes in soooo many different forms and styles. i must have triedl... like... 10 difefrent pairs at 2 different stores. i felt like a mother with a two year old trying on shoes, cause Romeo was having none of it. and if i could get him to sit long enough to try them just on his front poors he would look at me so forlornly and then try and shake them off. i must admit i laughed a fair amount, he was like trying to watch a seal when i forced him to walk a few meters in them. he was not so impressed.
so, scratch that idea Option A

Option B:
Dog Wax.
this one sounded more pratical. you get dog foot wax and just before you leave the house you rub it on the dogs feet. protects it from all sorts of stuff as it put a small layer to save them. the problem is, here, in Finland... its not, a little cold... its BLOODY COLD and he's a staff with not so much fuzz to spare. so while it helps with the salt, rocks, chemicals and cold to a degree. And this would be my number one option, if it wasnt for one problem. HE EATS IT! we cant go two steps with out him stipping to take a nibble at his own foot!
Option B

Option C:
Moooooisture.
So while at the salon the other day complaining about Romeo's feet issues. My friend gives me some moisturizing ... stuff? that he uses for his hands ( all organic, usues some kind of.... sheeps wool oil in it, no idea what it really is). Hair stylists hands often look deep fried, so we like to moisturize, so i thought, well... that will fix the dry cracking at least. So i rub romeo up, he's not so intrested in eating it, thank god. BUT it has helped with his feet some how, i think having slightly more supple feet has improved his walking on the ice, YAY!

I dont know if any of you guys have the same icy ground drama that we have, but i see so many dogs here with shoes, and that wax sells like hot cakes so. it was an intresting exsperiance since i have never owned a dog in Finland before.

I'm just glad we don't get those temperatures here!!!

Romeo has actually never known warm weather. he was born in late septmber and by the it was -2. he doesnt know what sunshine is like because by then we had started to enter 'the darkness' but when summer rolls around we will have endless days where the sun doesnt go down makes up for 7 months of fridged cold to have 3 months of pur sun and daytime