Winston’s paws have not made contact with ice salt since the first sample of Air Pups were made in 2021. We spend most of our time in NYC where Winston is always wearing his Air Pup dog shoes to protect his paws from the dangers found on city streets: hot pavement, ice salt, broken glass, needles, chemicals, germs, allergens, etc. I made the mistake of letting Winston out on the street after the first snowfall of the year in a very rural part of New Hampshire. We are new to this area and I wasn’t sure if the streets had salt on them or not. Not seeing any salt, I thought he would be OK to walk without his shoes. We didn’t walk more than 100 meters before Winston laid down and started to lick his paws and whine in pain. This is difficult for me to watch because I’ve dedicated the last few years of my life to designing paw protection for dogs - and here my dog’s paws were not protected. I share this to help spread awareness on the importance of paw protection, in and outside of the city. I now know that whenever I see snow, there is most likely salt, and Winston will be wearing his Air Pup dog shoes. If your dog comes in contact with ice salt, wash their paws as soon as possible. Not only do you want to make sure you remove the irritating ice melt, but you don’t want your pup ingesting the harmful chemicals. #airpup #dogshoes #dogboots #dog #dogcare #pawprotection #australianshepherd