Mud Balls

It was not a very pleasant dog walk today. Air temperature was 29F/-2C, but the trail was muddy, and there was a chilly breeze. Hamish is not a fast walker at the best of times -- so many trees to mark -- but he usually speeds up a little on the return leg. On the return leg today, he was very slow and kept stopping. I finally realized that he had a problem with his front right leg. I suspected a thorn or something else was lodged between his pads. I picked him up, but wasn't able to see the bottom of his paw, and prepared to carry him back to the car. 

We hadn't gone far when another dog walker caught up with us. I asked to her to inspect H's paw for me, which she did, and was able to show me what the problem was -- frozen mud balls trapped in his fur. We weren't able to remove them, so I continued carrying him. He only weighs just under 20lb/8kg, but my arm was very tired after walking about half a mile to the car. 

When we got home, C got scissors and cut the mud balls loose. I've never seen anything like this before!

Thanks to C!