Does my dog need booties for the snow?

While we, as feeble humans, risk frostbite by going barefoot in the snow, dogs can go for hours (or even months) without the need for any foot coverings.

This is possible because the arteries and veins in dogs' feet run close together in a system known as a countercurrent heat exchanger. The blood flowing from the heart warms the colder blood returning from Toto’s tippy toes, like this:

Behold the diagram.

The same anatomical arrangement can be found in the feet, flippers, and fins of arctic animals like seals, whales, and penguins.

Pretty neat, huh?

Although sled dogs do indeed wear booties, these are mainly for preventing cuts and ice buildup between paw pads, not necessarily frostbite.

Bootie patrol.

So, does my dog need booties for the snow? Probably not. For the average dog on a snowy walk through the neighborhood, au naturel should be A-OK.

Booties may actually be more important on a hot summer day, particularly in the desert, where the scorching ground has roasted many a paw pad.

Ready for rock.

Like our hands, which develop protective calluses with heavy use, paws need time to adapt to rough conditions, so dogs should move gradually from couch potato to hardcore hiker.

Still, booties are unlikely to do harm, even if you just like the look, so go for it if that's your thing. All the power to you if you can keep them on. At the very least, it’s entertaining to watch a dog “bootie shake”—that frantic, high-stepping attempt to remove their weird new foot prisons.

Awww...kward.