Rock Salt and Other Ice-Melting Products Can Be dangerous for your Dog's paws

Rock salt (sodium chloride) works by melting ice that makes walking and driving dangerous, but it harms our dogs’ paws by causing irritation, burning, and even frostbite. Dogs lick their paws  to remove the salt, ingestion can create suffering -  vomiting and diarrhea. people laugh at my service dog wearing her booties as well her cold weather outfit.  (she is short haired and gets cold also). her feet are important to her and me...

Side note: my long haired dogs get ice build up between their paws and that extra hair can 'attract' more ice chemicals. so extra care needed there.

If your dog walks where salt or other de-icing agents have been spread, clean their paws by rinsing them in cool or warm (not hot) water. Simply dip feet into a container of water, massage water into the paw pads, and dry with a clean towel.

Protect your dog’s paws from ice melting chemicals.

Boots are helpful in protecting your dog’s paws. Booties can make below-zero temperatures more comfortable for dog.

You can also protect your dog’s paws with products like Musher’s Secret, which contains white and yellow beeswax, carnauba wax, and candelilla wax. These waxes form a protective layer that prevents salt from reaching the skin, plus they prevent cracking, dryness, and hardening of the paw pads. Apply by gently massaging a thin layer into your dog’s paw pads, between toes, around the central pad, and around the nails. A second layer helps with salt protection.
Other products recommended as protection against rock salt feature oils such as mango, coconut, shea, and cocoa butter. Bag Balm, another popular paw protector, contains petrolatum, lanolin, and paraffin wax. Apply and let the oils absorb for a few minutes before going outdoors.

“Pet friendly” Ice Melting Products

Dozens of ice-melting products claim to be “pet friendly.” That claim is often the only difference between an expensive product sold in pet supply stores and identical (and much less expensive) ones sold in home improvement stores. The term “pet friendly” is meaningless and not subject to any enforcement; ice melts are not regulated by any government agency. And few of them list their ingredients on their labels, leaving consumers without any way to investigate the “friendliness” of the products.

Most de-icing products are sold in the form of pellets or crystals that are meant to be sprinkled on the iced-over areas where melting is desired. It’s easy for these pellets to get stuck to or wedged between the pads of a dog’s paws, where they can cause a burning sensation. And when the dog licks his paws for relief, he consumes the rock salt or chemicals in the pellets – not good!

Even ingredients that melt ice without harming skin, such as ethylene glycol, can be toxic and even fatal if ingested. Ethylene glycol is the active ingredient in antifreeze. A safer ingredient is propylene glycol, but it doesn’t work as effectively so it is often combined with urea, which makes it toxic to cats and ruminants such as cows and goats if ingested.

Chloride-free de-icers
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Friendly does not mean safe. Ice-melting salts are built to absorb moisture, from the ground or from skin, paw pads, etc. 99% of these “friendly” products are made from Magnesium chloride. While this may be the least awful of the chloride salts it is not safe (which is why it is labeled as friendly).
The ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center classifies all ice-melting products as chemical irritants and warns that these products can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea plus topical irritation to the paw pads and skin.