Winter doesn't change much about walking a dog except three things — and each of them catches people out the first year.
1. Road salt is the one that hurts
De-icing salt and chemical melters sit in the gaps between the pads. They sting on contact, dry the skin, and crack the pads over a few weeks. Worse, a dog that licks its paws afterwards — which is every dog — is eating them.
Rinse after every walk on treated pavement. Not a wipe: the salt is between the pads and in the fur around them, and a towel just presses it further in. A paw cleaning cup with lukewarm water does four paws in about thirty seconds at the door.
Trimming the fur between the pads in winter halves the problem — there's less for the salt to cling to.
2. You are invisible, and so is your dog
At four in the afternoon in January, a driver sees you about half as early as they think they do. A dark dog on a dark lead on an unlit road is genuinely difficult to see until close.
Reflective trim on the harness costs nothing extra and works at exactly the distance that matters — headlight range. An LED on the bag dispenser solves the other winter problem: picking up what you can't see.
3. Cold is relative, and coats lie
A double-coated dog in December is genuinely a size bigger than the same dog in July. If you're fitting a harness now, measure now — and check the fit again in spring when the coat drops.
Two fingers flat under every strap, over the coat you'll actually be walking in.
What doesn't need solving
Most healthy dogs with normal coats don't need a jacket for a thirty-minute walk in mild cold. The exceptions are real — short-coated breeds, very small dogs, seniors, puppies — but a wet dog is far more at risk than a cold one. If you buy anything for winter, make it waterproof before you make it warm.