Ice melt, shaving pads question

[dirty hairy]

The newly fallen snow outside is just beautiful (I say that because I didn't have to shovel it !) and the salt spreaders are out in force.
For furry four leggers that means snow caked in hair and salt on pads.
My question is this: does the hair inbetween a dog's pads protect it from the salt, or hold on to it when it gets caked with ice? To shave or not to shave....

[pooh13]

A little of both ,I always ask clients about salted walkways or extended time out in the snow when they drop off the pets.if the dogs are subjected to longer periods of time I will scissor the pads only.For those dogs that I do shave the pads I use a #10 to skim in between pads leaving some hair to protect the skin but short enough so it will not pick up ice and snow.If the dogs feet are more sensitive to the salt or snow I also advise the use of booties or paw wax applied before the pets go outside to protect the pads.