Part-time Huskies are still Arctic dogs, right?

Huskies are Arctic dogs that thrive in the snow and cold.

They take on the frigid temperatures willingly and with great ease

There coats have a thick undercoat that protects them from the Arctic air.

And watch out when you get two or more together they will chase each other through the snow all day long.

Huskies rarely like to come in from the cold and prefer to stay outside.

Don't these pictures just make you shiver?

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24 Paws of Love

Brut Thursday- The Snow King

The night was still and quiet.  Not a sound could be heard but our own.  The bitter cold air seem to freeze our breath in front of us and the snow beneath us was crystallized.

The snow piles Brut and I sat on were the result of raking the deep snow off the garage roof.  I had to knock them down for fear of one of the dogs getting on the garage roof, they were that high.

It seemed as if the world had just stopped moving that frigid night.  Brut sat erect and elongated listening for the faintest sound.  Ears slowly moving with bat radar this way and that.  The rest of the dogs had gone in, but not Brut, my winter die hard, he climbed the top the snow pile and smiled.  He was in his element.  We both were and I climbed to the top to sit next to him.

I carefully followed the ears and head of this magnificent snow beast.   Keeping a  close eye of that little twitch of alertness when he connected with a resonance.  I shifted my eyes to his line of sight and turned my head with his.  And we sat that way for some time.  Syncing in alignment we were mindful of each other and the world around us.  So simple and true we sat close together, his bristled fur just whispering across my jacket.  This was us, the two snow dogs of the household that left me with a memory as clear as the stars that chilly night and a friend that lays in my heart, forever.

   

How Winter Durable Is Your Dog?

Before Chance came back to us, his previous owners had him on a short tether and kept him outside with some sort of shelter and it was winter.  We couldn't pick him up the day they called and said we would come back the next day to get him.  I remember that it was going to get down to zero degrees (-17.7C) that night and all I could think about was I hoped he'd was going to be OK.

When we brought him home, he had no aversion to the cold.  Still a puppy at a year old, he wasn't phased by the bitter temps when we would play outside at night.  He was also persistent about waiting on those nights sitting at the corner of the fence waiting for his boy to come and get him.  Chance was not deterred by the weather one bit. 

About a year later I noticed a difference.  The colder it got the more sensitive Chance became to the cold.  Holding up his paw or paws in that uncomfortable awkward position with a look on his face that was screaming in pain. 

 I don't have to pee. I don't have to pee.  I don't have to pee.

20F (-6C) and above suits Chance just fine.  He loves the snow, running, chasing and jumping, until it starts to dip to about 17F, 16F, 15F (-8.3C, -8.8C, -9.4C)  then it gets a little ify.

And anything below 15F (-9.4C) is bathroom time and that's it.

Chance is my most sensitive dog to the cold temperatures.  Brut is my toughest and everyone else falls in between.

We are going on on second week of no walks due to the freezing temperatures and quick potty breaks.  We haven't even been able to just go outside for while.  This winter is one of the harshest we've been through and we're not out of the woods yet.

So how does your dog fair with the cold to frigid temperatures?  Do you have some dogs that are more sensitive then others?   

Monday Memories-Snow Day

The puppies were born in January and we live in a Northern Climate that had a bitter cold winter that year.  The puppies could go outside at four weeks old, but due to the frigid temperatures, we weren't able to take them out until they were seven weeks old.

We had just gotten back from the vet's office for their first round of vaccinations and dewormers and had transported all ten of them in a large cardboard box.  We slid the box outside into a fenced in area made just for them where they had their first taste of pact frozen snow. 

The puppies loved every minute of being outside. 

Like chasing Mommy Silver and trying to grab a teat.

OR

Chasing Daddy until he rolled over.

even on the opposite side of the fence.

OR

 Digging out the leftover birdseed frozen in the ground.

   

After about ten or fifteen minutes they started to get cold and it was time to go back in the box and head inside.

10 puppies in one TV box? 

What kind of deal is this??