Posted on 11/14/2008 7:22:18 AM PST by yankeedame
Let your dog check the weather. Allow your dog to step outside and feel for itself that it's too cold or stormy...Instinctually, the dog will understand why it has to come back inside where it's safe.
Don't let your dog manipulate you. Dogs can learn to use that open door as a means to control you. When you let your dog do that "weather check,"...you decide when the assessment is over.
Don't rely on natural protection from the cold. Some dogs do develop thicker fur and maintain their fat as a natural protection from the cold...But many breeds...do not have this natural resistance... If you're unsure...consult your veterinarian.
Gear up! If you have a breed that's not built to handle cold... [get] the proper gear to handle it, such as doggie boots, winter jackets, and even paw waxes that protect your dog from the cold and aid its grip on slippery surfaces...
(Excerpt) Read more at pets.yahoo.com ...
Your picture just warms my heart. We had 2 Choc Labs and Finnegan (who passed away 3 years ago at 14 1/2) loved to make snow angels. He supplied us with years of entertainment with his love of the snow.
Great pic
Our golden loves cooler weather.
At the end of a 2 mile walk in July, he’s pooped. In December, after 2 miles, he’s just getting warmed up, LOL.
Oh my...is that what I have to look forward to? My Texan Golden is soooooo going to love winter in Northern VA!
When we hike in the mountains in the early spring, Michelangelo [Jello for short] will literally wallow in any of the snow patches he can find at higher elevations. Watching the steam rise off his body cracks me up!
My poor old Golden loves the cooler weather too. Sadly, his hips are starting to give out. I hate seeing him getting older.
If you remember, Katie understood. She’d walk out on the back porch and if it was raining or heaven forbid SNOWING ahe’s give me the look, the look that seemed to say, “you really expect me to go out in that? Surely you jest.” I’d point like the Ghost from Scrooge and she’s grudgingly go off the porch.
We went to visit my daughter in Indiana for Christmas several years ago, and they had had a huge snowfall just before we arrived. We brought our dachsund with us, and she would not go outside on her own to do her business. My husband had to carry her outside, and her little legs were so short, that her belly just sank in the snow. She was not a happy camper.
They make the chocolate ones extra sweet!
Jake is chocolate also. Great dog. A bit ‘hard of listening’ in his old age (his hearing is just fine), but the most loving and sweet gentle old dog I have ever known.
I had a Border Collie/German Shepherd mix that worshiped cold weather. The only time I saw him act cold was when he was riding in the back of a pickup as we drove on the highway in Wyoming one winter. It was -35, so the wind chill must have been around -80. Every black hair was frozen over individually with ice.
I brought him inside, and he spent the rest of the day barking only through his mouth...kind of a “wuuuf” sound.
Apart from that? -40 was lie in the snow and act happy weather!
Over the years, our Labs have ranged from 85-100# ...... a lot depends on their heritage.
If that doesn't make you hair hurt ... then...Labradors come in 3 colors; black, yellow and chocolate. Black is the most well known color and it is dominant in Labradors. Black was also the Labrador color commonly preferred and bred for up until more recent times. It should be noted that the colors chocolate and yellow have been noted in the original St. John's dogs from the Newfoundland. They are recessive genes and were referred to as the color 'liver' or sometimes 'golden'.
As recessive colors the yellow and chocolate labrador pups would occasionally appear in litters throughout time. During the earlier breeding programs these 'off colors' of yellow & chocolate were often 'culled' until they were finally accepted by the British and the American Kennel Clubs and registered.
Chocolates are the most rare.
I lost my dog Sophie this past August,after 13 years.She loved all forms of water.
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